Northern Counties

Northern Counties team who finished runners-up to Aberdeenshire in the North Division women's inter-county team championship at Cruden Bay.

Back row (left to right)
Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar), Donna Macleod (Inverness), Mary Smith (Tain), LauraWalker (Nairn Dunbar), Eileen Manson (Thurso), Kerri Harper (Inverness).

Front row (left to right)
Mairi Orr (Tain), county captain, Jenny Milne (Elgin), Susan MacKenzie (Elgin), Ashton Ingam (Fort William).

East Division Inter-County Championship photos

Fife

Back Row: L to R: Fiona Lockhart, Louise Kenney, Jocelyn Carthew, Lesley Rolland, Lorna Fury, Elaine Moffat
Front row: L to R: Becky Copland, Joan Blyth (Vice-Captain), Dorothy Ford (Captain), Lorna Bennett

Midlothian
Back row L to R Karen Marshall, Fiona de Vries, , Claire Macdonald, Wendy Nicholson
Front Row L to R Jane Turner, Rachael Livingstone, Belinda Murphy, Claire Hargan

Stirling and Clackmannan
Back Row L to R Stella Mitchell, Linda Allan, Elaine Allison, Margaret Tough
Front Row L to R Heather Macrae, Vicki Stevenson, Louise McGregor, Tricia Chillas

East Lothian
Back Row L to R Fiona Prior, Moira Thomson, Lesley Nicholson, Emma Fairnie
Front Row L to R Susan Penman, Jayne Smith, line Mortensen, Kelly Brotherton

Thanks to Alma Robertson for the photos
[If you click on a photo you will get a much bigger image in a new window]

South Division Champions - Dumfries-shire

Please find attached a picture of the Dumfries-shire women's golf team with the South Division inter-county team championship trophy which they won at Thornhill Golf Club on Monday. They now go forward to the Scottish county finals at Tulliallan at the end of August. Galloway and Borders were the other contestants at Thornhill.

CAPTION:

Back left to right: Lindsey Kirkwood, Diane Macdonald, Fiona MacGregor (county captain), Jordana Graham, Gladys McClymont (vice captain), Margaret McGregor, Eileen Scott.

Front left to right: Trish Lilly, Pearl Beattie

WIZARD FROM OZ WINS BRIDGET

JACKSON BOWL AFTER PLAY-OFF

AGAINST SAHRA HASSAN

Emma Bennett from Kingston Heath Golf Club, Melbourne, Australia scored her second win on the English women's 36-hole open golf circuit when she won a play-off for the Bridget Jackson Bowl at Handsworth Golf Club, Birmingham this eveninG.
"I've been running this tournament for 26 years and this is the first time we've had a play-off," said Bridget Jackson. "We had a couple of ties in the early years and at that time we settled it on a card countback but the players themselves voted to have a play-off in future years. But one has never been necessary until now. It certainly provided a thrilling finish to the day."
Emma, pictured above, the fifth best qualifier for the match-play stages and beaten by Breanne Loucks (Wrexham) in the round of the last 16 at the recent Ladies' British open amateur championship at Alwoodley, Leeds, tied with new GB&I Vagliano Trophy cap Sahra Hassan from Vale of Glamorgan on 141 - five shots clear of the third placed Australian Clare Choi from the Huntingdale club.
It was a good tournament for the band of golfing tourists from Down Under. Susan Keating from Victoria finished tied fourth and Kate Combes from Long Island Country Club finished eighth.
Emma Bennett, whose ambition is to be a teaching professional, and hopefully coach to a national squad or the like, trailed first-round leader Sahra by five shots with a 74 but she made up the difference with a second-round 67 to Miss Hassan's 72. In the play-off, Emma won the title and the trophy with a par 4 after Sahra was in a bunker.
LEADING TOTALS
141 E Bennett (Aus) 74 67, S Hassan (Vale of Glamorgan) 69 72 (Bennett won sudden-death play-off at first hole with a par).
146 A Scott (Consett) 76 71, S Keating (Aus) 75 72.
148 J Hodge (Knowle) 73 75.
149 C Aitken (The London) 75 74.
150 K Combes (Aus) 785 75.
151 C Douglass (Brocket Hall) 75 76, S Birks (Wolstanton) 73 78.
152 S J Eaves (Cosby) 78 74, R Jennings (Izaak Walton) 77 75, E Givens (Blackwell Grange) 77 75, E Lyons (West Surrey) 76 76.
153 T Holder (Oxford Ladies) 76 77.
154 R Connor (Manchester) 77 77, N Whitmore (Woburn) 77 77.
155 L Collin (John O'Gaunt) 76 79, G Dunn (Peterborough Milton) 75 80.
156 L Jones (Royal Liveprool) 77 79.
157 C Dalton (Ladbrook Park) 80 77, J Brown (Brocton Hall) 80 77, H Jenkins (Cradoc), T Boyes (Meon Valley) 76 81.
158 S James (Bristol & Clifton) 79 79, C Howells (Moor Hall) 77 81.
159 S Stubbs (Shifnall) 83 76, J Florey (Goring & Streatley) 83 76, G Taylor (Leek) 82 77, H Key (South Herts) 81 78., F Thompson (Ellesborough) 78 81.
161 L Gould (Bargoed) 81 80, S Dye (Delamere Forest) 77 84.
162 J Rhodes (South Staffs) 82 80, K Best (Sherwood Forest) 74 88.
163 L Barton (Coventry) 78 84.
164 G Beasley (Woburn) 85 79, E Mallett (Sutton Coldfield Ladies) 81 83.
168 G Shaw (Aston Wood) 89 79.
170 H White (Worfield) 86 84.
172 H Beasley (Woburn) 87 85.
173 H Coles (Mxstoke Park) 88 85.

FIFE v MIDLOTHIAN EAST DIVISION
TITLE DECIDER AT LADYBANK

Scottish champions Fife took another big step towards a place in the Scottish county finals at Tulliallan Golf Club at the end of August when they beat East Lothian 5 ½-3 ½ on the second day of the East Division women’s inter-county golf championship at Ladybank Golf Club.
Fife won their first-day match 8-1 against Stirling & Clackmannan.
Midlothian, who beat Stirling & Clackmannan 5-4 today, meet Fife on the third and last day’s programme. It will be a meeting between the only two teams with 100 per cent winning records so far.
East Lothian and Fife shared the morning foursomes before Fife’s strength in depth made all the difference in the singles which Fife won 4-2 with wins by Jocelyn Carthew, Lorna Bennett, Lorna Fury and Elaine Moffat.
East Lothian had won the top two singles through Lesley Nicholson, the former tour professional reinstated to the amateur ranks, and Kelly Brotherton. They beat Fiona Lockhart and Louise Kenney respectively.
Midlothian took a stranglehold on the outcome of their match with Stirling & Clackmannan by taking the foursomes 3-0. The latter made a gallant effort to turn the tables in the singles, winning them 4-2 with wins by Heather MacRae, Linda Allan, Vicki Stevenson and Margaret Tough.
Tuesday details:
EAST LOTHIAN 3 ½, FIFE 5 ½
Foursomes: K Brotherton & E Fairnie halved with L Kenney & J Carthew; L Nicholson & J Smith lost to F Lockhart & E Moffat 5 and 3; F Prior & L Mortensen bt L Fury & L Rolland 4 and 3 (1 ½-1 ½).
Singles: Nicholson bt Lockhart 2 holes, Brotherton bt Kenney 4 and 2, Prior lost to Carthew 1 hole, Mortensen lost to L Bennett 3 and 2, M Thomson lost to Fury 3 and 2, Fairie lost to Moffat 3 and 2 (2-4).
STIRLING & CLACKMANNAN 4, MIDLOTHIAN 5
Foursomes: L Allan & S Mitchell lost to J Turner & C Macdeonald 3 and 2; T Chillas & H MacRae lost to C Hargan & B Murphy 1 hole; L Macgregor & M Tough lost to K Marshall & W Nicholson 1 hole (0-3).
Singles – E Allison lost to Hargan 6 and 5, MacRae bt W Nicholson 4 and 2, Allan bt Turner 1 hole, Mitchell lost to F De Vries 6 and 4, V Stevenson bt Murphy 1 hole, Tough bt \Macdonald 3 and 2 (4-2).
HOW THEY STAND
Fife 2 wins, Midlothian 2 wins, East Lothian 0 wins, Stirling & Clackmannan 0 wins.

BORROWMAN, KELLETT SPEARHEAD
SCOTS YOUTHS' BID TO BEAT IRISH

New Scotland youths champion Scott Borrowman from Dollar and Ross Kellett from Motherwell, conqueror of England's big gun, Jamie Moul, last week, spearhead Scotland in Wednesday's youths international golf match against Ireland at West Waterford Golf Club.
Three North-east players- Jordan Findlay, Lewis Kirton and Philip McLean - are also included alongwith Robert McKnight of Kilmarnock Barassie.
McLean played in the Scotland team whipped 7-2 by the Irish at Blairgowrie last year when even the inclusion of Lloyd Saltman could not prevent an Irish landslide victory. All the others are new to youth international level.
Findlay and Kirton have not long returned from America where they are students at East Tennessee State University and the University of Louisville, Kentucky respectively.
Borrowman, a Stirling University student, won the Scottish youths championship at Erskine Golf Club on Sunday when, under pressure, he birdied the last two of 72 holes to win the title by two strokes.
Kellett, pictured above, beat England’s Jamie Moul, No 2 in the R&A world men’s amateur rankings, in the later stages of last week’s British amateur championship at Royal Lytham.
The Scots squad will stay on in Ireland to compete in the Irish youths open amateur championship over the same course on Thursday and Friday.
The team of six is:
Scott Borrowman (Dollar)
Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh)
Ross Kellett (Colville Park)
Lewis Kirton (Newmachar)
Robert McKnight (Barassie)
Philip McLean (Peterhead).
The Irish team, which includes three American college students (Kearney, Power and Rafferty) is:
Andrew Hogan (Newlands), Niall Kearney (Royal Dublin), Dara Lernihan (Castle/ UCD),
Neil O'Briain (Royal Dublin), Seamus Power (West Waterford), Fergal Rafferty (Dungannon).

++WE'LL HAVE THE RESULTS FROM THE IRELAND v SCOTLAND YOUTHS MATCH ON THIS WEBSITE ON WEDNESDAY EVENING.

The United States Women's Open championship is being played later this week. Michele Wie is in the field. Who would have thought, a year or two ago, that she would be a 1000-1 chance to win the title in 2007.

Here's a very good Associated Press article, reviewing the Michelle Wie situation:

NO-ONE IN THE MICHELLE WIE FAMILY HAS EVER

FELT THE NEED TO APOLOGISE FOR ANYTHING

You want it to end well, but somehow it doesn't seem like it will. Child sports prodigies are a lot like child actors in that everything they do is not so cute anymore once they start growing up.
Michelle Wie is growing up, and fast. Just a few weeks ago she was busily filling out a housing application for Stanford, where she plans to live this fall in a dorm with other kids her age.
Like her, they're smart and gifted. Unlike her, they don't have $10 million in the bank and golf fans scrutinizing their every move.
Lately those moves have been scrutinized more than ever as Wie's game spirals downward on the same path as her confidence level. At the age of 17, she can't find the fairway with her driver, and the idea of competing against the men seems laughable when she can't even beat her own gender.
Wie made matters worse recently by antagonizing the best female in the game. And many think she was playing games when she walked off the course during a horrible round recently with a wrist injury that seemed almost too convenient.
NOVELTY HAS WORN OFF

Wie is still rich, and she's still famous, or as famous as a women's golfer can be. But the novelty of being a long-hitting 13-year-old who could hold her own with the best in the world has worn off, and she has yet to add a trophy of any sort to the family home in Hawaii.
The women's U.S. Open begins Thursday in North Carolina, where Lorena Ochoa, Annika Sorenstam and teen Morgan Pressel will be among the favourites for the most coveted prize in women's golf. Wie will be there as well, but as more of an afterthought than anything else.
She's ancient history, or merely ancient in the eyes of one competitor. That would be Alexis Thompson, who automatically assumed the mantle of the next great thing by qualifying for the Open at the age of 12.
Not that Wie won't get attention. Reporters will follow her around Pine Needles, not to see if she can challenge for the lead, but to write about her if she doesn't break 80.
They'll keep a sharp eye out to see if she faints from the heat or re-injures her wrist. They'll want to know if Sorenstam is still unhappy with Wie for pulling out of the Ginn Tribute while struggling to break 90, only to be seen hitting balls two days later.
They'll ask Wie the kind of questions they wouldn't ask a 13-year-old. And they'll expect grown-up answers, not like the one Wie gave when asked if she should say she was sorry to Sorenstam, the tournament host, for pulling out of the Ginn the way she did.
``I don't think I need to apologize for anything,'' she said.
No one in the Wie family has felt the need to apologize for anything ever since she began playing with the pros, which is part of the problem. She was always the chosen one, and anyone who objected to tournament invitations or special privileges simply didn't understand that she was entitled to them.

IT'S NEVER HER FAULT
So when Wie fires her caddie or switches agents like she did last year, it's never her fault. When she walks off the course after holding a conversation with her agent and claims a wrist injury, then the wrist must have suddenly flared up.
When she was playing well and drawing large galleries to tournaments like the John Deere Classic, that was tolerated. But now she hasn't broken par in her last 20 competitive rounds and finished 10 shots behind the next worst player earlier this month in the LPGA Championship, where the check for $3,273 was her first performance payday of the year.
Her confidence is so shaky that she played three rounds at the LPGA Championship without pulling the driver out of the bag. Last week she announced she wouldn't play in the John Deere, where she nearly made the cut against men as a 15-year-old, because she doesn't have the length any longer to play the course.
That just might be the best decision Wie and her parents have made since she celebrated her 16th birthday by signing $10 million in endorsement contracts with Nike and Sony. It's true she got those contracts largely because she created a stir by playing against men, but the idea is not nearly as intriguing now as it was a few years back.
The best thing about being 17 is that Wie has plenty of time to find both herself and her game. She may yet have a long and successful career, and do the kind of things on the golf course that so many predicted for her just a few years ago.

FRESHMAN YEAR AT STANFORD
A good start on the path to recovery might be to leave her golf clubs at home when she heads to Stanford. Her parents could do her a big favour by letting her enjoy her freshman year living among others her age without worrying once about whether she can hit the fairway with her driver.
Tiger Woods looks back fondly on his stay at Stanford as a time he began to start finding his own way. Some day Wie might be doing the same thing.
It doesn't seem like five years has past since Wie first gained notoriety by qualifying for an LPGA event at the age of 12. But she'll be 18 this fall, at which time she legally becomes an adult.
That's one of the problems with child prodigies. They always grow up way too fast.
ASSOCIATED PRESS ARTICLE

LAURA, RACHAEL BEING SENT TO FINLAND BY

SCOTTISH LADIES

GOLFING ASSOCIATION

Robert Gordon's University student Laura Murray, a member of Alford and Aboyne golf clubs, and Rachael Livingstone (Musselburgh Old), have been selected by the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association to represent Scotland in the Finnish women's amateur golf championship at Helskini Golf Club from August 9 to 11.
Laura, pictured right, with six wins out of six for champions Aberdeenshire, was the top player in the North Division women's inter-county team championship which ended at Cruden Bay on Monday. She is a former Scottish schoolgirls champion and won the North of Scotland girls' title at Kirriemuir last year.
Rachael, pictured far right, is 19 years old, Laura will be 19 in August.
Miss Livingstone, beaten finalist in last year's Scottish Under-18 girls' match-play championship at Peebles, gains her first full cap for Scotland in the European team championship in Italy next month.
Helskinki Golf Club, founded in 1932, is the oldest and most prestigious golf club in Finland. It is six kilometres from the centre of Helskini. A 19th Century mansion serves as the clubhouse at this beautiful parkland course which has a par of 71 and measures 4,782 metres off the women's tees.

SLGA Press Release

SCOTTISH LADIES' JUNIOR OPEN STROKE PLAY
CHAMPIONSHIP AT AUCHTERARDER GOLF CLUB
ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY THIS WEEK

The absence of the holder, Krystle Caithness (St Regulus) and last year's runner-up Katy McNicoll (Carnoustie Ladies) opens the door to a host oftalented under-21s, keen to win the Scottish Ladies Junior Open Stroke Play Championship at Auchterarder later this week.
Krystle, who won with record-breaking scores at Stirling last year, has
withdrawn to attend team practice in preparation for the Vagliano Trophy match at the Fairmont St Andrews' Torrance course 27-28 July.
New Scottish cap, 19-year-old Michele Thomson (McDonald Ellon), named as a reserve for the GB&I Vagliano Trophy team to play the Continent of Europe after achieving a quarter final place in the Ladies' British open amateur championship atAlwoodley, will be one of the favourites, but Scottish girls champion Roseanne Niven (Crieff), along with Junior Ryder Cup star Carly Booth (Comrie) and Scottish schoolgirls champion Pamela Pretswell (Bothwell Castle)will also be in contention.
There will also be a strong challenge from Rachel Livingstone (Musselburgh Old), Gemma Webster (Hilton Park) and Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar). And don't forget East Lothian champion Kelly Brotherton (Tulliallan), who won the event at Baberton as a 16 year old, and is now in her last year of eligibility.
The overseas challenge is led by Emilie Alonso (Valescure), one of four competitors to hold a plus handicap
The Championship is over three rounds - two on Thursday and one on Friday.There are trophies and prizes for Under 21, Under 18 and Under 15 age categories.
Recent winners have been:
2006 Krystle Caithness (St Regulus) at Stirling GC.
2005 Louise Fleming (The Roxburghe) at West Kilbride GC.
2004 Clare Queen (Drumpellier) at Kirkcaldy GC.
2003 Jenna Wilson (Strathaven) at Kilmacolm GC.
2002 Kelly Brotherton (Tulliallan) at Baberton GC.
The draw can be found on the SLGA website http://www.slga.co.uk

Woods releases pictures of Sam Alexis

Pictures of Sam Alexis Woods were released on Tiger Woods’ website. Tiger is shown holding Sam, born June 18. He is joined by wife, Elin

“Both Elin and Sam are doing well and resting peacefully,” Woods wrote on his website last Monday night. “We want to thank our doctors and the hospital staff for all their dedicated and hard work. This is truly a special time in our lives and we look forward to introducing Sam to our family and friends over the next few weeks. We thank everyone for their well wishes and continued respect of our privacy.”