Mount Lawley power to Women’s Pennants Division 1 crown

28th Jun 2023

2023 Div 1 Women's Pennants

Mount Lawley made a successful defence of their Women’s Pennants Division 1 title with a comprehensive victory over Royal Perth in the final.

After coasting through the qualifying rounds with five wins out of five, Mount Lawley were hot favourites to retain their title at The Western Australian Golf Club, and they proved too strong for their plucky opponents, running out 6.5-0.5 winners.

Mount Lawley’s youthful final lineup had an average age of just 15, but many are hardened competitors at the highest levels of junior golf making them formidable opponents who never know when they are beaten.

Despite being two holes down early, Ruby Cotton accelerated away from the experienced Dawn Nosworthy to post the first point of the day with a 5&4 victory. She was swiftly followed by Aileen Sirait, who recorded the biggest win of the day – 6&5 – over Cheryl Dearlove.

Thirteen-year-old Kortni Houston – the youngest player in the Mount Lawley line-up – again brought her A-Game to proceedings as she reeled off a 5&4 victory over Minke Terblanche, while team-mates Valerie Khuu and Isabella Leniartek were also in scintillating form to deliver respective 4&2 and 5&3 wins over Yeah-Jin Lee and Aiyana Morris.

Amanda Gan served up Mount Lawley’s sixth point with a 5&3 defeat of Royal Perth skipper Mai Julius, while Erina Tan came back from 2 down with 6 to play against forming touring pro Kristie Jones to halve the final match and ensure Mount Lawley went unbeaten in the final.

Mount Lawley Team Manager Sue Thompson was delighted with the success of her charges, saying: “Royal Perth are a talented and determined team, and the only team to have beaten us in the past six Pennats finals, so we knew they would throw down a challenge.

“Congratulations to everyone involved with this amazing team. We have now won six times in the past seven seasons and with the players we currently have, and those waiting in the wings, the future seems extremely bright.”

Neil Goddard, GolfWA’s Operations Manager added: “Mount Lawley remains the team to beat in Women’s Pennants. Six titles in seven years is a remarkable achievement. We congratulate them and also Royal Perth, who produced some exceptional golf to reach the final.”

Throughout the Pennants season, Mount Lawley were represented by Erina Tan, Amanda Gan, Isabella Leniartek, Valerie Khuu, Kortni Houston, Aileen Sirait, Ruby Cotton, Sophie Williams, Georgia Sanderson and Alison Coffey. Of those, Valerie, Kortni and Ruby went undefeated throughout.

In the overall Division 1 table, Gosnells claimed third place ahead of Joondalup, Lake Karrinyup and The Western Australian Golf Club.