Leveret

CORISANDE LEE WINS THE LEVERET

On the last Saturday in March, once again the weather stayed fair for the Leveret 36 hole scratch trophy at Formby Ladies Golf Club. An icy wind blew quite menacingly from the Northwest all day and with temperatures failing to make double figures the course proved too stern a test for the majority of the field.
Cori Lee (pictured right, image courtesy and copyright Tom Ward) from the West Lancashire Golf Club scored an extremely impressive 71 +70 = 141 and was a very worthy winner in the highest quality field the Leveret has seen.
Of the 54 competitors, 20 were off scratch or better and the highest handicap was 3. This confirms how highly the players rate the opening event of the season and how determined they are to master the challenging course that tests so many of their golfing skills.
In the morning the CSS rose from 72 to 74 then to 73 in the afternoon as the sun tried hard to shine & the wind dropped slightly. Cori Lee was chased all day by her playing partner, Holly Clyburn, Woodhall Spa who will rue the 3 times she hit the flagstick in the afternoon round without the ball ever disappearing. Holly was only 2 shots adrift after 14 holes in the afternoon but Cori then showed her class by covering the last 4 holes in par to steady the ship and regain the trophy she won in 2006.
The experienced Emma Brown, Malton & Norton had a consistent 74 + 74 = 148 for third place. In fourth place young Emily Taylor, Royal Lytham did much to impress the Lancashire & England selectors with rounds of 75 + 76 = 151 proving how well she copes with difficult conditions.
The Leveret is well supported by many teenagers and 13 year old Charley Hull from Kettering showed how talented a player she already is. Playing off 3 handicap her 76 + 77 = 153 placed her 6th equal in the scratch event and winner outwith the main prize winners of the aggregate handicap prize. Formby Ladies hopes Charley and all this year’s field will return next year.

FULL RESULTS
141 CORI LEE (71,70)
145 HOLLY CLYBURN (73,72)
148 EMMA BROWN (74,74)
151 EMILY TAYLOR (75,76)
152 CHARLOTTE WILD (76,76)
153 LAURA COLLIN (80,73), NAOMI EDWARDS (78,75), CHARLEY HULL (76,77), NIKKI DUNN (74,79), KATE WHITMORE (74,79)
154 RACHEL CONNOR (81,73), NATASHA GOBEY (79,75), EMMA CLEGG (77,77), TARA DAVIES (77,77), CHARLOTTE ELLIS (76,78)
155 AMY BOULDEN (80,75), CAROLINE MARRON (78,77), ELIZABETH MALLETT (76,79), ELLIE ROBINSON (75,80)
156 TILLY HOLDER (81,75), ALEXANDRA PETERS (80,76), SARA GARBUTT (79,77)
157 KIM CROOKS (81,76), NATALIE LOWE (80,77), ABBEY GITTENS (79,78), NIKKI FOSTER (78,79), Sarah Attwood (77,80)
158 KATIE BEST (83,75), CHARLOTTE DALTON (82,76), EMMA GODDARD (81,77)
159 JANE BINNING (85,74), KYM LARRATT (82,77)
160 RACHEL GOODALL (84,76), SAMANTHA BIRKS (83,77), SARAH WALTON (81,79)
161 JENNA BIRCH (84,77), CHARLIE DOUGLASS (84,77), HELEN SEARLE (82,79), MARIE ALLEN (82,79), Kelly Tidy (80,81), BRONTE LAW (79,82)
162 Laura Harvey (80,82)
163 JESSICA RIGBY (84,79)
164 AMY SKOULDING (85,79), RACHEL DRUMMOND (81,83)
165 LISA BARTON (85,80)
166 BRONWYN DAVIES (81,85), BROGAN TOWNEND (81,85)
167 ANNA CARLING (83,84), CLAIRE MACDONALD (83,84), KAREN HEYWOOD (79,88)
170 REBECCA MCGINLEY (84,86)
184 CHARLOTTE AUSTWIC (95,89)

Tom Ward's photographs can be found on his Flickr site at www.flickr.com/photos/twardpress/sets/72157616034619188

All images Courtesy and Copyright Tom Ward
Thanks to Fiona Anderson for the report

Scottish Golf Dinner

Press release
DOUBLE FOR MACAULAY AS SCOTTISH MALE GOLFER OF THE YEAR

Kylie Walker (pictured right, courtesy idealimages.co.uk) takes the Ladies Order of Merit trophy

Tulliallan star Callum Macaulay was awarded his second successive Scottish Golfer of the Year award tonight in front of a packed house at the Scottish Golf Dinner in Glasgow (Friday 27 March).

The 25-year-old’s achievements in his final season as an amateur were celebrated at the glittering event hosted by television personality Dougie Donnelly at Glasgow's Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Living up to his status as the country’s leading player he won the Allied Surveyors Scottish Amateur Championship at Carnoustie and also enjoyed individual success at the Tennant Cup.

However Macaulay also excelled as a team player with his form of the previous year earning him selection for the GB & Ireland squad that contested the St Andrews Trophy with a powerful Continent of Europe side.

Asked to lead the team out in both days’ singles by team captain Colin Dalgleish, he finished the two-day match unbeaten in four rounds of singles and foursomes, as did fellow Scot Wallace Booth of Comrie.

The pair teamed up again later in the season, along with Murrayshall’s Gavin Dear to produce the performance that turned 2008 into one of the most special years in the history of Scottish amateur golf.

Just six years after it was decided that the four Home Unions would compete separately in the World Championships rather than as Great Britain & Ireland, the Scots became the first of them to lift the famous Eisenhower Trophy in the contest that marked the 50th anniversary of the event.

Buoyed by that success in Australia, Macaulay then moved on to the European Tour Qualifying School where, among 900 competitors, he was the lone amateur to win his full tour card.

Evidence that he is at home among the elite was provided just last weekend when his spectacular back nine in the final round at the Madeira Islands Open, including eight birdies as he roared home in 28 strokes, earned him a runners-up finish and a cheque for £73,000 that will greatly ease the pressure of his first year on tour.

With Macaulay competing on the European Tour again this week the award was picked up on his behalf by Ian Rae, the Scottish Golf Union’s national coach who is still working closely with him.

Macaulay did not repeat last year’s achievement of winning both the Scottish Golfer of the Year title and the SGU Order of Merit however because of the remarkable consistency of Caprington’s Steven McEwan, who claimed seven top 10 finishes to take that title.

Booth, who won the Bidwells Scottish Strokeplay Championship as well as the Newlands Trophy in the course of the season, and Dear meanwhile picked up special awards for their contributions to the World Championship win.

Another who shone on the international stage was Boys Order of Merit Trophy winner Michael Stewart, the Scottish Boys champion, who captained the GB&I Boys team to victory in the Jacques Leglise Trophy, while at senior level he put in a fine performance to finish runner-up at the St Andrews Links Trophy.

At the other end of the experience scale was Gordon MacDonald who won the Scottish Seniors Order of Merit after achieving four top five finishes in their counting events, forcing Macaulay’s clubmate Bob Stewart, winner of the Scottish Seniors Strokeplay title, into second place.

Scottish Ladies amateur golf was also celebrated in a season that saw Booth’s sister Carly become the youngest ever player to represent GB&I in the Curtis Cup. That team contained a record equalling four Scots with Krystle Caithness, Michelle Thomson and Sally Watson accompanying the teenager in the match played at the Old Course.

In the domestic season Kylie Walker and Kelsey MacDonald (pictured left, courtesy idealimages.co.uk), won the ladies and girls Order of Merit titles respectively by impressive margins.

Guest speaker Professor David Purdie rounded off a memorable evening which saw former European Tour star Stephen McAllister and Ladies European Tour player Lynn Kenny among those presenting awards.

Oxford v Cambridge

The Ladies’ Golf Varsity Match

The ladies’ golf teams at Oxford and Cambridge enjoy a fantastic fixture list, playing against many prestigious clubs between the start of term in October and the annual varsity match in March, when they finally face each other. This year the 12th match was hosted by Rye Golf Club on Tuesday 24th March. The first match was held in 1998 and, although Oxford dominated the first seven matches, winning six of them, Cambridge are catching up and the tally now stands at 8 matches to 4.

Photo back left :Etta Martin Smith, Kate O’Donnell, Katie Taylor, Louisa Tarn, Leanne Mullen (Cambridge Captain), Amy Bilderbeck (Oxford Captain), Jennifer Hauschild, Gillian Kinnear, Alex Walvis, Front left Alexia Sohet, Angharad Porteous , Jennifer Mc Sloy, Jane Han, Lucy Webb-Wilson.

On paper, Cambridge were the stronger side, having lower handicaps and more experience than the Oxford team, whose 2008 players had all graduated at the end of that year (with the exception of Amy Bilderbeck, who had been the reserve at Royal Liverpool and was promoted straight to the captaincy). With all the matches played off scratch, Oxford knew they had to come out fighting. Amy and her partner, Jennifer Mc Sloy took an early lead with an excellent 3 at the short 2nd in tricky blustery conditions. However, the opposing captain, Leanne Mullen, and her partner, 2-handicapper Louisa Tarn, showed their class as the match progressed and they emerged convincing winners at the 14th. The last match proved to be similarly one-sided, despite tremendously long hitting from the Oxford pair, tidier play around Rye’s immaculate and difficult greens proved the decisive factor. By contrast, the second match was fought to a nail-biting finish, with the Cambridge pair making a good par on the 18th to narrowly take the third point of the morning for the light blues.

Cambridge only needed to win two points from the six afternoon singles but Oxford went out determined to make them fight for every one. The top match was a high quality game between the lowest handicapped players on the two teams, with Louisa eventually getting the upper hand over Oxford’s Gillian Kinnear and closing out the match on the 15th. The match-winning point was secured a short time later on the same green when Kate O’Donnell prevailed over Jennifer Mc Sloy. The remaining matches were played to a conclusion with each player keen to prove their skill and resolve. Jennifer Hauschild put in a gutsy performance against the significantly more experienced Cambridge captain, but hopes of a win against the odds were dismissed at the 17th. When Katie Taylor secured another hard-fought point against the Oxford captain, it was in danger of looking like a white-wash, but the remaining Oxford players had other ideas. In the fifth match, Alex Walvis had struggled to adapt to the links conditions but battled with herself, as well as her opponent, to stay in the match. She managed to get to 1 up going down the 18th but Cambridge’s Etta Martin Smith was not to be denied some reward for her consistent good play and won the hole to secure a half. Her team mate, Alexia Sohet, was not so lucky in the exciting final match; although she fought back from 2 down to square the match after 17, Oxford’s Lucy Webb-Wilson holed a great putt for a birdie to win her game and salvage some honour for the dark blues.

Despite the historic rivalry between the universities and a strong desire to win on both sides, all the matches were played in fantastic spirit. The many spectators who turned out to watch were treated both to fine golf and sincere sportsmanship. Friendships were formed which will last beyond university. Both past and present golfers are invited to become members of the Oxford and Cambridge Ladies’ Golfing Society, which was founded in 1991 to provide competitive golf for alumnae and to promote women’s golf at the two universities. Members of the O&CLGS meet each year at their Spring and Autumn Meetings, a number of matches and the Ladies’ Niblick, a knock-out tournament held just down the road from Rye at Littlestone Golf Club. More information about ladies’ Oxbridge golf can be found at www.oclgs.org.uk.

Results (Cambridge names first)
Foursomes
Leanne Mullen & Louisa Tarn beat Amy Bilderbeck & Jennifer Mc Sloy 5&4
Kate O’Donnell & Katie Taylor beat Gillian Kinnear & Jennifer Hauschild 1 up
Etta Martin Smith & Alexia Sohet beat Alex Walvis and Lucy Webb-Wilson 3&2
Singles
Tarn beat Kinnear 4&3
Mullen beat Hauschild 2&1
O’Donnell beat Mc Sloy 4&3
Taylor beat Bilderbeck 2&1
Martin Smith halved with Walvis
Sohet lost to Webb-Wilson 1 down
Final score: Cambridge 7 ½ Oxford 1 ½
In the match between the reserves, Cambridge’s Angharad Porteous beat Jane Han 5&4.

Thanks to the Cambridge Captain, Leanne Mullen, for the report and photo.

D&A Centenary Dinner

Kay McColl (D&A Captain) Belle Robertson and Ethel Jack (SLGA President) - Click to enlarge

Dunbartonshire and Argyll Ladies County Golf Association held their Centenary Dinner on Monday 23rd March 2009 in the Milngavie Town Hall. Captain Kay McColl welcomed the 170 ladies to the evening with a champagne reception. Hon President Lesley Mackiggan gave the toast to the County. After an excellent meal the guest speaker John Beattie gave the audience some wonderful rugby coaching which included Belle Robertson, Kay McColl and President of the SLGA Ethel Jack involved in scrum practice !!
To see some photos from the event go to the
D&A Website or the West of Scotland Website

Thanks to Carol Fell, our intrepid "Woman in the West" for supplying the info and photographs.

New Junior Girls website

I'm delighted to announce a new website for Junior Girls in Stirlingshire and Clackmannan.
The address is scclgagirls.blogspot.com but if you can't remember it, you'll always find it down the Girls Links on the left hand menu of this website.

Ladies' London Foursomes results

Results in the Ladies' London Foursomes at The Berkshire Golf Club:

THIRD ROUND
(winning margins not available)
Chelmsford bt Ashridge.
The Berkshire bt Hampton Court Palace.
Worplesdon bt Rochford Hundred.
Bishops Stortford bt Pyecombe.
Walton Heath bt Royal Ashdown Forest.
West Sussex v East Berkshire.
Beaconsfield bt Lamberhurst.
Guildford bt East Herts.

QUARTER-FINALS
Chelmsford bt The Berkshire 3 and 2.
Worplesdon bt Bishops Stortford 4 and 2.
West Sussex bt Walton Heath 8 and 6.
Beaconsfield bt Guildford 2 and 1.