Ellis Keenan wins Hampshire Rose

by five shots, thanks to a 67

Press Release issued by English Women's Golf Association

Sunningdale’s Ellis Keenan has won the 2008 Hampshire Rose at North Hants by five shots – helped by a sparkling second round of six-under par 67.
Ellis was three shots off the pace at the halfway stage but she overtook her rivals with her afternoon 67, which included five birdies and an eagle at the 17th, for an inward nine of 30.
Her 36-hole total was four-under par 142.
The runner-up was Hampshire’s Raffi Dyer, a member of the English Women’s Golf Association Under-18 Squad.
Kirsty Rands was third and Hermione Fitzgerald, who had the second best round of the day, a 70, took fourth place.
Twelve-year-old Charley Hull from Kettering and Woburn Golf Clubs tied for seventh place with Katherine Shepherd, a past winner, and Jo Hodge.
LEADING SCORES
Par 146 (2 x 73). SSS 73. CSS: am 74, pm 73
142 Ellis Keenan (Sunningdale) 75 67.
147 Raffi Dyer (Hayling) 75 72.
148 Kirsty Rands (Burhill) 72 76.
149 Hermione Fitzgerald (Newmarket Links) 79 70, Jamie Casling (Brickhampton Court) 77 72, Daisy Dyer (Chigwell) 72 77.
152 Katherine Shepherd (Guildford Ladies) 78 74, Jo Hodge (Knowle) 76 76, Charley Hull (Kettering) 74 78.
153 Hannah Ralph (Cowdray Park) 80 73.

'HELEN HOLM' PRESSURE ON CURTIS
CUP PAIR, MICHELE AND BREANNE

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Every British and Irish player in the field will be pulling out all the stops to finish ahead of Michele Thomson (McDonald Ellon) and Breanne Loucks (Wrexham) in the Helen Holm Scottish women's open amateur golf championship over Troon Portland and the Royal Troon links over the next three days (Friday to Sunday).
Nothing personal ... but Michele and Breanne are the only members in the interational field of the eight-strong GB&I team for the Curtis Cup match against the Americans over the Old Course, St Andrews at the end of May.
Michele and Breanne have both played well during the "close season" in foreign fields, so there is no reason for them to approach the first big event of the domestic women's amateur season with any degree of trepidation at all.
More pressure for 19-year-old Michele is that she and another youngster, Glasgow University student Pamela Pretswell, will have their scores counting for "Scotland" in the international team event which runs in conjunction with the 54-hole individual championship.
Mhairi McKay (1992), Lesley Nicholson (1999) and Heather Stirling (2002) are Scotland's only winners of the prestigious individual title over the past two decades but Heather MacRae and Jenna Wilson did win the team trophy for Scotland a couple of years ago.
English match-play champion Naomi Edwards (Ganton), who was a contender for a place in the Curtis Cup team, has withdrawn as have Sarah Faller (Galway), Rachel Connor (Manchester), Hermione Fitzgerald (Newmarket) and Corisande Lee (West Lancashire).
With so many high-class Continental players in the field, it is almost anybody's guess who will step up late Sunday afternoon to receive the trophy, a mounted golf club once used by the late, great Helen Holm, whom this tournament commemorates.
But one player they all have to beat is Sweden's Caroline Hedwall whose handicap of +6 makes her, on paper, the highest-rated female amateur golfer in Europe and probably the world.

GLENMUIR’S NEW HI-COOL® SHIRTS
DELIVER PERFORMANCE AND COMFORT

Glenmuir’s new Hi-Cool ® men’s and ladies’ shirts offer golfers the best of both worlds - outstanding performance combined with exceptional comfort.
The Lanark-based company, one of Europe’s leading golf apparel brands, has introduced three new shirts to its Men’s Performance Series andfive to its Ladies’ Collection, all offering the soft-handle feel not found with all-synthetic fabrics such as polyester or nylon.
All are manufactured from soft, stylish and lightweight 70% cotton 30%polyester jersey and feature the renowned Hi-Cool ® Moisture ManagementSystem, which delivers extra stretch performance while drawing moisture away from the body to provide exceptional quick-drying properties.
With an athletic fit and modern design, the Hi-Cool® shirts signal Glenmuir’s intention to play a key role in the growth of the golfperformance wear market and provide customers with the very latest in sportsfabric technology.
Marketing Director, Andy Bough, said: “Research has shown us that increasing numbers of golfers are looking for modern clothing that will keep them cool on the course, allow freedom of movement and deliver outstanding performance.
“We have reacted to that with our largest-ever range of performance wear and we believe this has established us as a major player in that market. The reaction from retailers and golfers has been fantastic.”
The Men’s Hi-Cool ® Zip, Hi-Cool ® Mock and Hi-Cool ® Panel, with the prestigious Glenmuir 1891 logo embroidered on the right sleeve, are available for a suggested retail price of £33.50 each and come in sizes S-XXL.
The Hi-Cool ® Zip has contrast textured side and sleeve panels, a zip neck, and is available in three colours, light blue/white, black/citrus, andwhite/navy.
The Hi-Cool ® Mock features a mock collar and raglan sleeves, with contrast textured panels at the front underarm and has three colour schemes -white/light blue, citrus/black, and navy/white.
The Hi-Cool ® Panel has contrast textured panels to the side and over arm,with a concealed button neck and anti-curl collar. Light blue/white,black/citrus and navy/white versions are available.
The new Ladies’ Performance Shirts – Lilly, Megan, Izzy, Jane and Cara come in a shaped fit to maximise fabric performance and comfort.
The designs, in sizes XS-XL, include cool and contemporary colours with contrast panels and patterns and all feature the Glenmuir woven label on the left side seam.
Suggested retail price for Lilly and Megan is £34.65 each, while Izzy, Jane and Cara are £32.55 each.

ELLIE GIVENS' LATE SLIPS COST HER
TOP-THREE FINISH IN ALABAMA

Darlington's Ellie Givens, a 19-year-old first-year student at the University of Denver, let a golden chance of a top-three finish slip through her fingers over the last few holes of the Women's Sun Belt Conference college championship at The Shoals Golf Club, Muscle Shoals in Alabama (Wednesday, USA time).
After opening rounds of 75 and 73, including seven birdies, Ellie was lying in joint fourth place, five shots behind the leader, team-mate Stephanie Sherlock, with one round to go.
But she slumped to a closing 79 over the par-72, 6064yd course for an 11-over-par total of 227 and ninth place, still a creditable finish for a freshman in a quality field of 54 players, but not nearly as high as it looked like being.
Ellie had a double bogey 6 at the fifth in her first round, and a triple bogey 7 at the same hole in her second round, which an eagle 3 at the ninth could not quite cancel out.
In the final round, Ellie started well with a birdie 4 at the long fourth but her troubles started to pile up at the short sixth which cost her a double bogey 5.
At the par-5 12th, she ran up up a triple bogey 8 and dropped further shots at the 14th, 17th and 18th for a sad inward half of six-over-par 42.
Ellie, last year's English Under-18 girls' champion, did finish the tournament with a smile when team-mate Stephanie Sherlock won the individual title by 10 strokes with scores of 70, 73 and 65 for eight-under-208 and the Denver University team won the team title by 42 shots with a total of 872 from Arkansas-Little Rock (914) and South Alabama (917) in a field of 11 squads.
Denver will now go forward to the West regional championship and hopefully the NCAA women's championship after that.
Shirley Harvey (South Alabama) from Ballyclare, Northern Ireland, slipped from joint 10th to joint 15th in the final standings on 231 with a final round of 79 after earlier efforts of 74 and 78.
Claire Leathers (Middle Tennessee State) from Aylesbury finished joint 29th on 239 with scores of 76, 83 and 77.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72) 6064yd.
Individuals
208 Stephanie Sherlock (Denver) 70 73 65.
218 Paula Hurtado (Florida International) 71 77 70.
219 Elin Andersson (South Alabama) 74 73 72.
Other totals:
227 Ellie Givens (Denver) 75 73 79 (jt 9th).
231 Shirley Harvey (South Alabama) 74 78 79 (jt 15th).
236 Clara Leathers (Middle Tennessee State) 76 83 77 (jt 29th of 54).
Teams
872 Denver.
914 Arkansas-Little Rock
917 South Alabama.
11 teams took part.

ROSEANNE'S LATE SLIPS COST HER

GOOD FINISH IN CALIFORNIA

California-Berkeley University student Roseanne Niven from Crieff dropped from joint 26th to a final place of tied 36th in a final of 50 for the Women's Pac-10 Conference college golf championship at Palos Verdes Golf Club, California.

Over a par-71 course of 6,060yd, 19-year-old Roseanne had scores of 79, 78 and 73 for a total of 230 - 18 shots behind the winner Paola Moreno (Southern California).

Roseanne had two double-bogey 6s in her opening round but was heading for a very good score on the final day - and a possible top-20 finish in a quality field - when she birdied the eighth and was still one under par with four to play.

A bogey at the 15th was cancelled out by a birdie at the long 16th but then the Scot dropped three shots over the last two holes - a bogey at the 17th and a double bogey 6 at the last. She was out in 34 and home in 39.
California-Berkeley (908) tied for fourth place in the team event behind runaway winners Southern California in a field of 10 teams.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72). 6060yd
212 Paola Moreno (Southern California) 70 75 67.
216 Anna Nordqvist (Arizona State) 74 70 72.
217 Tiffany Joh (UCLA) 69 73 75, Belen Mozo (Southern California) 71 71 75, Dewi-Claire Schreefel (Southern California) 71 74 73.
Other scores:
219 Azahara Munoz (Arizona State) 72 71 76 (7th).
220 Stephanie Endstrasser (Southern California) 73 73 74 (8th).
223 Pia Halbig (California) 74 76 73 (jt 10th).
230 Roseanne Niven (California) 79 78 73 (jt 36th).
LEADING TEAM FINAL TOTALS
860 Southern California.
886 UCLA.
891 Arizona State.
908 Arizona, California.
913 Stanford.