Hannah Darling beats Europe's best to claim Under-16 Open

Hannah Darling won the inaugural Girls Under-16 Open

The 14-year-old sealed her victory in Yorkshire in style by holing a 40-foot birdie putt at the last in the 54-hole event introduced this season by the R&A.

Darling, who became the youngest Scottish Girls’ champion at Scotscraig last year when she was still 13, followed an opening 74 with a pair of 72s for a four-under-par total.

She finished two shots ahead of Ireland’s Beth Coulter, with Swiss player Elena Moosmann a further two strokes back in third.

The 90-strong field involved players from all over Europe and Darling said of her victory: “I’m so happy. All the Scottish squad members are here, so I couldn’t be happier.

“I’ve had good performances in the last few weeks but to come here and win is so good.

“I dropped some early shots but it was great to fight back and almost make an eagle on the 11th.

“I was very happy with the 18th, hit a really good putt from over 40 foot for birdie.

“The competition has been amazing and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Grace Crawford, another rising star in the Lothians, also gave a good account of herself in the event.

The Gullane youngster was pipped by a shot in the under-12 section after carding rounds of 80-77-79, finishing 26th overall.lf