Liz Pengelly wins the Ladies Club Championship at Rutland Water Golf Club

Liz Pengelly edged a close contest to claim victory in the Ladies Club Championship at Rutland Water on Sunday.

She narrowly pipped runner-up Marion Clarke by one shot to take the title and complete a hat-trick of successes in the competition.

After the excellent standard produced by the men in their version a couple of weeks ago, the ladies repeated the feat after delivering some great golf.

In a small but select field, teeing off in handicap order, it became a tight two horse race contested by Pengelly and Clarke.

After the first five holes, Pengelly had gained a one stroke advantage and was only one over par with a birdie three on hole five being the highlight.

Clarke came back with three pars in a row on holes six to eight and, after nine holes, she was one shot clear after an impressive four over par gross on the front nine.

A couple of double bogeys early into the back nine somewhat hindered her, and with Pengelly playing consistently, she regained the advantage.

A solid par on the course’s most difficult hole 15 led to a one stroke advantage again.

With three holes to play, Pengelly matched Clarke’s score on each of them to see out a hard-fought one stroke victory with final gross scores of 83 to 84 respectively.

The two have dominated the event over the past few years and look forward to more close battles in the future.

In the nett division, it was 2019 ladies captain Sue Clark who took the spoils with a magnificent score of 88 for a nett 65 playing off her 23 handicap.

This was good enough for a two-shot victory over Liz Pengelly who posted a nett 67.

Nicky Lomas was third with a solid nett 69 in what was another great event for Rutland Water’s ladies whose section goes from strength-to-strength.