Norway’s Marianne Skarpnord held her nerve to win the Oates Victorian Open at the place she now calls home, 13th Beach Golf Links, Barwon Heads.
Skarpnord carded rounds of 70, 68, 68 and 73 to finish at 13-under-par and three clear of England’s Holly Clyburn (73) and Victorian Su Oh (72). Sharing fourth place was Rachel Hetherington (69) and Rebecca Artis (71).
The three time Ladies European Tour winner didn’t have an easy time of it, as pressure came, primarily from Oh.
“I was struggling a bit today. I just couldn’t get the ball in the hole. I had some great chances in the front nine and missed them… 10,11 had good chances and I just didn’t take them. To be honest I got a bit nervous out there because Su was playing really, really well. She is a great player and just fantastic to play with. I’m sure it’s not going to take long before she’s got the trophies. She’s going to be really good.”
When asked how it felt to win, she responded with a massive smile: “It feels great… I’m not going to say anything but it might be a double. Fingers crossed. That would be… I can’t even describe it… awesome.”
It was indeed a double for the champion, as her fiancé, Richard Green won the men’s Vic Open title in a playoff over Nick Cullen.
“It is like a dream coming true, a fairy tale. This week has been unreal, first we got engaged last week, moved into the house on Monday, he had an albatross on Wednesday, and here we are today winners, so don’t think I can ask for anything more.”
