Evie McCallum is 2023 Scottish Girls' Amateur Champion

Evie McCallum (Dunfermline) came out on top in damp and windy conditions at Cardrona Hotel Golf & Spa to claim the title of 2023 Scottish Girls’ Amateur Champion, beating fellow finalist Sheridan Clancy (Australia) after a tense round of match play.

Heading into Sunday’s semi-finals were the leading four players from the earlier stroke play round with McCallum facing off against Sofia McGhie (Lancaster) and Freya Russell (Royal Troon) competing against Clancy.

All semi-finalists had taken the top four positions in the stroke play stage earlier in the tournament, with McCallum topping the stroke play leaderboard on +4 after 36 holes.

On Sunday morning McCallum successfully secured her place in the Championship final, finishing her semi-final round on 2&1 against her European Girls’ Championship teammate McGhie.

For a while it was all square between Russell and Clancy, but ultimately Clancy was able to dig deep and play her way into the final match play round finishing 1UP.

Meanwhile, Ellie Bent (Gullane) whose older brother Harry Bent was competing at Lanark in the semi-finals of the 2023 Scottish Boys’ Amateur Championship, was given a bye into the net match play final after Katie Ronnie (Kilmarnock, Barassie) had to withdraw, leaving Lara Douglas (Glenbervie) to compete against Jayla Kepler (Greenock) for the remaining place.

It was a very close game, but in the end Douglas managed to secure her spot in the final against Bent.

As the day progressed although conditions became drier, they became increasingly windy. In the Championship final Clancy had a shaky start and was down 3 thru 3 but fought back till Clancy and McCallum were all square thru 14.

However, it was McCallum who was set to ultimately clinch victory, finally finishing on 2&1 to be crowned 2023 Scottish Girls’ Amateur Champion. Clancy subsequently took the Championship runner-up prize with both McGhie and Russell being awarded the Semi-Finalist Crystal Award respectively.

Scottish Girls' Amateur Net category

Meanwhile, in the net category Douglas and Bent were all square thru 11 before Bent took the lead to finally finish as the winner on 2UP, with Douglas finishing runner-up.

It’s been a busy month for Cardona Hotel Golf & Spa, with the course having just hosted the Tartan
Pro Tour (17 – 19 July) and now the Scottish Girls’ Amateur Championship (21 - 23 July).

Cardrona Hotel Golf & Spa Director of Golf, Mark Harrison, said:

"It’s been fantastic, we’re really pleased to have the tournament here. We’re so excited to have the Scottish Girls’ Amateur Championship back-to-back with the Tartan Pro Tour. The course has come a long way, we’ve worked really hard on it and had financial backing from the Board, which is great.

"The course is in really good condition. We’ve had fantastic feedback from parents [of competitors] and from the girls. It’s a massive team effort and Bruce [Head Greenkeeper at Cardrona] and the boys have done a fantastic job. I think it’s now the best championship course in the Scottish Borders.

"Thank you to Scottish Golf for choosing Cardrona as a venue in the Scottish Borders - we look forward to having you all back… I would also like to thank the Board of Directors our General Manager, Mark Steedman, for supporting us as a Championship host venue."

Speaking at the trophy presentation about her feelings on becoming tournament champion, a delighted Evie McCallum said:

"It feels amazing… the course [at Cardrona] is really nice and it’s improved a lot. I love the surroundings, really nice holes. My first competition ever was [played] here and I placed second last. So, when I heard that this event was being played here I really wanted to win it and just prove to myself that I could do it because I’ve worked really hard and I know that I had it in me [to win]."

The final leaderboards are available to view in full on the Scottish Golf App, or online here for the stroke play result, the net match play and the championship match play results.