TOP teenage golfer Emily Price has made the perfect start to the year by winning her first three events.

The 16-year-old from Cleobury Mortimer Golf Club stormed to a five-shot victory in the Whittington Ladies’ Trophy – her first ever ladies competition.

Price, a former English u15 girls’ champion, was three-under for the 36 holes at Whittington Heath in Staffordshire and the only player to beat par in demanding weather conditions of gusting winds and rain.

“I was a bit surprised, there were some good players there and I wasn’t the lowest handicap,” she said.

“I just kept my head down and did what I had to do, played the course and no-one else.

“I played really well in the first round but annoyingly I made seven birdies, four bogeys and one double and finished one-under. There were a few mental errors that needed correcting, like club choice in the wind.

“I talked to my coach and my dad at lunch about what was going well and what could be improved in the wind and I played better – but I didn’t hole as many putts.

“Overall, though, the result was reward for a great deal of hard winter work on putting. “It was the weak part of my game and I’ve improved it so much over the winter and that was a massive part of the win.”

The member of the England Golf girls’ squad who has represented both England and GB&I at U16 level, followed up her debut win with victory at the Leveret, staged at the Formby Ladies GC.

She took top spot by just one stroke from Curtis Cup squad member Rochelle Morris (Woodsome Hall) and was the only player to beat par in difficult wet and windy conditions shooting rounds of 72 and 69.

And she made it a hat-trick of victories by winning the prestigious Scottish Girls’ Open Championship at Strathmore.

After carding two level par rounds she stormed through the leaderboard on the final day with four birdies and an eagle for a 69 and three-under par for the event.

That was enough to force a play-off with joint overnight leader Annabell Fuller (Roehampton) but it took only one hole for Price to claim the honours after she birdied the 16th.

She added: ““I was a bit nervous but excited about the play-off so to keep my head and then hole a putt for the birdie was just unbelievable and I’m really happy.”

Dave Pain, Cleobury Mortimer’s Director of Golf, said: “These wins, although very impressive, come as no real surprise to us here at the golf club.

“Emily certainly puts the hours in for her practice routines. All winter, rain or shine, she has been out on the putting green, short game area and course working tirelessly on her game.

“We are all delighted and very proud of her achievements and putting not only the club on the map, but the whole of Shropshire.”