Becky Kay has continued her hot form with a wire-to-wire victory at the Bowra & O’Dea Women’s Classic at Perth's Lake Karrinyup.
The 18-year-old Queenslander held off a mid-round surge from playing partner Montana Strauss before eventually securing her second win in as many weeks, this time by five shots.
Kay won the Rene Erichsen Salver at Royal Adelaide last week, when she made a hole-in-one at the 16th to hold off West Australian Kathryn Norris and she produced a strong finish again to ensure she immediately returned to the winner’s list.
Kay had led by as many as six strokes during the third round but after a rollercoaster round on Wednesday, her lead was cut to just a single stroke when Victorian Strauss birdied the par-four 13th.
Kay responded with back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th, then when Strauss dropped a shot during the same run of holes, the Gold Coaster had opened a decisive advantage.
"I am extremely happy. That was my goal at the start of the week to get back-to-back and I’m so happy that I actually did it – there’s a lot of good players here, so I’m so happy,” said Kay, who was the only player to finish in red figures at five under.
"I was getting nervous midway through the round when Montana started to get close.
"I’m never normally nervous but she’s such a great player and I knew that she wasn’t going to back down.
"I had like bogey-bogey-birdie-birdie-bogey-bogey and Montana actually caught up to me, she was one behind, so it was a bit nerve-wracking but I got it done."
Kay said her fourth win of the year had more than one driving force.
"I’ve been working hard and I’ve just changed coaches (to Perth's Ritchie Smith) in the last couple of months (and) I just finished school, too, so I guess that’s it!”
Newly-crowned WA Amateur champ Kirsten Rudgeley stormed up the leaderboard with a final-round 69 – the lowest score of the week – to finish equal third with South Australia’s Ella Adams.
Adams had been in contention for victory until a costly triple-bogey at the par-three 13th.
By contrast, Rudgeley was in irrepressible touch as she reached the turn at one under for the day before a hat-trick of birdies from 11-13 catapulted her up the leaderboard.
Another birdie at 16 gave her a sniff of before Kay steadied to ensure victory in a week it was also confirmed she would finish in the top two of the Karrie Webb Series.
That has earned her $10,000 towards tournament and training expenses this year while she will also get the rare chance to join 41-time LPGA Tour winner Webb at the Women’s US Open, which is to be staged at Trump National at New Jersey in July.
"I am so excited – Karrie Webb is my idol," Kay said of her fellow Queenslander who won the Bowra & O’Dea Women’s Classic in 1993.
"I don’t even know what to say, spending a week with her at the US Open – I’m so excited."
Kay will be joined in meeting Webb by fellow Queenslander Karis Davidson, whose defence of her Bowra & O’Dea title petered out on Wednesday as she finished in a tie for fifth place, eight strokes off the lead.
Kay and Davidson also left Perth with the Interstate Teams Event trophy after guiding Queensland to a nine-stroke win ahead of West Australian duo Rudgeley and Norris.
Sharon Dawson claimed back-to-back titles in the seniors' 54-hole event by nine strokes from fellow Lake Karrinyup member Catherine Witherow.
Dawson carded a final-round 84 to seal her second successive title and set her up to defend her WA Senior Amateur title at Wanneroo next week.
Carmen Palframan won the mid-amateur title.