Girls' Amateur

Naughton and Reitter tee up Final showdown in Girls’ Amateur at Conwy

The R&A

15 Aug 25

6 mins

Lily Reitter celebrates reaching the Final of the Girls' Amateur Championship

England’s Charlotte Naughton and Lily Reitter (above) of France will contest the 36-hole Final of the Girls’ Amateur Championship at Conwy.

On another day of compelling competition over the sun-soaked links on the North Wales coast, Naughton and Reitter emerged as the last two standing and will battle it out for one of the most prestigious titles in the unpaid game. Naughton, the 17-year-old who won the German Girls’ International Amateur Championship in May, booked her final berth with a hard-earned 3&2 win over Spain’s Nagore Martinez.

Strong start

Naughton took charge of affairs early on and was three up after six as Martinez sagged to a trio of bogeys. An eagle to win the 7^th, though, galvanised the Spaniard and her salvage operation gathered pace with a birdie on the 9^th. When Martinez made another birdie on the 12^th, the tussle was all-square. The pendulum swung back in Naughton’s favour on the 13^th when she executed a tremendous up-and-down from a plugged lie in the bunker to save her par. Martinez three-putted to fall one behind again. “That was the shot of my life,” said Naughton as she underlined the significance of her act of escapology from the sand. Naughton upped the ante with a birdie on the long 14^th before rolling in a nerveless seven-footer for par on the 15^th. When Martinez missed from just inside her, Naughton had one foot in the Final.

Key putt

“That putt just went in, and it was a very important one to get that cushion,” noted Naughton, who would seal the deal on the 16^th green. “It was a very up-and-down game,” she added. “Nagore came back at me but I just hung in there and got through it. I’m very happy. I’ve probably exceeded my expectations by getting this far. Anything is possible now but there’s a lot of golf to be played yet.”

Charlotte Naughton in the semi-finals of the Girls' Amateur Championship

Charlotte Naughton was thrilled to progress to the Final at Conwy

Reitter, aiming to become the first French player to win the Girls’ Amateur Championship since Perrine Delacour in 2009, secured her place in the Final with a tense, one-hole win over Sabrina Wong. Two down through seven, Reitter reeled off three birdies around the turn to haul herself level. The 16-year-old fell behind again to a Wong birdie on the 14^th before an absorbing duel unravelled on the home straight.

Wong hopes dashed

Wong, who was bidding to become the first 13-year-old to win the Girls’ title since Nancy Jupp back in 1934, hadn’t made a bogey all day but two would arrive at the worst possible time. Wong lost her lead when her par putt on the 16^th lipped out. With nerves jangling, the Glasgow-based Hong Kong, China golfer then launched her drive on the 18th into a bush down the right of the fairway and had to take a drop. It was a cruel way for Wong’s campaign to end as she stumbled to a closing bogey. For a jubilant Reitter, however, a trying season may yet have a silver lining. “I haven’t been playing great this season so this is a big confidence booster,” said the Florida-based French girl. “I won the French International under-21s last year and since then I went into a dip. I even missed the cut defending that title this year so that was disappointing. To be back in contention for a big trophy again has energised me. Once you win something you want more.”

French support

Reitter’s push for glory was urged on from the sidelines by the French national coach, Marine Monnet, who won the Girls’ Amateur back in 1996. “It gives me extra motivation to have her and the rest of the team here,” she said of the support. “The locals have been great too. We’ve been playing a lot of golf this week, so their clapping keeps us going.” Earlier in the day, Reitter was a 7&5 winner over Olivia Holmberg of Sweden in the quarter-finals. Never behind, Reitter threw an eagle and three birdies into the mix as she cruised to victory. Naughton, meanwhile, eased into the last-four with a 3&2 win over Melliyal Schmitt of France. Schmitt bogeyed the 1^st hole to fall behind and Naughton birdied the 5^th and seventh to move three ahead. A classy display was polished off with four birdies in a row from the 12^th. Saturday’s showpiece will be the first France versus England final since the aforementioned Delacour beat Elizabeth Mallet at West Lancashire in 2009.

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