County Down golfer Beth Coulter missed out on a second LET Access Tour victory in as many weeks after a bizarre play-off situation at the CSK Steel Women’s Open at HimmerLand Resort.
Coulter came into the Denmark event after winning the Irish Challenge at Malahide last week – her first event as a professional – and a final-round 75 saw her enter a sudden death play-off with Sweden’s Moa Svedenskiold and German amateur Lena Geier.
A bogey eliminated Geier at the first play-off hole, and it was at the next hole where the drama unfolded.
The Swede thought she had claimed the title after getting up and down from thick rough beside a greenside bunker, with Coulter unable to make par.
As Svedenskiold was mobbed in celebration, Coulter picked up her ball – however, Svedenskiold was informed minutes later by a rules official that she had been assessed a two-stroke penalty for unlawfully building a stance in the bunker.
That meant that she carded a double bogey, but Coulter was also assessed a one-stroke penalty for not finishing out. The Irish golfer was made to replace her ball on the green before tapping in for double bogey.
Two more play-off holes followed before Svedenskiold finally came out on top.