The Welsh team with captain Jill Evans at the opening ceremony of the 2008 European girls' team championship at Murcar Links.

Ireland's team for the European Under-18 girls' championship which starts at Murcar Links tomorrow. The identical 13-year-old Maguire "wonder" twins are at the extreme left and right. We think Irish women's champion Leona is on the left and Lisa, beaten by her sister in the final, is on the right. Victoria Bradshaw is centre left and Sarah Cunningham centre right. You can enlarge the image by clicking on it (Cal Carson Golf Agency images, all rights reserved).

England's representatives in the European girls' team championship which tees off at Murcar Links on Tuesday for five days. Left to right: Hannah Barwood, Kelly Tidy, Rachel Connor, Alexandra Peters (Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency, all rights reserved).

Carnoustie's Katy top seed in

North of Scotland qualifier

American college circuit player Katy McNicoll (Carnoustie Ladies), whose brother Keir won the St Andrews Links Trophy recently, led the qualifiers for the match-play stages of the North of Scotland women's amateur championship with a fine round of one-under-par 71 at Strathmore Golf Centre, Alyth today. Katy is pictured left by Cal Carson Golf Agency (all rights reserved).
Scratch player Katy, a student at Lynn University, Boca Raton in Florida, earned the No 1 seed spot ahead of home-course player and the 2004 North of Scotland champion, Alexandra Bushby, and Jane Grubb (Montrose), both of whom returned 72s, which almost matched the CSS.
A card comparison made Alexandra No 2 and Jane No 3 in the draw. Jane's performance was an excellent one for a seven-handicapper. Her net 65 was easily the lowest of a day of summer showers.

Julie Vass from Tain - whose sister Sammy is playing for Scotland at Murcar Links this week - also had a good net round, 68 off a handicap of nine as she qualified in 15 spot for the scratch match-play.
Defending champion Laura Walker, now playing out of Muckhart since she took up a teaching post in Fife, qualified in No 7 spot with a 75, one behind the player she beat in last year's final at Lossiemouth, Scotland cap Emily Ogilvy (Auchterarder).
Emily almost had a hole in one at the short 17th - and missed the putt for a birdie 2. Then she finished with a double-bogey 5 for a 74, which obviously might have been a lot better.

QUALIFIERS
Par 72. CSS 72

71 K McNicoll (Carnoustie Ladies).
72 A Bushby (Strathmore), J Grubb (Montrose).
74 J Brown (Monifieth), S Arbuckle (Panmure Barry), E Ogilvy (Auchterarder).
75 L Walker (Muckhart), A Ingram (Fort William), H Anderson (Downfield).
76 A Ryan (Tain),A Hunter (Monifieth), A Ramsay (Kirriemuir), M Smith (Tain).
77 G Dowling (Inverness), J Vass (Tain), G Lambie (Dunkeld).
Championship match-play draw:

Alternating seven and eight-minute intervals
9.0 McNicoll v Lambie, Anderson v Ingram, Arbuckle v Ramsay, Smith v Brown.
9.30 Grubb v Dowling, Hunter v Ogilvy, Walker v Ryan, Vass v Bushby.
Handicap match-play draw:
10.0 J Chalmers v S Leighton, J Griffiths v N Morrison, L Kelly v A Alston, S Irvine v G Wilson.
10.30 S MacKinnon v M Horn, E Anderson v H Gibson, M Aird v S Beltonk, S Bradley v Jennifer Sneddon.
OTHER SCORES:
78 Jacqueline Sneddon (Alyth).
79 S Leighton (Alyth), E Muirhead (Pitlochry).
80 J Yellowlees (Murrayshall).
81 A Summers (Panmure Barry), J Griffiths (Strathmore).
82 J Chalmers (Monifieth), H Gibson (Alyth), A Niven (Crieff), G Murray (Cruden Bay), L McGillivary (Banchory), N Morrison (Dunblane), S MacKinnon (McDonald Ellon).
83 M Aird (Strathmore), L Hardie (Aberdeen Ladies), F Millar (Carnoustie Ladies), M Summers (Panmure Barry).
84 S Sneddon (Carnoustie Caledonian), N Fleming (Alyth), F Blair (Carnosutie Ladies).
85 E Fertacz, L McGraw (Auchterarder), A Alston (Royal Montrose), G Wilson (Monifieth).

Flowers of Scotland. Left to right: Rebecca Wilson (Monifieth), Carly Booth (Comrie), Sammy Vass (Tain) and Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar). Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency (all rights reserved). You can enlarge the image by clicking on it.

Scotland coach Kevin Craggs

forecasts five-star display

from home team girls

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
SLGA National coach Kevin Craggs worked the Scottish team of four very hard in drill sessions at Murcar Links today - and then forecast a five-star display by the host nation's representatives in the European Under-18 girls' team championship.
"They're all fine and playing well," said Kevin. "But I don't let them off with anything. If the girls don't complete the practice drills the way they are supposed to, then they don't get into the clubhouse for a break until they do. It's as simple as that."
The girls are Curtis Cup 16-year-old Carly Booth (Comrie), Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn), Sammy Vass from Tain and Rebecca Wilson (Monifieth).
Rebecca has come in as a subsitute for Sally Watson (Elie & Earlsferry) who had a "Tiger Woods-style knee operation" a few days after she played in the Curtis Cup match at St Andrews in late May-early June.
"The practice facilities here at Murcar Links are superb - the best I've seen belonging to any golf club in Scotland. What a pity more clubs don't give priority to setting up a complete practice range like this, even with covered driving bays," said Kevin, pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency (all rights reserved).
"This would be just the norm on the Continent but over here it is exceptional for a club to have a set-up like this, and at the back of the clubhouse too. Well done, Murcar Links!"
Such was the Continental girls' domination of this event 12 months ago in Oslo, Norway that neither Scotland, England, Ireland nor Wales managed to get into the championship flight of match-play, i.e. they were outwith the top eight teams' aggregates at the end of the 36-hole qualifying test which occupies the Tuesday-Wednesday programme.
And we have seen further evidence of the Continentals playing a higher class of golf than the British and Irish can produce in the recent British women's open amateur championship at North Berwick where three of the semi-finalists were Swedish and only Roseanne Niven (Crieff) of the total GB&I entry making it to the last four.
Coach Craggs is convinced that the long-term key to closing the gap is for clubs to follow the Murcar Links' lead and build their own practice facilities, giving their own members, male and female, the opportunity to improve their own games.
And Kevin would like the emphasis on practice facilities to be not just on providing drive ranges but almost or even preferably short-game practice facilities.
"That's where the Continentals are better than our players, men, women, boys and girls - they have better short games in general. That's because they have more short-game practice areas than we have," said Kevin, warming up to his subject.
"Outwith St Andrews, name me a place where I could take players - or players could go themselves - to practice their short game at first-class facilities. Murcar Links are meeting a need for their members. We need more like this all over Scotland."
Getting back to the European girls team championship: Carly Booth, even at 16, is a key player for Scotland this week. The rest of the team look to her for inspiration - and she has come to Aberdeen on a high from finishing top amateur and leading Scot in the Ladies European Tour's English Open at The Oxfordshire at the weekend.
I understand the flight north from London was delayed over an hour and it was very late on Sunday night before Carly made it to the Scotland team hotel at Dyce.
She must be tired after playing in a 54-hole Ladies European Tour event Friday-Saturday-Sunday but, I have to say, she didn't show it today as the Scots girls enjoyed themselves with a bit of light-hearted fun on the huge Murcar Links practice area.
Laughter is not something you usually associate with golf - maybe, more's the pity - but there was plenty of laughter coming from Carly, Kelsey, Sammy and Rebecca, once Coach Craggs had left them of the leash.
Last word from the Scots team captain, Elaine Moffat (St Regulus) who is a former Scottish champion. "I think it's going to be a fantastic week. The girls are in good heart and if Kevin says we can go all the way to Saturday's final, then that would really be fantastic."

*The Murcar Links Golf Club facilities are reckoned to have cost in excess of £100,000, including the purchase of fields from neighbouring farmers. Graham Thom, a highly successful businessman-cum-member, paid most of the bill.

South Koreans beginning to squeeze

Americans out of top money

in LPGA Tour finishes

Move over Lorena Ochoa! How long until South Korea can claim most of the leading players on the LPGA Tour.
Home-grown Americans are slowly but surely being squeezed out of the top money on their own tour.
In the Northwest Arkansas Championship which ended on Sunday, the winner and joint runner-up both come from South Korea and there were 12 South Koreans within the leading 20 or so finishers.
The name of the winner, Seon Hwa Lee, will mean nothing on this side of the Atlantic but it was her second LPGA win of the season and the first prize of $255,000 pushed her career earnings up to $3million.
England's Karen Stupples did manage to come joint fourth, for which she earned $65,508, and Catriona Matthew from North Berwick finished joint 22nd. The Scot's take-home pay was $16,233.

LPGA Tour Scoreboard
NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP
Pinnacle CC, Rogers, Arkansas
FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
201 Hwa seon Lee (SKor) 64 69 68
202 Meena Lee (SKor) 67 65 70, Jane Park 71 69 62
203 Ai Miyazato (Jpn) 67 68 68, Karen Stupples (Eng) 68 69 66, Angela Park 71 62 70, Kristy McPherson 64 69 70
204 Na Yeon Choi (SKor) 71 65 68, Eun Hee Ji (SKor) 67 65 72
205 In-Bee Park (SKor) 70 65 70
206 Cristie Kerr 72 65 69, Hee-Won Han (SKor) 72 66 68, Katherine Hull (Aus) 70 70 66, Jeong Jang (SKor) 66 69 71
207 Giulia Sergas (Ita) 69 69 69, Soo-Yun Kang (SKor) 68 70 69
208 Jee Young Lee (SKor) 66 69 73, Morgan Pressel 69 69 70, Reilley Rankin 74 66 68, Christina Kim 71 68 69, Hye Jung Choi (SKor) 66 69 73
209 Michelle Ellis 71 67 71, Gloria Park (SKor) 70 70 69, Louise Friberg (Swe) 70 66 73, Catriona Matthew (Sco) 72 68 69, Paige Mackenzie 70 69 70, Song-Hee Kim (SKor) 73 68 68, Katie Futcher 73 69 67
210 Kelli Kuehne 68 72 70, Brittany Lincicome 72 68 70, Lindsey Wright (Aus) 75 66 69, Dina Ammaccapane 71 70 69, Karine Icher (Fra) 70 70 70, Helen Alfredsson (Swe) 65 72 73
211 Jill McGill 72 67 72, Nancy Scranton 71 69 71, Michelle McGann 70 68 73, Vicki Goetze-Ackerman 70 71 70, Meaghan Francella 71 68 72, Moira Dunn 73 69 69, Danielle Downey 70 70 71, Hee Young Park (SKor) 70 72 69
212 Minea Blomqvist (Fin) 72 71 69, Wendy Doolan (Aus) 72 68 72, Stacy Prammanasudh 70 70 72, Rachel Hetherington (Aus) 70 69 73, Momoko Ueda (Jpn) 73 69 70, Na Ri Kim (SKor) 68 69 75
213 Heather Young 70 67 76, Sun Young Yoo (Kor) 72 70 71, Seo-Jae Lee 71 71 71, Marisa Baena 73 69 71, Stephanie Louden 71 71 71, Natalie Gulbis 72 69 72, Mikaela Parmlid (Swe) 70 73 70, Eunjung Yi (SKor) 74 66 73, Stacy Lewis 69 69 75
214 Jimin Kang (SKor) 70 73 71, Il Mi Chung (SKor) 69 68 77, Meg Mallon 71 72 71, Kris Tamulis 76 67 71, Shanshan Feng (Chn) 69 71 74
215 Paula Creamer 73 68 74, Johanna Head (Eng) 71 68 76, Laura Davies (Eng) 71 71 73, Nicole Castrale 72 70 73, Sandra Gal (Ger) 71 69 75
216 Jamie Hullett 70 72 74, Kyeong Eun Bae (SKor) 72 69 75, Charlotte Mayorkas 70 73 73, Lee Ann Walker-Cooper 70 70 76, Meredith Duncan 71 70 75
217 Jennifer Rosales (Phi) 72 71 74, In Kyung Kim (SKor) 72 71 74, Sarah Jane Kenyon 75 68 74
221 Dorothy Delasin 73 70 78