Hannah Darling storms into last eight in Girls Amateur at Fulford

Hannah Darling swept into the quarter-finals of the Girls Amateur Championship after producing two impressive displays at Fulford

Broomieknowe's Hannah Darling is through to the last eight in the Girls Amateur Championship at Fulford. Picture: Scottish Golf

Buoyed from being picked for the GB&I Curtis Cup team earlier in the week, the 18-year-old Broomieknowe player was not taken past the 14th hole in comfortable wins over England’s Faye Wheatley (5&4) and Welsh player Darcy Harry (6&5).

“I feel like I did everything well today, even with a few missed chances,” said Darling, who won the inaugural R&A Girls Under-16 Open at the same venue in 2018.

“I was happy enough to get the last-16 tie won pretty early, so it’s an early meal, early to bed and ready for tomorrow.”

Darling’s opponent in the last eight is England’s Ava Bates, with the players still standing including Ireland’s Beth Coulter, who beat top see Rachel Gourley 2&1 in the last 16.

In the Boys’ Amateur at Royal Cinque Ports in Kent, Nairn’s Calum Scott, Cameron Adam from Royal Burgess and Blairgowrie’s Gregor Graham are among a posse of Scots through to the last 32.

Alex Turlik (Muckhart), Aidan O’Hagan (Old Ranfurly), Daniel Bullen (Auchterarder), Oliver Mukherjee (Gullane) and Ross Laird (Glenbervie) also progressed, as did US-based Scot Niall Shiels Donegan.

“I had nothing to lose,” said Shiels Donegan, who recovered from being three down early on to beat the second seed, Close House-based Scot Jamie Mann, on the last green.

“I tried to go at every pin I could and thought ‘just don’t lose it because this is such a great opportunity’.

“We’re good friends with (caddie) Craig Connelly. He told me to play the course, don’t play the man, and it was a great help.’’

A message from the Editor:

Get a year of unlimited access to all of The Scotsman's sport coverage without the need for a full subscription. Expert analysis, exclusive interviews, live blogs, and 70 per cent fewer ads on Scotsman.com - all for less than £1 a week. Subscribe to us today https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions