Cath Rawthore
Cheshire’s Cath Rawthore won a ‘nip and tuck’ battle to become the new English senior women’s stroke play champion at Knaresborough in Yorkshire.
The Sale player finished the 54-hole event one stroke ahead of playing partner Amanda Mayne of Somerset and said: “I am just thrilled. “It’s my mum’s birthday and I told her I’d call this evening and that I might have a special birthday present for her. But I really didn’t dream I would do it.”
Cath actually stacked the odds against herself when she was preparing to play and snapped her hand with the elastic strap on her trolley, badly bruising a finger. But, in a classic case of ‘beware the injured golfer’ she went out to win. “It’s really bruised and it’s quite uncomfortable to grip. But I took a couple of paracetamol and then the adrenalin clicked in.” Cath shot two over 77 in the final round and finished on three-over par for the championship.
Amanda, who at one point trailed by four shots, narrowed the final gap to one, returning a score of 78. Three shots further back in joint third place were Cheshire’s Caroline Berry – who shot the low score of the day with a one-under 74 – and Norfolk’s Jo Ashmore.
Cheshire – represented by Caroline Berry and Cath Rawthore – won the trophy for the best county team score. “It was a fantastic match, it felt just like a match and it was real nip and tuck, it was absolutely brilliant,” said Cath. “The whole week has been absolutely lovely and the club members have all been so warm and chatty.”
