McDonald defeats Carla Burns to make it two-in-a-row with victory at Pollok
Carly McDonald today retained the Scottish Girls’ Amateur Championship and further enhanced her reputation as one of golf’s rising stars.
The 15-year-old from St Andrews defeated Douglas Park Golf Club’s Carla Burns in a thrilling final at Pollok Golf Club on Glasgow’s southside.
McDonald – who won this title for the first time a year ago at Kings Golf Club in Inverness and followed that up by winning the 2026 Scottish Girls’ Open and then the R&A’s Under 16 Girls’ title – was in sparkling form over the three days and proved to be a deserving winner.
By winning back-to-back titles, McDonald follows previous champions including Hannah Darling and Carly Booth by winning two years on the spin.
The margin of victory in the final against 14-year-old Burns was 4&3, but McDonald had to dig deep to win.
With Burns one up through six holes, McDonald then reeled off three wins in a row to take control and dent the chances of her rival.
After lifting the trophy, McDonald said:
“I’m delighted to win – it’s so cool to do it back-to-back.
“I’ve played well all week but was just trying to take it one match at a time and I’m delighted to have got here and won.”
Having qualified as the second seed from the 36-hole stroke play qualifying after rounds of 71 and 67 for a total of 138 (-8), McDonald a had a tough route to the final.
STROKE PLAY QUALIFYING – RESULTS
Deeside’s Amy Blackadder was beaten in the round of 16 before a quarter-final win against Scotland team-mate Melissa Keay.
The semi-final was a repeat of last year’s final against Blairgowrie’s Stella Walters – McDonald winning a tough match on the 17th.
Then came the final against Burns (pictured above) who exceeded her own expectations by making the final after qualifying as 13th seed and then playing the underdog to win against three Scotland players in Holly McKenzie, Abigail May and Hannah Ounap.
McDonald was thrilled to beat such a feisty competitor and added:
“I’m really proud because Stella and Carla are both really good golfers, we were all a lot under par and it was a really good standard.
“I had a good match with Carla and good chat as well so I really enjoyed myself.”
The final was a fitting climax to three days of superb competition.
In the stroke play qualifying, Ounap (pictured below) led the way with two brilliant rounds.
The Loudoun golfer posted two scores of 67 for an aggregate score of 134 (-12). The 17-year-old rolled in 15 birdies in 36 holes to underline her quality
However, as often happens, the first seed doesn’t then have things all her own way in the match play.
Burns’ 4&2 win in the semi-final showed that.
For McDonald, the trophy cabinet at home may be needing an extension!
“It’s filling up!” she joked.
“I’ve had a really great season so far and I’m really pleased with how I’ve been playing.
“I feel that I’ve improved a lot and really grown in confidence.
“Sharpening up on my game and better course management has really helped me to improve.
“I’ll just keep doing my best and see where that takes me.”
With the conditions at Pollok excellent for all three days and neighbouring club Cowglen supporting the event by allowing the players to use their excellent practice facilities and range, the championship was a huge success and produced a winner to match the playing environment.
In the Ansley Reid Salver (net) match play, Sophie Macintosh from Whitecraigs ran out the winner in the final against Murrayfield’s Rita Murphy.
* The 2027 Scottish Girls’ Amateur Championship will be held at Peebles Golf Club.
