Scottish women's champ Gemma Batty happy to stay as amateur

The West Linton member beat Craigielaw’s Gabrielle Macdonald by one hole in Saturday’s final at Elie, adding to her success in the English equivalent in 2016.

“It was early last year when I was going through a rough spell,” said Batty of when she ruled out pursuing a career in the paid ranks. “I wouldn’t say I had fallen out of love with the game, but I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I should have been.

“I’d been putting myself under too much pressure playing golf and that’s when I started to look at graduate schemes.”

The newly-turned 24-year-old starts with supermarket chain Lidl later in the year and added: “I’m happy with the decision I’ve made and I will come and play in the Scottish Women’s Championship as long as I can.”