Te Puke golfer Jess Green holed out on the 34th hole to seal a 3 and 2 win over former champion Vivian Lu in the women’s final of the New Zealand Amateur at Balmacewen yesterday.
"I’m just letting it sink in. What a way to do it — it feels great,’’ Green said.
"The 16th has been good to me this week. I was hoping to finish the match there, but after my tee shot I wasn’t in a great position. I was still confident that I could get it done, though.
"Holing that shot wasn’t even on my mind. It was a really nice surprise and a great way to win the match. I’ll remember this for a long time."
Green (21), who had claimed the medal for being top qualifier in the women’s field, was square with New Zealand representative Lu after four and 11 holes, but had a 3-up advantage after 18.
That lead was down to 1-up after 27 holes and it was game on.
Green won the 28th and 29th, Lu pulled back a point on the 32nd and Green settled things with a bang on the 34th.
Green had 2017 champion Silvia Brunotti caddying for her from the quarterfinal stage, and said that was a huge help.
"In all honesty, she read all my putts out there today. All I had to do was follow her advice and that seemed to work out well.
"This is my first national title. It’s a pretty good one to win for my first and I’m happy that I had my good friend and my mum here to watch me do it."
Green showed her intent on Saturday, beating Darae Chung 4 and 3 in the quarterfinals and Amy Im 3 and 1 in the semifinals.
Lu had been hoping to become the first woman since Lydia Ko to win the New Zealand Amateur and the national strokeplay title in the same year.
She showed her grit on Saturday when she came from behind to beat Aroha Minhinnick after 37 holes in the quarterfinals.
Minhinnick was 2-up with six holes to play but Lu got back to all square after 18, and she hit an exquisite third shot on the par-5 No hole to secure a birdie on the first extra hole.
Lu was square with Chloe Lam after 17 holes in the afternoon semifinal before Lam bogied the last.
