NORTH Berwick golf ace Clara Young missed out on a second Scottish Women’s Amateur title after defeat to Connie Jaffrey at Royal Aberdeen on Sunday.

The Troon Ladies’ star beat Young, the 2015 champion, by two holes in an exciting climax to an event dogged by bad weather.

Kansas State University student Jaffrey used a brilliant short game – single putts on the first four greens and six one-putt greens on the outward half – to surge five up at the turn, having gone out in four under par with birdies at the first, fourth, sixth and ninth.

Young (pictured, by Derek McCabe) did not win a hole until the 11th but it triggered off a two-under-par run which saw her win five in a row to fight back into contention.

She squared the match on the 15th green but her revival was short-lived as she bogeyed the 16th to go one down again and then was plugged in the thick and wet rough with her second shot at the 18th, moving the ball only a few feet, and eventually conceded Jaffrey a 10-feet birdie putt to go down by two holes.

Young, who won the St Rule Trophy last week, was upbeat despite defeat and said: “What a superb course and it stayed in excellent condition despite the rain almost every day.

“I had never played it before this week, but I would love to come back.”

Jaffrey, meanwhile, said she was “extremely proud” of winning the trophy, having lost her previous final to East Lothian ace Gabrielle MacDonald of Craigielaw in 2014.

She added: “The key to my success this week was definitely my short game and putting.

“I holed a number of putts that were crucial throughout matches this week.”