Richard Heath has won the European Mid-Amateur Men's Championship in Finland. The Australian, who won the event in 2015, made seven birdies in the final round at St. Laurence Golf to card a six-under-par 66 and claim an eight-stroke margin of victory.
Heath added to his opening 69 (-3) with a 68 on day two to reach seven-under-par, leaving him a two-shot advantage over France's Christophe de Grancey heading into the last day. After making five birdies to shoot 31 on the outward nine of the final round, Heath would take a six shot lead into the last nine holes.
Despite making just his third bogey of the week on the 17th hole, two other birdies on the back-nine meant Heath finished with a total score of 13-under-par, eight shots ahead of Germany's Daniel Schmieding.
”It was quite a day, I felt like everything just clicked into place." said Heath. "I think my game started going in the right direction last week at the Swiss Mid-Am, and I just continued the good form this week.”
”I never miss the chance to come to Finland – I love the country and the people here. And what a magnificent course we played”.
Schmieding also carded a 66 in the final round, which climbed him from 10th to second, earning him a silver medal.
Christophe de Grancey could only manage a score of level-par on the last day, during which all of the other players in the top-10 were under-par, however it was enough to finish third and take home a bronze medal.
In the ladies' event, Myrte Eikenaar became the first ever player to be crowned the European Mid-Amateur Ladies' Champion. After an opening round of level-par gave the Dutch player the lead, the eventual champion struggled on day two, carding an eight-over-par 80 to drop to two strokes behind Germany's Nina Birken.
Despite still being one shot behind with just nine holes to play, Eikenaar shot two-under-par on the back-nine to finish on six-over-par and win by two shots.
”The course challenged us until the end but I’m happy about my score today” said Eikenaar.
”I’m especially happy that we ladies got to play – I actually contacted the EGA about it last year. I’ll definitely be back next year, the atmosphere has been amazing all week!”
Nina Birken claimed the silver medal with a score of eight-over-par, while France's Amandine Vincent was awarded the bronze medal with a score of 10-over-par.