TEST Valley GC professional Claire Duffy got her season off to a fine start by winning a WPGA event in Cheshire.

The former Ladies European Tour player, pictured above, travelled to Dunham Forest Golf Club for the opening WPGA One Day Series event of 2014 and returned home happy as a two-under-par round of 70 gave her a one-shot victory.

Now Duffy, who held a European Tour card for 18 years and won numerous pro events including the South African Open, has been encouraged to play more events and build on her victory.

“I kept practising last winter, playing at least once a week, and I think I was rewarded for that,” she said. “Sometimes you can be a bit rusty early in the season, but I felt good and played OK.

“I wanted to see how it went before committing to the rest of the series, but my main aim is to qualify for the Glenmuir Women’s PGA Professional Championship at Blairgrowrie in Scotland as I’d love to play up there. There are only eight spots available, but I’d like to see if I can get in.

“Now I’d like to try and play as many one-day events as I can as well. When you have a background in competing you want to get out there as much as possible.”

Duffy was grateful that Dunham Forest escaped the bad weather and felt that the conditions helped her.

“I went there just looking to enjoy it, but I played a steady front nine and only made one bogey, at the 17th,” she said. “I wanted to make level par but I did better than that so I was happy.

“The course was excellent, a superb venue, and it’s just a joy to play at somewhere like that. I think it’s important to play as many of these events as possible otherwise you just don’t compete as much as you’d want.”