McCook stars as Scots win trophy with the last putt

GRANTOWN'S Hannah McCook has admitted she could barely watch as teammate Gemma Batty sunk Scotland's Home Internationals' winning putt.

The Scots were playing hosts Ireland on the final day knowing they had to win by 6-3 points to claim victory on the countback – and that's exactly what happened.

McCook said: "Gemma holed a three foot putt to get that halve for us to win the competition. If we had not got that then we would have finished third overall; it was that close.

"I could hardly watch her take that last putt. I had faith in her that she could do it – it was nerve-wracking but she did really well."

And McCook, ever modest ever securing an emphatic 6&5 victory in her top singles match, observed: "I had finished my match quite early so I went out to watch the rest of the girls.

"I was way more nervous watching than I was playing because you are not in control of what is going on."

The Scots had beaten Wales on Wednesday, but lost narrowly 5-4 to England on Thursday before triumphing over the home team on Friday to end their long wait for the tournament win.

There is no rest for McCook who will next be in action at the English Women's Open Amateur Championship in Coventry from August 21-23.

She has also confirmed she will be taking part in the Ladies European Tour Qualifying School in Morocco in the late Autumn. It will go along to determine whether she turns professional or remains amateur.

If she progresses through pre-qualifying at Lalla Aicha Tour School then McCook will get some playing rights and the extent of that will depend on her final position in qualifying school. McCook said: "If I get through to the final stage I think I will go for it."

There was more good news for the Nethy golfer on Monday when it was confirmed she had been selected for Team Scotland in the World Amateur Team Championships taking place at the end of this month at Carton House in Ireland.

She will join Connie Jaffrey and Shannon McWilliam in competing for the famous Espirito Santo Trophy from August 29 to September 1. The event is a 72-hole stroke play competition with the best two scores each day, counting towards the team score.

Clare Queen, Scottish Golf Performance Director: "This is a tremendous opportunity for all these players because, for the most part, it will be the strongest field they will have played in and a world championships is the ultimate test in any sport. It is always difficult to select a squad but we look at the results not just this season but year-on-year and examine stroke averages."

Troon Ladies' Connie Jaffrey earned automatic selection as the top Scottish female on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (124th) after a successful final year at Kansas State University which included two wins. McCook and Aboyne's Shannon McWilliam earned selectors' picks. McCook produced some top early season form to win the Irish and Welsh Ladies Open Championships, while McWilliam represented team GB&I in the Curtis Cup in June and won the Border Championship in South Africa in February.