BALLYGALGET teenage golfing sensation Beth Coulter has done it again.
The 18 year-old Kirkistown Castle starlet won the AIG Irish Women’s Close Championship after a dominant display at Grange Golf Club, Co Dublin, last week.
She clinched the title with an emphatic 6&5 win over Sara Byrne, from Douglas GC, Co Cork.
The final was a repeat of the Irish Girls’ Close Championship final at Galway in 2019, where Coulter won her first national underage title.
“This is the third time I’ve played Sara in a final,” Beth remarked.
“I thought she was maybe going to go out and do it, third time lucky for her, but I got out of the blocks quickly and kept my foot on the pedal and thankfully it went my way.”
Beth won the Ulster Women’s Championship earlier this year and already has two Irish Girls’ Close Championships to her name.
She does intend to attempt to win a third Girls Close title later this summer at Kilkeel Golf Club, something that hasn’t been achieved since the late 90s.
Before then, however, Coulter has a run of International events, beginning with the Women’s Amateur Championship at Hunstaunton Golf Club in England.
“It’s been a marathon,’ she said. “It’s like I’ve been here for a week but it feels great after last year coming second and I’m delighted to finish the job. I’ll celebrate this tonight at home and get ready for the next one.”
Having qualified tied for 11th place after the stroke play rounds, Beth was unhappy with her performance, but switched her mindset heading into the match play where she really showed her form.
“I suppose in stroke play it’s all about qualifying and it doesn’t matter where you do it, 1st or 32nd,’ she said. ‘It was great to gain a bit of confidence from those early matches though and then go and finish.
Away from the golf course, Coulter is also a star on the camogie field.
She has won two Ulster Schools’ Camogie All-Stars and is a key member of the Ballygalget senior team.