US COLLEGE NEWS

Sally Watson jt 49th on debut for Stanford

- but she was only two over par!

Curtis Cup Scot Sally Watson did OK on her competitive debut for California's Stanford University in the Mason Rudolph women's collegiate championship.

It was just that 48 players in the field of 90 did better!

The scoring was amazingly low over the par-72, 6271 course at the Vanderbilt Legends Club, Tennessee.

Sally, 18, pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, had rounds of 74 and 72 and was only two over par with a total of 146. Starting at the 10th in her second round, she birdied the 10th, 12th, 13th and fifth. She had bogeys at the 17th, fourth and sixth.

The tournament should have been over three rounds but the scheduled second 18 holes were washed out by very bad weather.

Normally, a two-over-par total in a 36-hole event on the US women's college circuit would gain a player somewhere in the top 20. But Sally finished joint 49th!

The tone for the low scoring was set by Southern California's Jennifer Song who returned a pair of 66s for a 12-under-par tally of 132. Unbelievable!

She won by three shots from the three who tied for second place - home course player Marina Alex (Vanderbilt) with 68 and 67, Cydney Clanton (Auburn) (67-68) and Sydness Michaels (UCLA) (70-65).

Even Spanish ace Carlota Ciganda (Arizona State), beaten at Harlech in the final of this summer's British women's open amateur championship (by compatriot Azahara Munoz, now a professional), a title Carlota won in 2007 but did not defend in 2008, could finish no higher than joint 40th with a total of one-over-par 145 (71-74).

Southern California (560) won the team title by two shots from UCLA with Auburn (563) third and Arizona State (565) fourth. Stanford (580) came 13th of 17.

Scots win Special Olympics' Topaz

Triple Crown Golf Trophy

Scotland won the third Special Olympics' Topaz Triple Crown Golf Trophy at Hollystown Golf Club, Ireland.
Ireland, winners of the past two events, played this year as five individual teams from each of the Special Olympics Regions. The event was played over 9 holes on two consecutive days.
Scotland’s match winner was a fine level par round of 35 by Graeme Andrews on the first day, ten shots better than his nearest rival, which put Scotland into an unassailable lead going into the second day.
Best of the Irish were Munster’s Alan Punch and Trudy Hyland while Connacht’s Barbara Callagy, Connacht and Leinster’s Kevin Codd punched well above their weight.
Competitors hailed from Scotland, England and each of the five Special Olympics Regions of Ireland.
Further details available from:
Ruth O’Mahony, PRO Special Olympics Golf
ruthomahony@eircom.net

Tara Mactaggart with the two trophies she won over the Kelso course at the weekend.

Tara Mactaggart (13) wins Borders' Silver Jubilee

Quaich - and the Borders' girls championship

Thirteen-year-old Tara Mactaggart (Minto) scored a great double at the weekend. She not only took the Silver Jubilee Quaich in the Border Ladies County Golf Association competition at Kelso, but also won the scratch in the Border girls' championship over the same course.
Leading scores

Silver Jubilee Quaich
1 Tara Mactaggart (Minto) 34pts better last 6 holes.
2 Isobel Massie (Innerleithen) 34pts
3 Danielle Ker (Kelso) 32pts better inward half.

Borders girls' championship
1st Scratch: Tara Mactaggart 82 (Minto)
1st Handicap: Laura Mathewson (Kelso) (28) 71.

2nd Handicap: Vicky Shirra-Gibb (St Boswells) (32) 74.

Lancashire’s Ann Irvin to be


next EWGA President

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH WOMEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION
Lancashire’s Ann Irvin is to be the next President of the English Women's Golf Association. She will take up office at the AGM next January.“This is the most amazing honour. It is the greatest honour that England can give me and I am just so proud,” said Ann, who enjoyed a stellar career as one of the country’s foremost amateurs.
Most recently Ann, pictured, has been a selector for both England and Great Britain & Ireland. She has also been president and captain of Lancashire and is an honorary member of her county; of her home club, Royal Lytham & St Annes; and also of Lytham Green Drive Golf Club.
During her term in office Ann will actively support EWGA’s efforts to connect with its members and highlight the work the association does on behalf of England’s women club golfers.
“I feel very strongly that our members in clubs, counties and regions are most important and much valued by the association. Our elite players are also a very important part of what we do, they are our showcase, but they tend to come and go very quickly. Our grass roots members are with us for a lifetime.”
Ann took up golf in her teens and went on to become English and British champion and to be a key member of national and international teams over a 15-year period. She was in four Curtis Cup teams between 1962 and 1976 and was selected for a fifth, but injury prevented her from taking up her place. She played for GB&I in eight Vagliano Trophy matches against the Continent of Europe, and on five occasions was in the winning team. She twice helped Great Britain to win the Commonwealth Tournament.
Ann played for England in 11 Home Internationals – the team won 10 times - and six European team championships, winning a gold medal on three occasions.
Looking back, she says: “My proudest moment was the 1968 Curtis Cup in Ireland, when I was playing top in all the matches and halved one and won the rest. My best moment was winning my British championship at Carnoustie in 1973. That was the pinnacle for me.”
Ann’s playing career came to an end in 1977 because of back problems. She remained involved with golf for some years, as Lancashire county captain in 1979 and as GB&I captain in the World Amateur Team Championship of 1982.
After a break from the game she returned as Lancashire president from 2002-04 and then accepted a role as a national and international selector.
She will succeed Elizabeth Earnshaw OBE as EWGA President at the association’s AGM on January 13, 2010.
Lyndsey Hewison
Press & PR Officer
Tel. 01603 507 416

Texas Scramble prize winners, the middle three in the back row, l-r, Matthew Pippard (Hollandbush GC), Ross McLeod (Hollandbush GC), Jack McMorris (Torrance House GC), with other competitors at Brancumhall Golf Development Centre. Image by Rob Eyton-Jones. Click on it to enlarge.

New event marks start of new South

Lanarkshire junior golf strategy

By ROB EYTON-JONES, clubgolf Media Manager
Twenty-seven budding young golfers from three South Lanarkshire golf clubs enjoyed a new junior golf event at East Kilbride’s Brancumhall Golf Development Centre this month aimed at bringing together players and coaches from local clubs as the finale to a busy clubgolf coaching season.
clubgolf is the national junior golf programme formed by the partnership of the Scottish Golf Union, the Scottish Ladies' Golfing Association, the Professional Golfers' Association, the Golf Foundation and sportscotland as a result of Scotland’s successful bid to host the Ryder Cu
The Brancumhall event was a Texas Scramble for children from three local golf clubs, Hollandbush GC, Torrance House GC and Broadlees Junior Golf Academy.
Each Club entered nine players, boys and girls, from their coaching programmes. To encourage the children to work together as a team and achieve the best score, each team comprised players from different clubs.
clubgolf volunteer Level 1 coaches, and a multitude of parents and supporters, were on hand to assist with each group’s scoring and encourage the players around the course.
The competition, a huge success, marks the start of a new five year junior golf strategy in South Lanarkshire Leisure which will lead up to the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in 2014.
During South Lanarkshire’s first four-year strategy, completed in 2008, over 10,000 South Lanarkshire Primary 5 children were introduced to golf in schools through the firstclubgolf programme. The new strategy will maintain these impressive schools participation figures whilst increasing opportunities for children to progress their skills at local clubs and facilities.
Colin Girvan, Golf Development Officer for South Lanarkshire said: “We achieved some very impressive statistics during the first strategy. However, we are keen to keep improving our programmes and are focusing on supporting schools in staff training via the Active Schools Team whilst maintaining the resources required to deliver the firstclubgolf programme.
“With 100% roll-out of firstclubgolf across South Lanarkshire, exit routes to local clubs and facilities will be the main focus of the new strategy. The demand for junior coaching is greater than ever and there are opportunities for clubs and PGA Professionals to play a part in the South Lanarkshire Golf Strategy and fill their own coaching programmes whether it be clubgolf, Young Masters Golf or a Professionals own programme.”
Other significant areas of development in the new strategy include creating an elite performance pathway to identify and develop young talented players who could represent Lanarkshire in the International Children’s Games in 2011.
Secondary Schools in South Lanarkshire now have Active Schools Coordinators in position and the Golf Foundation programme Golf Extreme is currently being delivered in many of the schools.

Rob Eyton-Jones
clubgolf Media Manager
t: 07775 746981
e: rob@eyton-jones.co.uk
Official clubgolf website: http://www.clubgolfscotland.com/

Anglo-Scot Edwina in winning Daytona

State College team at "Lady Falcon"

Anglo-Scot Edwina Gold - she played in the 2006 Scottish Under-18 girls' championship at Peebles with the surname Lowery-Gold and beat Krystle Caithness in the Scottish women's amateur championship at Barassie in 2007 - is now a freshman student at Daytona State College, Florida.

Edwina, pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, whose family home is in Norwich, finished joint 28th in a field of 70 players at the Lady Falcon Invitational women's college tournament over the LPGA International course at Daytona Beach.

She scored 81 and 80 over the 6118yd par 72 course for a total of 161.

Hannah Bews from Dorset, a senior year student at Bethune Cookman College, also at Daytona Beach, finished joint 35th with scores of 80 ajd 83 for 163.

One of Edwina Gold's team-mates at Dayton State College, Mitsuki Katahira won individual honours with a pair of 74s for 148.

The efforts of Mitsuki - and Edwina - helped Daytona State College win the team title with a total of 604, nine ahead of Florida Southern with Barry (619) third of the 12 competing teams.

Sophie Gustafson ends six years without a win

Catriona Matthew earns $21,642 for

share of ninth place in California

FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE
After six long years of wondering when a win would come, Sweden's Sophie Gustafson put together four solid rounds of golf in the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge at Blackhawk Country Club, Danville in California to win for the fifth time in her career, and first since 2003.
Gustafson finished with a tournament-record 20-under-par 268 score, and beat out the runner-up and World's top-ranked player, Lorena Ochoa, by four strokes.
Gustafson collected a cash prize of $165,000 while Ochoa received $100,391.
Women's British Open winner Catriona Matthew from North Berwick improved with every round (71-70-69-67) for an 11-under-par total of 277 over the 6,185yd par-72 course. Catriona won $21,642.
Janice Moodie from Glasgow earned $6,100 for finishing joint 36th with scores of 73, 71, 69 and 72 for three-under-285.
Gustafson (65-69-66-68) started strongly and never looked back, as she had control of the leaderboard all four days, just sharing it once after Saturday's third round with Ochoa. Starting the final round all tied up with Ochoa, Gustafson birdied the first hole of the day.
Her front nine holes saw an eagle, three birdies and two bogeys, while the back nine earned just a single birdie. The 4-under-par 68 turned out to be just what was needed to pick up her fifth career victory and first title since the Samsung World Championship in 2003. This was one of her best efforts.
"This is my first victory on the LPGA Tour," she said. "I won a couple of times in Europe, but it feels fantastic to win. It's one of my best. I have been struggling with my putting, but my long game has been really good."
Though Ochoa kept it close for much of the day, Gustafson wasn't at all fazed by the fact that she was playing with the No 1 female golfer in the world.
"It's not easy," she said of playing with Ochoa. "It's a full-time job taking care of myself, so I didn't really pay much attention to what she was doing."
Gustafson, a 12-year LPGA Tour member, now has five career victories, after putting a close to a six-year drought. In 2003, she won the Samsung World Championship. Her first three wins came in 2000 (Chick-Fil-A Charity Championship, Weetabix Women's British Open) and 2001 (Subaru Memorial of Naples).
Coming into this week's event, her best finish was the runner-up at the Evian Masters. Earlier this year, Gustafson qualified for her seventh European Solheim Cup team, based on her top-5 ranking on the Ladies European Tour (LET) points list, and recorded a 1-3-0 record for the team.
She also crossed the $5 million mark in career earnings this year at the CN Canadian Women's Open, where she tied for 10th. Coming in solo-second this week is Ochoa, as she finished four strokes behind Gustafson at 16-under-par 272. This is third-straight time that she has finished in the top-5 at this event in Danville, Calif., but has yet to wind up in the winner's circle on the 18th-green.
The Mexican player was even-par on Sunday, recording three birdies and three bogeys. Taking home the $100,391 runner-up check, Ochoa has crossed the $1 million mark in season earnings. She now has earned more than $14 million in career dollars.
"Well, for sure I didn't play my best today," she said. "I think, you know, just for different reasons. I didn't get off to the best start, and I think Sophie was 4-under after five holes. But, you know, today was just her day. She won the tournament, and she deserved it. She played a really good round today. So, I guess I'm just going to try to be happy with second place."
A member of the US Curtis Cup team at St Andrews in 2008, rookie pro Amanda Blumenherst finished a very creditable fifth. She is not a member of the LPGA Tour yet. This was her fourth appearance on a sponsor's exemption and her highest finish yet.
Amanda from Scottsdale, Arizona recorded a 13-under-par 275 (70-71-67-67). Her back-to-back 67s in the third and final rounds of this week's event at Blackhawk Country Club propelled her up the leaderboard.
Recently the Duke University graduate earned medalist honors at the Palm Springs LPGA Sectional Qualifying Tournament. She now will compete in the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament the first week of December at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Floruda.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72) 6185yd
268 Sophie Gustafson 65 69 66 68 ($165,000).
272 Lorena Ochoa 68 67 65 72 (£100,391).
274 Amy Yang 72 67 69 66, Sun Young Yoo 73 64 69 68 ($64,582 each).
275 Maria Hjorth 69 66 72 69, Amanda Blumenherst 76 71 67 67, Angela Stanford 67 70 69 69 ($37,833 each).
276 Katherine Hull 72 69 68 68 ($27,206).
277 Reilly Rankin 70 69 73 65, Catriona Matthew 71 70 69 67, Morgan Pressel 71 69 67 70, Christina Kim 70 73 65 69 (jt 9th) ($21,642 each).
Selected other scores:
285 Janice Moodie 73 71 69 72 (jt 36th) ($6,100).
291 Becky Morgan 74 72 72 73 (jt 64th) ($2,472).
292 Karen Stupples 73 70 74 75 (jt 67th) ($2,308).

+Editor's note: Equality for women pros in prizemoney? Not even close. Phil Mickelson received $1,350,000 for winning on the US PGA Tour on Sunday. As you will have read above, Sophie Gustafson's take home pay for her LPGA Tour win was $165,000.