Staff WriterTita McCart produced the round of the day, the week and quite possibly her golfing life at Littlestone Golf Club, winning the Greta Raymond Trophy with a superb gross 69 and setting a new ladies’ course record in the process.
There are good rounds. There are very good rounds. Then there are those curious golfing episodes where the ball starts behaving as though it has received written instructions from a higher authority. McCart, playing off a Handicap Index of 2.3 and a course handicap of 4, found one of those days on the Kent links.
Her gross 69 on the par-73 course from the red tees brought her 44 points, victory in the Greta Raymond Trophy, and a permanent place in the Littlestone Golf Club record books. Not a bad return for a day spent in dry, windy conditions on a course that rarely hands out favours without checking references first.
McCart Masters The Wind At Littlestone
Littlestone is never merely a walk with clubs. In the wind, it has a habit of asking awkward questions, particularly over the closing stretch, where the final three holes can turn a promising card into confetti.
McCart answered with authority.
The round eclipsed the previous ladies’ course record and also bettered her own personal best at Littlestone, a gross 70 recorded in August 2020. For a player who already knew how to score around the place, this was not simply a hot streak. It was a sharpening of the blade.
Speaking after her round, McCart said she was “absolutely delighted” to have broken the course record.
“There are days in golf when everything seems to come together, and this was definitely one of them,” she said. “The golfing gods were certainly on my side.”
A Gross 69 And A Day That Refused To Behave Normally
The scorecard had the proper ingredients of something special: control, nerve, a little magic, and a putter with the manners to show up when summoned.
McCart made birdie twos at both the 9th and 17th holes, each secured with lengthy putts. The 17th was the louder statement. In strong winds, that hole is less a golf hole and more a committee meeting with trouble.
“I honestly would have been happy to walk away with a four on 17 because it’s such a demanding hole and can really wreck your card when playing into a strong wind,” McCart said.
Instead, she took a two. Golf, occasionally, has a flair for theatre.
New Driver, Immediate Dividend
There was also a practical detail tucked behind the poetry. McCart had recently changed driver, replacing a club that had been in her bag for more than a decade.
“It’s made such a big difference already,” she added.
Golfers are sentimental creatures. They will keep an old club longer than some people keep furniture, pets or opinions. But the new driver clearly earned its keep quickly, giving McCart the sort of advantage that does not shout, but quietly changes the day.
In a round played through demanding conditions, that extra confidence off the tee may have mattered as much as the birdie putts. On links turf, particularly when the breeze is feeling mischievous, position is not a luxury. It is oxygen.
A Proud Moment For Player And Club
For McCart, the achievement carried an obvious emotional weight.
“A very proud moment—setting a new course record of gross 69 (4 under par) at Littlestone Golf Club in Kent. It was an incredible experience, feeling almost like an out-of-body experience, and it still does.”
That is the language of a player still trying to catch up with her own scorecard. Anyone who has ever played golf knows the feeling, albeit usually in reverse: standing over a ball and wondering how life came to this. McCart had the better version, where rhythm, trust and execution all lined up without needing a committee vote.
Her record-breaking card is set to be displayed in the clubhouse at Littlestone Golf Club, a fitting home for a round that deserves more than a passing mention over tea and waterproofs.
Greta Raymond Trophy Victory With Record-Book Weight
Winning the Greta Raymond Trophy would already have made it a memorable day. Doing so with a new ladies’ course record gives the performance a different weight entirely.
A gross 69 at Littlestone, in wind, on a closing stretch that can bite clean through optimism, is the sort of score that will be mentioned for years by members who were there, members who nearly were, and members who will eventually claim they saw every shot.
McCart did more than win. She left a number on the wall, a story in the clubhouse, and a small problem for everyone who follows: 69 is now the line. Good luck with that.
