The undulating Birr course may have to wait some time before another woman comes along and crushes it so comprehensively. Rebecca Coakley's 64 on Saturday, which added to her 70 and 71 finally gave her a six stroke winning margin in the Irish Ladies Open Strokeplay Championship, offered a glimpse of the future over the weekend.

The Irish girl, who lives in Adelaide, Australia, might easily have shot another score in the low 60s yesterday had her putting been as hot as it was in the first round. On the final few holes a three footer for par on the short 15th, a four footer for birdie on the 16th and a seven foot effort on the 297 metre 17th each slipped past and still she won by six shots.

"I just couldn't read the greens today. I couldn't see them at all and was missing the line," she said.

It is the 19-year-old's second tournament win this summer, having also won the Curragh Ladies Scratch Cup. Back to back eagles on Birr's sixth and seventh par fives broke the back of the front nine in her round of 64. Hitting a six iron to 10 feet and a five iron to 15 feet before a par, birdie, bridie finish gave Coakley a fine six-under par 30 to the turn before moving on to fashion what was to be a tournament winning first round score.

That aside, her 70 and 71 were still the best scores for the final two rounds, Cork's Claire Coughlan coming nearest with a 70 and 72 to add to her fine 69 opening round.

Born in Australia to father John and English mother Jane, Coakley was brought to Ireland when she was born but left to live in Australia when she was five. She now hopes to move back to Ireland at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.

"I come back nearly every summer and I'm hoping to come back for good maybe at the beginning of 2001. I'd love to play for Ireland. I'm thinking now of playing amateur for the next couple of years and then maybe turn professional," she said.

"But I'll need to have consistency and start scoring under the card. You can't win much money if you don't do that." The teenager has also won the South Australian Senior Championships and reached the last 16 of the British Amateur Championships.

Dundalk's Yvonne Cassidy in fourth place on 215 was another player to break 70 as was Hazel Kavanagh from The Grange. Kavanagh shot an excellent 68 yesterday to claim fifth place, one shot behind Cassidy.