AXMINSTER’S Sophie Keech announced her intentions of becoming one of Europe’s elite female golfers with a magnificent fourth place finish at the Elisefarm Ladies Open in Sweden.

After a solid start in the first round, Keech, a former junior at Lyme Regis, rallied on the last three holes on day one with successive birdies to take her into fourth place.

From this point Keech never left the top 10 and consistently threatened the lead. The drama unfolded on the final round as 10 ladies found themselves all with a chance of winning the event, with only two shots separating the leading group.

She mixed it with the current highest ranked LET Access Tour leaders in Sarah Schober (Austria) and Sanna Nuutinen (Finland), but never left the drama at the right end of the leaderboard.

On the final nail-biting day, Keech parred the first six holes, but a dropped shot at seven was soon recovered with birdie at nine.

Holes 10 through to 12 had proved a stumbling block for many this week, however, Keech gained a magnificent rare birdie at 10 to give her the tournament lead.

The excitement was felt at home, as family and friends went online or followed social media to follow a live hole-by-hole scoreboard via the LET Access website.

Alas, it wasn’t to be as a dropped shot at 11, and a late rally from eventual winner Laura Murray (Scotland) proved decisive.

Keech couldn’t quite manage to find the birdies in the last several holes to get back to the leaders, but a fourth-place finish announced her presence on this European stage.

The result gave her 2,050 ranking points in the LET Access Series which has lifted her to 45th place out of 160 qualifying points scorers for the season.

She then managed a respectable 25th at the Nordictrack Open De Strasbourg a week later.

Keech is currently looking for sponsors to help her make her way on the circuit. If you’re interested contact Lisa Keech via lisakeech@btinternet.com