Sinead O'Sullivan ties for

third place on Kiawah

Island, one shot off pace

Sinead O'Sullivan from Galway, a student at East Tennessee State University, was one of four players who tied for third place in the Palmetto Intercollegiate women's tournament over the Oak Point course (5955yd, par 72) on Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

Sinead, pictured right, scored 74, 72 and 79 for a total of 225 - only one shot behind the joint winners, both from Princeton Universtiy - Marlowe Boukis (76-72-76) and Susannah Aboff (74-71-79).

Sinead's team-mate, past Welsh girls champion Lucy Gould finished joint 12th on 229 with rounds of 74, 78 and 77.

Channel Islander Olivia Jordan-Higgins (College of Charleston), a member of Royal Jersey Golf Club, came joint 15th in the field of 99 players with scores of 72, 79 and 72 for 230.

Tall North-east of England player Anna Scott (Georgia State) came 19th on her own with a total of 231, made up of rounds of 78, 73 and 80.

Another English-born player on the Georgia State roster, Claire Starkie had scores of 75, 85 and 77 for 237 and a share of 37th place.

Anna and Claire helped Georgia State win the team event by seven shots from East Tennessee State in a field of 19 teams.

Laura Cutler second,

Portia Abbot third in

Alabama Invite

Jacksonville State University, Alabama first-year student Laura Culter from Essex finished second and team-mate Portia Abbot from Wiltshire came joint third in the Troy University Women's Invite college tournament at Arrowhead Country Club, Montgomery in Alabama.

Sofia Jornsson (Nicholls State) was the winner with 73 and 74 for 147.

Laura Culter, pictured above from the JSU website, held a two-shot lead at the end of the first round with a 70, required 79 shots for the second circuit and totalled 149 which dropped her to second place in a field of 70 players.

She finished a shot ahead of three players who hit the 150 mark over the 5,916yd, par-72 course - Portia Abbot (Jacksonville State), Belfast's Shirley Harvey (South Alabama) and Lorie Warren (Belmont). Each of them scored 77 and 73.

Laura and Portia's fine efforts helped Jacksonville State University to win the team event by seven shots from South Alabama in a field of 13 teams.

Wallace loses lead on Day 2 of
Faldo Final in Brazil

Glenbervie's Andrew Wallace dropped out of the lead on the second day of the Nick Faldo Series Grand Final at the Costa do Sauipe Resort, Bahia in Brazil today.
After a great opening round of five-under-par 67, Wallace slumped to a 77 for level par 144 and is joint third, six shots behind the new leader by three shots, England's James Watts from East Herts.
Watts added a 65 to his first-day 73.
Chris Robb from Inchmarlo is lying in eighth place in the Boys' Under-17 section. He has scored 85 and 76 for 161 - 15 shots behind category leader Rafael Becker from South America.
Brora's Calum Stewart is 15 shots adrift of the le3ader, Rhys Pugh from the Vale of Glamorgan in the Boys' Under-15 section. Stewart has scored 80 and 81 for 161 and a share of ninth place.
Gillian Monteith (Portpatrick Dunskey) has scored 86 and 81 in the Under-18 Girls' category. Her 36-hole tally of 167 is 15 shots behind the leader, English women's champion Hannah Barwood (Knowle) who has scored 78 and 74 for a four-shot lead with 18 holes to go.

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
Under-21s
138 James Watts (East Herts) 73 65.
141 Steven Brown (Wentworth) 72 69.
144 Andrew Palmer (Chorley) 72 72, Andrew Wallace (Glenbervie) 67 77.
Boys' Under-18
142 Rahul Bakshi (India) 73 69.
151 Barry Anderson (Sligo) 73 78.
158 Sam Whitehead (Woburn) 76 77, Alasdair Dalgleish (Haywards Heath) 72 81.
Selected score:
157 Stuart Ballingall (Dunston Hall) 83 74 (7th).
Boys' Under-17
146 Rafael Becker (South America) 76 70.
152 Reeve Whitson (Mourne, Ireland) 78 74.
153 Ben Stow (Hampworth) 82 71.
Selected score:
161 Chris Robb (Inchmarlo) 85 76 (8th).
Boys' Under-16
147 Koray Varli (Turkey) 71 71.
148 Adrian Jauregui (Spain) 76 72.
153 Gareth Johnson (Howley Hall) 78 75.
Boys' Under-15
146 Rhys Pugh (Vale of Glamorgan) 73 73.
148 Thomas Clements (Royal Norwich) 75 73.
151 Dermot McElroy (Ballymena) 76 75.
Selected score:
161 Calum Stewart (Brora) 80 81 (jt 9th).
Girls' Under-18
152 Hannah Barwood (Knowle) 78 74.
156 Jenna Birch (Royal Lytham) 79 77.
158 Eloin Ulu (Turkey) 77 81.
160 Emma O'Driscoll (Ballybunion) 83 78, Abbey Gittings (Walmley) 80 80, Eyglo Oskarsdottir (Iceland) 78 81.
163 Raffi Dwyer (Hayling Island) 82 81.
164 Miranda Brain (Gog Magog) 81 83.
165 Tiffany Hewetson (East Brighton) 84 81.
167 Gillian Monteith (Portpatrick Dunskey) 86 81.
169 Polina Vorobyeva (Moscow) 89 80.
172 Megan Burgess (Cavendish) 87 85.
174 Hatice Kocoglu (Turkey) 89 85.
178 Karina Palmberg (South America) 94 84.

CARNOUSTIE'S KATY FIFTH IN BIG
FIELD FOR FLORIDA TOURNAMENT

Katy McNicoll from Carnoustie, a student at Lynn University, Boca Raton in Florida, finished fifth in a field of 96 players for the Flagler Fall Slam women's college golf tournament at the World Golf Village, St Augie, Florida this week.
Katy, 20, had rounds of 74 and 75 for a total of five-over-par 149 over the 6,039yd, par-72 course.
She finished five shots behind the winner, Tara Allen (Embry Riddle University) who scored 71 and 73 for 144.
Katy's effort helped Lynn University finish runners-up to Barry University in the team championship, contested by 20 college squads.

2009 US Futures Tour will start
with new Central Florida event
from March 20 to 22

The Duramed Futures Tour announced today the addition of a new tournament site in Central Florida to kick off the 2009 season. The Tour will now open its competitive schedule in Winter Haven, Florida.
The inaugural Florida's Natural Growers® Charity Classic will be held March 20-22, 2009.
The 54-hole tournament will feature a purse of $100,000 and will be the first of two events staged in Central Florida - the second being in Daytona Beach, April 3-5, 2009.
The new Winter Haven tournament will be staged at Lake Region Yacht & Country Club, a par-72 David Wallace design, opened in 1950. The course sits on 290 acres nestled on the shores of Lake Hamilton in Winter Haven, the former spring training home of the Cleveland Indians.
The top 10 money winners at the end of the 2009 Futures Tour season will automatically "graduate" to the LPGA Tour.

Michele Thomson makes

debut on North-east

Alliance men's circuit

Curtis Cup player and Scottish women’s champion Michele Thomson (McDonald Ellon) made her debut on the North-east Golfers' Alliance circuit at Edzell Golf Club today.

The only female player in a field of 104, Michele, pictured in action at this year's women's home internationals by Cal Carson Golf Agency, playing off the men's back tees, a course of 6,427yd, had a creditable round of five-over-par 76.

She had birdies at the fourth and 17th but a bogey 6 at the long 18th.

The last female player on the NE Alliance circuit was Elaine Wilson, who was an assistant professional at Banchory and later Blairgowrie. Before that Sarah MacLennan, Julie Forbes and one or two others, whose names cannot be recalled, also played for a season or so on the autumn-winter-spring nominally men's circuit in and around the North-east.

"We are delighted to have the reigning Scottish women's amateur champion, and a Curtis Cup player to boot, in Michele Thomson joining us on the North-east Alliance circuit," said secretary Ron Menzies.

"I gave Michele the option of playing off the LGU tees but she chose to play off the men's tees. I adjusted her handicap from +1 to 1 for the net scores, taking into account the yardage difference."
In an interview with Elspeth Burnside in the new issue of "Bunkered" magazine, Michele says she is going to enter the Ladies European Tour School at La Manga in January. What better way to keep her game in good nick than to play on the North-east Alliance circuit until then - and maybe after January?

+Log on to www.scottishgolfview.com to see the report and leading scores at today's North-east Alliance competition at Edzell.

Hannah Coles a winner
this time in Lady Herd
Fall Classic

Warwickshire’s Hannah Coles has claimed her first outright victory on the US women’s college circuit.
Hannah, from Maxstoke Park, Birmingham pictured by courtesy of Willis Glasgow, WG Sports, came from two shots behind to win the individual title at the 2008 Lady Herd Fall Classic in Huntington, West Virginia.
She had five birdies in her second round, which included holing out from 100 yards for an eagle 2 at the par 4 11th at Sleepy Hollow golf course.
She was four-over-par 148 for the two rounds with scores of 75, 73 and she won by a shot.
Earlier in this autumn college season, Hannah tied for first place in the Charleston Southern Invitational – only to lose the title in an all-English play-off with Olivia Jordan-Higgins of Royal Jersey.
Hannah is a student at Radford University, Virginia, and is the first girl from her college to win a tournament since 2001. She has recently been voted Big South Co-Women’s Golfer of the Week.

Nicky Maddison almost wins

again - beaten in play-off at

Twin Rivers, Texas

Nicky Maddison from Newcastle, a freshman student at Hutchinson Community College, Kansas, was once again the star of the show for his college team in the 7th annual Coca Cola/MCC Invitational tournament at Twin Rivers Golf Club, Waco in Texas.

Over a very long course - 7,478yd, par 72 - Nicky shot rounds of 76 and 73 for 149 to tie with Greg Snow (Odessa). Unfortunately, Maddison lost the play-off but he has still had a phenomenal first few months to his new "career" on the US college circuit.

Three times Nicky, pictured above, has either been outright first or tied for first place. He's earned the break which he will now have from competitive golf until everything starts up again after the winter, in March or so.

Dale Middleton from Coventry, also a freshman student at Hutchinson CC, had scores of 81 and 82 for 163 and a share of 40th place.
Hutchinson (623) finished third behind Odessa (607) and McLennan (619) in a field of nine teams.

Hannah only one over par

.. but she needs to improve

to make top 20 in Las

Vegas Showdown

England girl international and past Surrey champion Hannah Lovelock, now a student at Missouri University, needs a good final round to make the top 20 in the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown over 54 holes at Boulder Creek Golf Club, Boulder City in the state of Nevada.

Hannah, picture by courtesy of Leaderboard Photography, has had rounds of 73 and 72 for a 36-hole tally of 145, not bad scoring over a 6,236yd course with a par of 72.

But so high is the standard of scoring in most US women's college events - and this one is no exception - that one-over-par leaves her sharing 29th place in a field of 92!

Up front, Lisa McCloskey (Pepperdine) is setting a phenomenal pace at 12-under-par 132 with rounds of 67 and 65. She leads by two.

Quite a few of the Continental top-notchers are playing in this event, including Caroline Hedwall (Oklahoma State), the Swedish player who was beaten finalist in the British women's open amateur championship at North Berwick last June and then was the leading individual as Sweden won the women's world amateur team championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy at Adelaide, Australia recently.

LEADING 36-HOLE TOTALS

Par 144 (2 x 72) 6236yd

132 Lisa McCloskey (Pepperdine) 67 65.

European scores:

140 Caroline Hedwall (Oklahoma State & Sweden) 71 69 (jt 11th).

141 Pernilla Lindberg (Oklahoma State & Sweden) 67 74 (jt 14th).

143 Caroline Masson (Oklahoma State & Germany) 71 72 (jt 18th).

145 Valentine Derrey (Texas Christian & France) 73 72, Hannah Lovelock (Missouri & England)) 73 72 (jt 29th).

146 Karen Kinnerud (Oklahoma State & Sweden) 72 74 (jt 39th).

Field of 92 players.