BRADFORD teenage star Olivia Hamilton was in an upbeat mood despite finishing bottom of an elite field in her final appearance as a junior at the 2016 Telegraph BMW Junior Golf Championship at Quinta do Lago in Portugal.

The Cleckheaton member was making a second successive appearance in the prestigious event but admitted afterwards that her preparations for the Algarve tournament had been far from ideal.

The 17-year-old from Oakenshaw, who will take up a golf scholarship in America next year, arrived in Portugal shortly after a two-week break in Mexico and was not surprised by her scores of 81, 76 and 85, which left her 22 strokes behind winner Hannah Screen of Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire.

Hamilton said: “It's always a great week here and I've enjoyed it again. I just got back from two weeks' holiday in Mexico before playing Quinta do Lago, so I did okay considering.

"I've got a lot of golf coming up in the next four years as I'm off to the College of Charleston next August.

“The Telegraph BMW event has been really good preparation for life on the senior circuit. It's such a great competition week but it's also the enjoyment of meeting and playing against other great golfers. I will never forget this experience, and it was my last event as a junior too.”