LUDLOW Golf Club’s Tara Rodenhurst warmed up for her American odyssey with victory in the Strathtyrum Trophy at the iconic St Andrews, Scotland.

Rodenhurst, who will soon be jetting off to Kentucky in the United States to begin a golf scholarship, battled through a competitive field before securing a four-and-three victory over Martine Pow to take the top prize.

The ladies’ tournament, first played in 1989, was started to complement the success of the men’s Eden Tournament and attracts many competitors from across the UK and overseas.

Rodenhurst first had to negotiate two rounds of stroke play from which the top 32 gross scores qualified for the scratch match play knockout stages.

Having qualified in ninth place despite some very tough conditions, Ludlow’s three-handicapper progressed comfortably through her first two knockout rounds with five-and-four and two-and-one victories.

Six-time winner Karen Marshall (scratch) was next up in the last eight but Rodenhurst was on a roll and ousted her illustrious opponent with a two-and-one success.

The task got no easier in the semi-final with 2014 champion Ann Ramsay (scratch) providing the opposition but odenhurst flew out of the traps to go three up.

Ramsay soon showed her mettle and levelled the clash, forcing an extra-hole decider which in spite of seeing her lead evaporate, Rodenhurst won.

Scratch handicapper Pow had also hit the final in fine form following a six-and-five triumph in her semi-final but the determined Rodenhurst again got off to a flyer and refused to relinquish her advantage this time.

Victory saw her follow in the footsteps of Ollie Farr, who was victorious in the men’s event in 2006 before going on to achieve success on the Challenge Tour and compete on the European Tour.

In this year’s Eden Trophy, Dave Fish and Alan Meyrick were vying for more Ludlow success, participating in the same high winds and testing conditions,

Fish shot superb rounds of gross 73 and 70 to qualify in third place for the scratch knockout stages with Meyrick qualifying for the handicap match play with net scores of 73 and 76.

Both men went on to lose their first-round matches but Fish’s excellent scores in the stroke play, which equated to four under par (70 and 67), made him the winner of the Duke Of York Trophy for the best 36-hole net score.

First played some 96 years ago in 1919, the Eden Tournament became one of the most important events in the Scottish calendar and has remained a popular amateur event for many local and visiting golfers to St Andrews.

For more than a decade, Ludlow members have made the trip. This year, Richard Rodgers, Oliver Lewis, John Evans, Will Evans and George Watton also journeyed up but failed to qualify from the stroke play stage.

The club’s newsletter read: “Well done to them all and we thank them for representing Ludlow Golf Club so proudly.”