Elm Park’s Anna Foster defied winds gusting over 35 mph and dumped out Sweden’s Meja Ortengren with a sensational par save at the 19th to move into Friday’s quarter-finals of the Women’s Amateur Championship at Portmarnock.
On a day when the world’s best amateurs struggled to deal with the high west wind and world number one and title favourite Lottie Woad crashed out to Denmark’s Marie Eline Madsen in the last 16, Foster (22) kept the home flag flying with two gusty victories.
In the second round, where Douglas’ Sara Byrne struggled like the rest of the field in the wind and lost 4&2 to last year’s runner-up Annabelle Pancake of the US, Auburn University graduate Foster hung tough.
She produced some sensational golf down the stretch to beat Iceland’s Andrea Bergsdottir 2&1, coming back from one down at the turn and all square with three to play to win on the 17th after she followed key par saves at the 13th and 14th with wins at the 15th and 16th to go two-up.
She closed out that match with a par at the 17th, and her play down the stretch gave her momentum for her clash with world number nine Ortengren, who was second to Woad in qualifying.
The Swede was two up after nine holes, but Foster remained patient and went birdie-par-birdie from the 12th to claim the lead.
Ortengren won the 16th with a conceded birdie after Foster’s third shot left under a gorse bush.
But while the Dubliner lost the 17th to a par, she won the 18th with a bogey five to take the match to extra holes and closed it out with a brilliant, par-saving chip to two feet at the 19th after Ortengren took four to find the green.
“It was so tough today; you just really had to stay so positive, and you couldn’t really get down on yourself because every shot was such a tough shot,” a relieved Foster said.