Scotland has real girl power in Hannah Darling and Grace Crawford

These are giddy times for girls’ golf in Scotland. Still only 18, Hannah Darling sits just outside the top 10 in the Women’s Amateur Golf Ranking and now 15-year-old Grace Crawford looks as though she is another star in the making.

Her mighty-impressive weekend win in the Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Open was the first by a home player in an event concluding at Royal Troon after two opening circuits on Troon Portland since Heather Stirling did the trick 20 years ago.

Crawford joins talented duo Leona Maguire (2009) and Pia Babnik (2019) as fairly recent winners on the Ayrshire coast, where the prize was also landed by Catriona Lambert (before she became Matthew) in 1990.

“Great win,” wrote two-time winning Solheim Cup captain Matthew in a post on Twitter in being one of the first to congratulate fellow North Berwick player Crawford on her four-shot success on Sunday. “Very happy for you.”

It’s been known for some time in East Lothian that Crawford, a Stephen Gallacher Foundation ambassador, was an exciting young talent, having claimed lots of junior titles from as early as eight-years-old.

It was only a matter of time before she landed something big and, thanks to a closing four-under 68 on Royal Troon, that was delivered in style as Crawford was the only player to finish in red figures after 54 holes.

Last autumn, Crawford was absolutely delighted to be handed a last-minute opportunity to take up a spot in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.

Shortly after that, she headed out to the Bahamas to become a new member of the Albany Golf Academy, an elite training programme based at the venue for the Hero World Challenge.

That’s a long way from home for a teenager, but, having bumped