Welsh women's open amateur stroke-play

Rhian Wyn Thomas (right) winner of the Welsh women's open stroke-play title with Hannah Barwood (left), runner-up and winner of the Under-21 prize.

Hacienda del Alamo Festival

trip pays off for Rhian

Wyn Thomas

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Welsh youngster Rhian Wyn Thomas's mid-February trip to play in the Hacienda del Alamo Women's Winter Festival in Spain might well have been the secret behind her surprise success in the Welsh women's open amateur stroke-play championship at Pyle & Kenfig Golf Club, between Cardiff and Swansea in South Wales.
In a weekend of horrendous weather - the CSS was +3 for the first two rounds and +1 for the final round (against a par of 74 and an SS of 76), Rhian, from the Vale of Glamorgan Golf Club, put together a brilliant final round of 71.
Picture above of Rhian is by courtesy of Cal Carson Golf Agency (all rights reserved).
That enabled her to leapfrog over those who had been contesting the lead, including Ireland's Niamh Kitching, who led into the final round but then sagged to an 82 and shared second place with England's Hannah Barwood on 10-over-par 232.
Rhian Wyn Thomas, who failed to survive the 36-hole cut in the "Helen Holm" at Troon last week, totalled six-over-par 228 at Pyle & Kenfig for the biggest win of her career so far. She is the first Welsh winner of this championship since Vicki Thomas in 1989.
And yet it is only by chance that she took up golf a few short years ago. She answered a call by Welsh national coach David Llewellyn at a golf exhibition for anyone who had never played golf in their life to come forward and have a go.
Rhian did - showed a natural aptitude for the game, and encouraged by Llewellyn, she has since made the Welsh international team.
Scotland - represented by Alford's Laura Murray, Jane Turner (Craigielaw) and Pamela Pretswell (Bothwell Castle) - totalled 475 and finished third behind England (470) and Wales B (472) in the international team event.
Jane Turner was the leading Scot in the individual standings. She finished joint ninth on 241 - 13 shots behind the winner.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 222 (3 x 74). SS 76. CSS - 79, 79, 77.
1 WYN THOMAS, Rhian (Wales) 80 77 71: 228 +6
T2 BARWOOD, Hannah (England) 78 81 73: 232 +10
T2 KITCHING, Niamh (Ireland) 77 73 82: 232 +10
4 LARRATT, Kym (England) 80 74 79: 233 +11
T5 CONNOR, Rachel (England) 85 79 73: 237 +15
T5 EDWARDS, Naomi (England) 82 79 76: 237 +15
T7 DAVIES, Tara (Wales) 79 82 77: 238 +16
T7 RAASTAD, Rachel (Norway) 79 81 78: 238 +16
T9 GUNHILDRUD, Michaela (Norway) 85 78 78 241 +19
T9 TURNER, Jane (Scotland) 79 84 78: 241 +19
T9 JENNINGS, Rachel (England) 79 83 79: 241 +19
T9 HASSAN, Sahra (Wales) 76 84 81: 241 +19
T9 AITCHISON, Holly (England) 77 80 84 241 +19
T14 MURRAY, Laura (Scotland) 86 79 77: 242 +20
T14 PRETSWELL, Pamela (Scotland) 78 84 80: 242 +20
16 WHITTAKER, Leigh (Germany) 81 84 78: 243 +21
17 ATTWOOD, Sarah (England) 79 80 85: 244 +22
18 MACDONALD, Claire (Scotland) 84 82 79: 245 +23
T19 TYSON, Sarah (England) 82 87 77: 246 +24
T19 EVANS, Stephanie (Wales) 77 87 82: 246 +24
T21 WHITMORE, Kate (England) 83 85 80: 248 +26
T21 DAFFINRUD, Tonje (Norway) 80 87 81: 248 +26
23 TIDY, Kelly (England) 85 82 82: 249 +27
T24 HODGE, Joanne (England) 87 84 79: 250 +28
T24 BIRKS, Samantha (Wales) 80 87 83: 250 +28
T26 KEENAN, Ellis (England) 86 86 79: 251 +29
T26 DOUGLASS, Charlie (England) 80 87 84: 251 +29
T26 HOLDER, Tilly (England) 86 78 87: 251 +29
T29 BOULDEN, Amy (Wales) 89 82 81: 252 +30
T29 BRADBURY, Gemma (Wales) 84 85 83: 252 +30
31 HARRIES, Becky (Wales) 85 85 83: 253 +31
32 BOYES, Tracey (England) 89 83 83: 255 +33
33 RANDS, Kirsty (England) 87 86 83: 256 +34
T34 BALL, Lisa (England) 87 90 80: 257 +35
T34 BARTON, Lisa (England) 85 89 83: 257 +35
T34 KING, Laura (Wales) 91 81 85: 257 +35
T34 GOBEY, Natasha (Wales) 84 85 88: 257 +35
38 GOODALL, Rachael (England) 90 88 82: 260 +38
39 O'CONNOR, Katherine (Wales) 87 85 89: 261 +39
40 LAWRENCE, Jerry (England) 85 84 93: 262 +40
41 DAVIES, Beth (Wales) 89 90 85: 264 +42
42 BOULDEN, Hayley (Wales) 96 86 84: 266 +44
43 COLLIN, Laura (England) 93 86 89: 268 +46
44 BLEASE, Lauren (England 91 85 93: 269 +47
45 WATKINS, Laura (England) 91 92 88: 271 +49
46 LEWIS, Rachael (Wales) 99 89 88: 276 +54
47 DAVIES, Emma (Wales) 98 93 87: 278 +56
T48 MARPER, Amy (England) 98 95 89: 282 +60
T48 CARRADICE, Trudy (Wales) 93 97 92: 282 +60
50 HERBERT, Chelsey (England) 101 98 89: 288 +66
51 HUNT, Rachel (Wales) 101 98 96: 295 +73
INTERNATIONAL TEAM EVENT
470 ENGLAND (N Edwards, H Aitchison, R Jennings).
472 WALES B (S Evans, R Wyn Thomas, B Harries).
475 SCOTLAND (L Murray, P Pretswell, J Turner).
479 WALES A (S Hassan, S Birks, T Davies).
485 NORWAY (R Raastad, T Daffinrud, K Hillas).

Shock win by 14-year-old Hannah McCook

Top seed Julie Vass and
holder Jenny Milne go
out in quarter-finals

By ROBIN WILSON
Leading qualifier Sammy Vass (Tain) and title-holder Jenny Milne (Elgin) were both beaten at the quarter-final stage of the Northern Counties women's championship at Brora Golf Club today.
Sammy (16) met an even younger opponent, 14-year-old Hannah McCook (Abernethy) in round two. Although McCook scored 84 to qualify and Vass 11 shots fewer the Abernethy youngster was not overawed by the occasion and won by one hole.
McCook, pictured in action left by Robin Wilson, held her ground against the junior international through the first 10 holes.
Vass went one ahead after 11 but the match was squared with a birdie from McCook at the 14th and it remained level until the Abernethy teenager won a decisive 17th hole with a par 4 after Vass overshot the green.
McCook secured a half on the 18th to book her semi-final place on Monday morning against Vass's aunt and former winner Mary Smith (Tain) who defeated the younger Vass sister, Julie (14), also after seventeen holes.
Royal Dornoch's Cara Gruber took until the 17th green to get the better of the holder, Jenny Milne.
Although never getting into the lead, Jenny kept a slender hold on her title with birdies at the 14th and 16th holes, but a three-putt from the edge of the 15th green allowed Cara, the champion seven years ago, to stay one up with two to play.
When Milne found a bunker behind the 17th green, she was beaten 2 and 1 by Gruber's par figure.
Gruber plays her Royal Dornoch clubmate Pam Mackay for a place in the final. Mackay was handed the decisive final hole in a very tight match when 17-year-old Eliidh Mackay (Nairn Dunbar) overclubbed from the final tee, going 20 yards through the green to lose the hole and the match by one hole.

Results:
FIRST ROUND
(Seeded place in brackets)
Sammy Vass (Tain) (1) bt Dorothy Hulme (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) (16) 3 and 2.
Hannah McCook (Abernethy) (8) bt Deirdre MacAngus (Wick) (9) at 19th.
Mary Smith (Tain) (5) bt Maggi Vass (Tain) (12) 2 holes.
Julie Vass (Tain) (4) bt Susan MacVicar (Gairloch) (13) 5 and 3.
Cara Gruber (Royal Dornoch) (3) bt Ann Ryan (Tain) (14) 7 and 6.
Jenny Milne (Elgin) (6) bt Elizabeth Coghill (Royal Dornoch) (11) 7 and 6.
Eliidh MacKay (Nairn Dunbar) (10) bt Eileen Manson (Wick) (7) 1 hole.
Pam Mackay (Royal Dornoch (2) bt Pat Ashe (Brora) (15) 9 and 7.
QUARTER-FINALS
McCook beat S Vass 1 hole.
Smith bt J Vass 2 and 1.
Gruber bt Milne 2 and 1.
P Mackay beat E Mackay 1 hole.

HANDICAP SECTION
First round
B Little (Brora) (23) bt S. MacDonell (Inverness) (16) 5 and 4.
D McBride (Royal Dornoch) bt K Mackay (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) (20) 4 and 3.
F Bell (Inverness) (11) beat A MacDonald (Tarbat) (15) 2 and 1.
S MacKenzie (Elgin) bt A MacBeath (Brora) (19) 1 hole.

Midlothian county championship at Murrayfield

RACHAEL LIVINGSTONE

ENDS CLAIRE HARGAN’S

FIVE-YEAR REIGN

Rising star Rachael Livingstone (Musselburgh Old) derailed the record title run of Claire Hargan (Mortonhall) in today’s final of the Midlothian women’s county golf championship at Murrayfield Golf Club.
Claire, 31-year-old past Scotland international, had won the title for the past five years but she lost to 19-year-old Rachael by 4 and 3 in a birdie-packed final.
Perhaps the writing was on the wall for Claire when she had to settle for the No 2 seed position behind top qualifier Rachael on Friday.
Miss Livingstone had seven birdies in the 15 holes the final lasted, Miss Hargan had two.
Picture shows new champion Rachael Livingstone, on right, with Claire Hargan.
Summary of match-play results:

FIRST ROUND
R Livingstone (Musselburgh Old) bt R Lynch (Murrayfield) 9 and 7.
K Blackwood (Craigmillar Park) bt N Fenton (Merchants of Edinburgh) 4 and 3.
W Nicholson (Broomieknowe) bt T Laughland (Mortonhall) 6 and 5.
K Marshall (Baberton) bt S Lyon (Kingsknowe) 7 and 6.
F De Vries (St Rule) bt P Walkingshaw (Ravelston) 4 and 3.
K Rorke (Kingsknowe) bt L Caine (Merchants of Edinburgh) at 19th.R Brown (Lothianburn) bt F Hunter (Baberton) at 19th.C Hargan (Mortonhall) bt C Steedman (Baberton) 9 and 7.
QUARTER-FINALS
Livingstone bt Blackwood 2 and 1.
Nicholson bt Marshall 3 and 2.
De Vries bt Rorke 2 and 1.
Hargan bt Brown 6 and 4.
SEMI-FINALS
Livingstone bt Nicholson 2 holes.
Hargan bt De Vries 2 holes.
FINAL
Livingstone bt Hargan 4 and 3.

B CHAMPIONSHIP
[The finalists, Denise Turnbull (left) and Susan Dalrymple, are pictured right]
Semi-finals - S Dalrymple (Craigielaw) bt M Alexander (Baberton) 2 and 1, Denise Turnbull (Uphall) bt Zandra Mathieson (Broomieknowe) 3 and 2.
Final - Dalrymple bt Turnbull 4 and 3.

Stirling & Clackmannan county championship

TOP SEEDS ADVANCE AT GRANGEMOUTH
Top seeds Alison Davidson (Stirling), the defending champion and five times winners of the title, and Margaret Tough (Falkirk) made progress into
Monday night's quarter-finals of the Stirling & Clackmannan women's county golf championship when the match-play stages began at Grangemouth Golf Club today.
Results:
First round - A Davidson (Stirling) bt L Fleming (Glenbervie) 7 and 6, L Gibb (West Lothian) bt H Goodwin (Glenbervie) 4 and 3, A Jenkins (Falkirk) bt K Burns (Bathgate) 1 hole, L McGregor (Falkirk) bt G Haley (Falkirk Tryst) 4 and 3, L Allan (Falkirk Tryst) bt C Capocci (Bridge of Allan) 4 and 2, J Harrison (Linlithgow) bt S Mitchell (Falkirk Tryst) 2 and 1, V Stevenson (Stirling) bt M McFarlane (Bathgate) 2 and 1, M Tough (Falkirk) bt E Allison (Stirling) 3 and 2.

ends

South qualifiers for Crieff LGU Medal Final

Qualifiers from today's South area final at Minto Golf of the LGU Medal competition were:
Silver Division - Lesley Moore (Minto) (17) 73; Sheila Leifer (The Hirsel) (10) 77.
Bronze Division - Joy Little (Moffat) (26) 77 (better inward half), Wendy Lunn (The Hirsel) (24) 77.
They qualify for the Grand Final at Crieff Golf Club on Sunday, June 8.

Aberdeenshire county girls' medal results

Newmachar Swailend course today.
MAY MEDAL (CSS 72)
Scratch - R Polson (Peterculter) 84; S Beattie (Portlethen) 86; L McGillivray (Banchory) 89.
Handicap - K Vannet (Peterculter) (25) 70; R Polson (Peterculter) (12) 72; K MacCallum (McDonald Ellon) (19) 73; S Beattie (Portlethen) (12) 74.

Murcar Links player beats top seed in final

Last four in the Aberdeenshire women's county championship. Left to right: Sara Thomson (Murcar Links), runner-up Sheena Wood (Aberdeen Ladies), title-winner Donna Pocock (Murcar Links), Marivi Millership (Deeside). Click on the image to enlarge it. Picture by Cal Carson Golf Agency (all rights reserved).

DONNA POCOCK WINS ABERDEENSHIRE
TITLE FOR FIRST TIME

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Donna Pocock, 27-year-old Murcar Links three-handicapper, won the Aberdeenshire women's county golf championship for the first time at Deeside Golf Club today.
Donna, the No 2 qualifier, beat the top seed and four times champion Sheena Wood (Aberdeen Ladies), playing in the final for the ninth time, surprisingly convincingly by a 5 and 4 margin.
Miss Pocock did not lost a hole until the seventh, by which time she had gone into a three-hole lead with successes at the second, fifth and sixth.
Any hopes that Miss Wood had of turning the tie against an opponent who struck the ball with more authority on the day and relished the windy conditions evaporated when Donna won the ninth, 10th and 11 to take a stranglehold, five-hole lead.
Sheena, a former Scotland international, did win back the 12th but Donna clinched her breakthrough win by winning the 14th.
"I think having a lot of experience playing in the wind at Murcar Links, helped me a lot in the final," said Donna.
Weekend results:
First round - S Wood (Aberdeen Ladies) bt K Stalker (Fraserburgh) 5 and 3, S Leslie (Westhill) bt R Dunsmuir (Cruden Bay) 6 and 4, S Thomson (Murcar Links) bt L McPherson (Deeside) 5 and 4, L McLardy (Murcar Liks) bt P Wilson (Murcar Links) 3 and 2, M Millership (Deeside) bt L Terry (Cruden Bay) 4 and 2, E Brown (Aboyne) bt G Murray (Cruden Bay) 1 hole, J Harrison (Cruden Bay) bt C Wilson (Murcar Links) 1 hole, D Pocock (Murcar Links) bt L McGillivray (Banchory) 5 and 4.
Quarter-finals - Wood bt Leslie 3 and 2, Thomson bt McLardy 1 hole, Millership bt Brown 2 holes, Pocock bt Harrison 6 and 5.
Semi-finals - Wood bt Thomson 5 and 3, Pocock bt Millership 7 and 6.
Final - Pocock bt Wood 5 and 4.

Northern Counties LGA championship results

Northern Counties LGA championship results at Brora Golf Club this morning:

FIRST ROUND
(Seeded place in brackets)

Sammy Vass (Tain) (1) bt Dorothy Hulme (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) (16) 3 and 2.
Hannah McCook (Abernethy) (8) bt Deirdre MacAngus (Wick) (9) at 19th.
Mary Smith (Tain) (5) bt Maggi Vass (Tain) (12) 2 holes.
Julie Vass (Tain) (4) bt Susan MacVicar (Gairloch) (13) 5 and 3.
Cara Gruber (Royal Dornoch) (3) bt Ann Ryan (Tain) (14) 7 and 6.
Jenny Milne (Elgin) (6) bt Elizabeth Coghill (Royal Dornoch) (11) 7 and 6.
Eliidh MacKay (Nairn Dunbar) (10) bt Eileen Manson (Wick) (7) 1 hole.
Pam Mackay (Royal Dornoch (2) bt Pat Ashe (Brora) (15) 9 and 7.

LPGA Tour news

Catriona takes closer order as
Paula Creamer leads

FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE:
Five-time LPGA Tour winner Paula Creamer (70-71-69=210) holds a two-stroke lead at 3-under par at the SemGroup Championship.
Creamer started the day at 1-under 141, one shot ahead of Ji Young Oh. She carded four birdies, including birdie putts of 50-feet on hole nine and 40-feet on hole 12, before making two bogeys in her final three holes.
The final-round leader has now made two bogeys in her final three holes in each of the first three rounds. Creamer has held a final-round lead six times in her career, most recently at the 2007 Mitchell Company LPGA Tournament of Champions where she led by six strokes after three rounds and won by eight.
Her other victory with a final-round lead came at the 2005 Evian Masters where she led by seven strokes after three rounds and won by eight.
31-time LPGA Tour winner Juli Inkster shot the low round of the week on Saturday to move into solo second place. The 2006 SemGroup Championship runner-up fired a 4-under 67 to move to 1-under-par (72-73-67=212) heading into Sunday's final round at Cedar Ridge.
Catriona Matthew from North Berwick has moved up into joint ninth place on 219 by matching the par of 71 over this testing, 6602yd course.
LEADERBOARD
Par 213 (3 x 71) 6,602yd
210 P Creamer 70 71 69.
212 J Inkster 73 73 67.
214 B Lang 72 71 71.
215 L Lindley 71 72 72, A Stanford 73 71 71.
218 L Ochoa 73 74 71, J Jang 73 72 73, J Hullett 74 71 73, Hi Young Oh 70 72 76.
219 C Matthew 73 75 71, D Delasun 78 72 69, P Hurst 74 72 73, V Hurst 71 75 73, C Koch 72 73 74, A Miyazato 71 73 75.
Other totals:
220 J Head 74 73 73 (jt 17th).
222 K Stupples 78 72 72 (jt 26th).
227 L Davies 74 77 76 (jt 55th).

US Futures Tour news

VIKKI LAING DOWN THE FIELD IN
EL PASO CLASSIC

Musselburgh's Vikki Laing was lying joint 39th among the 74 qualifiers for the final round of the US Future Tour's El Paso Classic at Underwood Golf Complex, El Paso in Texas.
Vikki has scored 74 and 72 for a 36-hole tally of 146 over the par-72, 6,447yd course.
Londoner Polly Willett mised the cut at five-over-par 149 or better with scores of 79 and 76 for 155.
Sweden's Kristina Tucker, a former LPGA Tour player, leads on 10-under-par 134 with scores of 66 and 68. Leah Wigger from Kentucky is her nearest rival on 135 with rounds of 66 and 69.

HOW THEY STAND
Par 144 (2 x 72) 6,446yd
134 Kristina Tucker (Sweden) 66 68.
135 Leah Wigger (Kentucky) 66 69.
139 M J Hur (South Korea) 72 67, Amanda McCurdy (Arkansas) 69 70, Haeji Kang (South Korea) 69 70.
140 Whitney Wade (Kentucky 73 67, Stella Lee (South Korea) 71 69, Sophia Sheridan (Mexico) 70 70.
141 Caroline Larsson (Sweden) 73 69, Cortney Reno (Michigan) 68 73.
Other scores:
146 Vikki Laing (Musselburgh) 74 73 (jt 39th).
MISSED THE CUT
155 Polly Willett (London) 79 76.