Hot-shot golfer Fiona Crossley's dream of a career in the professional ranks have been given another boost after she landed a top trophy at the 'home of golf', writes Steve Carroll.

The 22-year-old shot 74 to scoop the Quaich Trophy at St Andrews Links earlier this month.

Fiona, whose father David owns Forest Park Golf Club in Stockton-on-the-Forest, triumphed on the par 69 Strathtyrum course at the famous Scottish links.

Earlier, she had only narrowly failed to qualify for the final match play rounds of the St Andrews Trophy after an eight on the 18th saw her card a round of 77 - missing out on the latter stages by just one shot.

But the six-handicapper bounced back in fine style with her performance in the Quaich. The 18-hole competition was open to women golfers aged under 23 with a handicap under nine.

Fiona, who has been playing golf seriously for the past two years, said she was delighted to win.

"I was very pleased," she said. "Last year, I won quite a lot of club trophies but it was great to win this one."

Only 12 months ago, Fiona was highlighted as one of the region's top golfers after sweeping to victory in the coveted Yorkshire Ladies Challenge Bowl at Filey Golf Club.

Now Fiona, who practices every day at the 27-hole Forest Park complex, is looking to trim even more shots from a handicap which has been cut from ten to six in only a year.

She said: "I want to get down to four by the end of the season and hopefully I will be at scratch next year."

Mark Winterburn, the PGA professional at Forest Park, revealed that Fiona had been concentrating much more on her short game in recent weeks.

"She has played fairly consistently all year," he said. "But she had been letting herself down a bit with her short game.

"We have been working on her putting and concentrating more on that and it has definitely worked."

Updated: 08:47 Saturday, August 09, 2003