England international Annabel Dimmock (pictured) has scored the biggest win of her career with a one-hole victory in the final of the Jones Doherty Cup, the final individual event on the 2014 Orange Blossom Tour in Florida.
The 17-year-old from Wentworth is the second English player to win this prestigious matchplay event in the last three years, following in the footsteps of Charley Hull, who took the title in 2011.
Annabel, who was seeded fifth, romped through the championship at the Coral Ridge County Club, winning her first three matches by wide margins - 6/4, 5/3, 6/4 - and defeating the top seed in the semi-finals.
The final proved more testing and went the full 18 holes before she defeated the third seed, Isabella DiLiso from Florida, by one hole. Annabel was down after the first two holes, but she was soon back on level terms and for the rest of the tight match she mostly held the advantage. "I just grinded it out," she said.
Annabel's win puts the seal on a very successful performance on the Orange Blossom Tour. Last week she was runner-up in the SALLY, the South Atlantic women's amateur championship on the Orange Blossom Tour in Florida. In the previous week's tournament, the Harder Hall Invitational, she finished 14th.
Her success will propel her up the world rankings and boost her hopes of Curtis Cup selection. The top four in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) will gain automatic selection to the team, as will the top two in the LGU Order of Merit who have not qualified through the WAGR.
Annabel made her debut for the England ladies' team in last year's Home Internationals and was also in England's winning team at the Girls' Home Internationals. She was runner-up in the English girls' championship and reached final qualifying for the 2013 women's British Open.
Annabel knocked out the No 1 seed, Marisa Messana by 6 and 4 in the semi-finals.
Annabel Dimmock and Kelsey MacDonald eye up a putt on way to victory (Photo CAL CARSONGOLF AGENCY
Kelsey MacDonald, now a tour pro but a winner on the Orange Blossom Tour herself when she made the trip more than once as a Stirling student, caddied for Annabel in both the Jones Doherty Challenge Cup and "The Sally."
Annabel's World Amateur Ranking is bound to soar with these back-to-back performances and her hopes of making it into the GB and I team to defend the Curtis Cup at St Louis, Missouri in June have soared.
The top four in the WAGR will gain automatic selection.
So too will the top two in the LGU Order of Merit who have not qualified through the WAGR.
The last two places in the team of eight, to be captain again by Tegwen Matthews, will be chosen by the LGU Selection Panel.
Notes for Readers:- England Golf is the governing body for amateur golf in England.
England Golf was formed on 1st January 2012 following the merger of the English Golf Union Ltd. and the English Women's Golf Association and is one of the largest sports governing bodies in England looking after the interests of over 1,900 golf clubs and 770,000 men and women club members.
Responsible for the training of the country's top amateur golfers, England Golf also organises all the major English amateur championships. England Golf works to actively encourage new golfers and increase the continued interest and participation in golf through its golf development initiative 'Get into Golf'.
England Golf is a member of The England Golf Partnership (EGP) together with the PGA and supported by the Golf Foundation and Sport England. Their Whole Sport Plan for golf identifies how England will achieve its vision of becoming 'The Leading Golf Nation in the World by 2020' from grass roots right through to elite level.
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