Panton-Lewis bounces back to clinch Chestfield triumph

Catherine Panton-Lewis gave herself an early birthday present by winning the third WPGA One Day Series event at Chestfield Golf Club.

And the victory went some way to making up for missing out on qualifying for the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship by one shot at Little Aston earlier in May.

A founder member of the Ladies European Tour 35 years ago, Berkshire Golf Club’s Panton-Lewis carded a level par round of 71 at the Kent venue.

But she tied at the top of the leaderboard with 16-year-old amateur player Charlotte West, from Amersham in Buckinghamshire, representing England Golf.

The WPGA has opened up entry to its One Day Series this year to elite amateur under-16 and under-18s girls to develop their skills in a tournament arena.

The pair finished two shots ahead of Keely Chiericato (Manston Golf Centre) and joint WPGA Order of Merit leaders Suzanne Dickens (Thorpe Wood Golf Course) and Claire Duffy (Test Valley Golf Club).

For Panton-Lewis, it was her first One Day Series points of the season.

“It’s my birthday in a couple of weeks’ time so I’m always aware that I’m having to outscore the younger players,” she said.

“At Chestfield, I was joint leader with a 16-year-old - there was almost a 43 year age gap between us!

“It’s good to have the England Golf players involved and adds to the competition.

“It was nice to win here, but I wanted to do well after missing out on the Glenmuir Final.

“I would’ve been able to go back and play up in Scotland where my family is from.

“It was all the more frustrating at Little Aston because I finished with two bogeys and failed to qualify by one shot.

“So this time, I wanted to play better and I did, I improved my putting and did quite well.”

Panton-Lewis plans to play two of the next three events to keep up her One Day Series Challenge..

The host club’s Professional Sara Alton finished the day in seventh after a four over par round of 75.