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Ireland's Lisa Maguire (Slieve Russell) created history on Saturday by becoming the first Irish player to capture the European Ladies Individual Championship, played at Noordwijk Golf Club in the Netherlands, 20-23 July 2011.
Over the challenging par 72 links course, Lisa, the Spanish Amateur Champion, made a solid start to her tournament with an opening round of 73. She followed this with a new course record of 68 in the second round, which included a 2 on the par 4 5th, thanks to holing a superb wedge shot from the middle of the fairway.
Day 3 saw competitors face strong winds with Lisa struggling on the outward nine and finding herself 3 over par. However, Lisa showed her determination to take the title by returning in two under par to sign for another round of 73. This was again one of the best scores of the day and gave her a 4 shot lead over France's Perrine Delacour with one round remaining.
The final round was played in brutal conditions with near gale force winds being recorded. Lisa maintained her composure to jump to a 7 shot lead with nine holes of the tournament remaining and although Denmark's Charlotte Kring Lorentzen did reduced the deficit to just 3 shots after the 13th, Lisa produced regulation pars over the closing holes to take the European Individual title with a 5 over par total of 293.
A magnificent week for the Irish contingent was rounded off by Stephanie Meadow (Royal Portrush) producing a highly impressive closing round of 73 to jump into second place on 297 and claim the silver medal. Charlotte Kring Lorentzen (Denmark) seperated an Irish top three by finishing on +10, with Leona Maguire in fourth place on +12, while Danielle McVeigh (Royal Co. Down Ladies) secured a highly creditable top 20 finish in the field of Europe's elite female amateur golfers.
Lisa, Leona, Stephanie and Danielle will all now turn their attention to the Ladies Irish Open where they will test themselves against a professional field when the event takes place at Killeen Castle, 5-7 August 2011.
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