Michele Thomson moves to

Manchester to make fresh

start to pro career

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Former Scottish amateur champion and Curtis Cup player Michele Thomson has moved from Ellon in Aberdeenshire to make a fresh start to her professional golf career in  Manchester. She is going  to work for Scots-born Brian Connor, the PGA professional at Manchester Golf Club.

Initially, the 22-year-old has joined the staff at Brian’s successful House of Golf Centre business at Middleton, Lancashire as a teaching professional. She will start four years PGA training under Connor’s tutelage, beginning in the autumn.
Michele has not played golf since last September. Instead of competing at La Manga, Spain at the 2009 Ladies European Tour Qualifying School after a rookie pro season in which she did not win enough money to retain her playing rights, Michele has been quite happy and content, sitting at home.
Happy and content because she was not playing golf, only two years after hitting an amateur career high by winning the Scottish women’stitle at Lossiemouth and making her debut for Great Britain & Ireland in the 2008 Curtis Cup match against the United States over the Old Course, St Andrews.
Michele explained at the time:
“During 2009 I became very disillusioned with golf. After really enjoying the competitive and social side of my amateur golf career it seemed that after the experience of the Curtis Cup joining the pro ranks was the natural way forward.
“Maybe it was a step too soon, but then again maybe life as a golf tour pro is just not for me. I don’t know. I played in just seven Ladies European Tour events this year, did fairly well and at the end of the year I just missed out on securing full playing rights for 2010.
“I never felt out of place on the LET and I believe my game was good enough to make a living playing golf. But I was just not enjoying life on the tour and everyone around me was telling me if you don’t like it, don’t do it.
“My situation worsened in September when my grandmother passed away and since then I have not picked up a golf club although I am still interested enough in the news from the golf scene,” continued Michele.
“I regularly check how everyone is doing, both in the pro ranks and on the amateur circuit. But my immediate plans have nothing to do with golf. I am really enjoying the complete break, the first I have had away from golf since I was 13.”
So Michele has now taken steps to ensure a weekly wage from golf but not by playing for pay but becoming a PGA-trained professional, in theory capable of being appointed a club pro as Muriel Thomson is at Portlethen and Karyn Dallas at Kirrieuir.
“I have decided to go down this route because the opportunity down in Manchester was too good to pass up. I have known Geraldine and Brian Connor a long time and I feel like part of the family,” said Michele.
“I don't feel I have given up the pro game as a tournament competitor. I am only 22 and feel I have a lot of time to take the opportunity to play again. If I feel I have the ability to play among the best I will play. I am not going to go to an event just to make up numbers, I want to be able to go to an event and feel I can compete to win. I'm not going to play until I feel I am ready to do that.”
Brian Connor, who runs one of the biggest golf centres with first-class practice and teaching facilties and whose daughter Rachel competes as a professional on the US Futures Tour, said:
“As a family, we have known Michele for a number of years. She is great fun, very approachable, hard working and a fantastic golfer. We have very proud to have her on board the team and we know that she will enhance the House of Golf staff that we already have in place.
“Michele’s remit is to improve the services that we offer to junior golfers at Manchester Golf Club and in the surrounding area. She will also be working with House of Golf professional Scott Connor to provide ladies’ group coaching and some mixed classes.”
Michele is joining a thriving business. Brian Connor’s House of Golf has led the way in golf retail in the Northwest of England for more than 20 years. The House of Golf offers a range of unrivalled services with extensive tuition and practice facilities, situated in 240 acres at Manchester Golf Club, Middleton.

Kelsey MacDonald, Jane Turner and James White bound for Malaga

Kelsey Macdonald (left) and Jane Turner, pictured in action during last week's Scottish women's amateur championship at Craigielaw. Images by Cal Carson Golf Agency. Click on them to enlarge.

Three Scots students bound for World University Championships

Three Scots – new Scottish women’s champion Kelsey MacDonald (Stirling University), Jane Turner (Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen) and Stirling University’s James White have been included in a squad of seven players to represent Great Britain in the world university golf championships from June 7 to 11 at Malaga on Spain’s Costa del Sol.

Kelsey, Jane, who retained the British women’s universities stroke-play title earlier this year, and England’s Lucy Williams (Birmingham University) will make up the British trio for the women’s team event.

The four-strong men’s team includes White, pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, a former Scottish boys’ match-play champion, Nicky Maddison (Northumbria University), Ian Winstanley (Leeds University) and Kevin Garwood (Bournemouth University).

Mary Dowling with the championship trophy in a picture postcard setting at Portstewart, Northern Ireland (image by courtesy of the Irish Ladies Golf Union and Pat Cashman Photography).

Mary Dowling beats Leona Maguire to win Irish women's title

Mary Dowling (New Ross) is the new, first-time Lancome Irish women's (closed) amateur champion.
She upset the form book and the pundits by beating the 15-year-old Curtis Cup team selection, Leona Maguire (Slieve Russell) by holing a birdie putt across the 18th green for a one-hole victory in the final at Portstewart Golf Club today.
HERE'S HOW THE ACTION WENT
Mary Dowling got off to a great start with a birdie 3 on the 400yd first hole and parred the 2nd, 3rd and 4th to see her 2 up thru 4.
On the fifth Leona was unlucky to miss the green and Mary had a superb two-putt on a two-tier green with the pin at the back. Leona was unable to chip and putt for a half so Dowling went three up.
Leona won the sixth and seventh with pars and the eighth was halved in pars with Leona sinking a 12ft putt while Mary hit an iron from 165yds to 12 feet but missed the putt.
A strong cross wind on the ninth resulted in both players being right of the fairway - the hole was halved in bogeys.
Mary found a bunker on 10 and with an awkward stance took two to get out. Match now all square. Leona had a great birdie on the par 4, 312yd 11th hole to go ahead in the match for the first time.
Mary rescued a par on the par 5, 487yd 13th , hitting her third shot 200yds to the green for two putts. Leona still one up.
Leona birdied the 14th, sinking a 12ft putt to stretch her lead to two holes.
Mary won the short 15th with par, Leona finding the greenside bunker. Leona one up with three to play.
Match all square at the par-4 16th playing long into a strong wind . Leona found the greenside bunker with her second shot resulting in a bogey while Mary sank a 6ft putt for par.
The 17th hole was halved in pars. Match all square on the 18th tee.
Both players were just short of the green in two on the 18th. Mary chipped to eight feet, right of the bunker and Leona to 12 foot behind the pin. Leona putted 3ft past the pin. Mary was looking at a downhill right to left putt for the title and duly slotted it home to rapturous applause.
Sandra Barnett
Irish Ladies Golf Union

New faces in Aberdeenshire team for Blairgowrie

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Aboyne's Zibby Brown, Fiona Hay (Deeside) and Rachel Polson (Peterculter), pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, will make their county debuts in the Aberdeenshire team to play Northern Counties, Angus and Perth & Kinross in the North Division team championship at Blairgowrie from June 28 to 30.
Sara Mathieson (Royal Musselburgh), missed the "jamboree" last year because she was on her honeymoon - which is as good a reason as any! - and, at the moment, I cannot find out, one way or the other, whether she had played for the Shire county team in a previous year.
Alford's Laura Murray was unavailable for selection. She will be playing in the British women's open amateur championship at Ganton, Yorkshire that weekend.
The championship winners at Blairgowrie go forward to meet the three other divisional title-winners in the Scottish county finals at Bothwell Castle GC from September 17 to 19.
Aberdeenshire team is:
Zibby Brown (Aboyne)
Fiona Hay (Deeside)
Sammy Leslie (Westhill)
Sara Mathieson (Royal Musselburgh)
Donna Pocock (Murcar Links)
Rachel Polson (Peterculter)
Carol Wilson (Murcar Links)
Sheena Wood (Aberdeen Ladies) (team captain)
Reserves:
Laura McLardy (Duff House RoyaL).
Kimberley Beveridge (Aboyne)

Laura Jones comes third in NAIA

Championship and is named to

All-American Team for second time

Royal Liverpool GC member Laura Jones, a junior (third) year student at Oklahoma City University, finished third in a huge field of 128 players in the NAIA Women's Championship at Meadowbank (par 72), Rapid City, South Dakota.
Later Laura was named for the second time as a member of the All-American NAIA team - an indication that she is considered one of the top players at this level of the US college women's golf circuit.

The top three in the championship were:
301 Nathalie Silva (California Baptist) 74 76 75 76.
303 Kylie Barras (British Columbia) 78 77 75 73.
304 Laura Jones (Oklahoma City) 76 74 77 77.

Laura had four double bogeys over the 72 holes, or she might well have added a fifth victory to her US golfing CV.
Laura is the Sooner Athletic Conference individual champion for the second year in a row
She was born at Chester on July 29, 1989 and lives - over her summer holidays from the USA - at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.
Oklahoma City University, thanks to Laura's efforts finished second in the NAIA Women's Team championship with a total of 1231, compared with title-winners British Columbia';s 1224. A total of 25 teams took part so that was a pretty good performance by Oklahoma City.

Sally' s a success but she's in no rush

to turn pro despite major coup

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE

By Martin Dempster
Sally Watson's success in qualifying for the US Women's Open – the second time she's secured a spot in a major – is unlikely to hasten the talented Scottish amateur into the professional ranks before the end of her four-year stint at Stanford University.
"Preparing yourself (to become a professional] is a marathon, not a sprint, so I don't see any rush," the 18-year-old freshman told "The Scotsman" newspaper from California after securing one of four places up for grabs at Oakmont in a field of just under 90 for one of the two-round sectional qualifiying competitions on Monday.
"The most important thing for me at the moment is that I am continuing to improve and there are still huge things I'd like to achieve as an amateur, such as winning the British Amateur and US Amateur titles. You can't turn back the clock after you've made that decision (to turn professional] so let's see how good I can be as an amateur before I think about making that move."

The Edinburgh-born player – her family now live in Elie – tied for 50th after getting into the Ricoh Women's British Open at St Andrews in 2007 and also finished in the top 20 when she played in the Ladies' Scottish Open at The Carrick the same year.

Now she's earned another chance to test herself against some of the world's leading players and, after shooting rounds of 71 and 79 at Corral de Tierra Country Club, south of Monterey, to earn a US Women's Open berth in Pennsylvania from July 8-11, she couldn't wait to break the good news to her parents, Graham and Maggie.

"It was 3am when the phone call came through and, as you'd imagine, she was quite excited," revealed Graham, who caddied for his daughter in that historic women's event over the Old Course.

"She was also totally exhausted, having just come back from playing in the NCAA Championships on the east coast."

The travelling is set to continue as the Elie & Earlsferry Ladies player, who won the Scottish girls' title in 2005 before losing in the final of the British girls championship the following year , has an exciting few weeks ahead of her on both sides of the Atlantic.

She'll make a second Curtis Cup appearance for Great Britain & Ireland in Massachusetts in just over a fortnight before coming home to spearhead the Scottish challenge in the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship at Ganton.

Watson, pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency, then returns to America at the beginning of July for the US Women's Open, comes home again to try to qualify for the Ricoh Women's British Open at Royal Birkdale and, in August, is likely to receive invitations for both the Ladies' Irish Open at Kileen Castle and the Scottish equivalent at Archerfield Links

"I'm super excited," she said of her appearance in the US Women's Open. "I've played in a couple of USGA events in the past and they are run fantastically well. It's been a crazy spell – I worked out that I've played 18 holes every day for nine or ten days – but a lot of fun, though I now have to try and cram a lot of school work into the next few days as I'm finishing school two weeks early (so that she can meet up with her Great Britain & Ireland team-mates when they fly in to Boston on June 1 to prepare for the Curtis Cup]."

Watson, who will turn 19 on the Saturday of the US Women's Open, won't now be able to play for Scotland in the European Ladies' Team Championship as it takes place at the same time in Spain, but she will be available for the World Team Championship in Argentina later in the year.

"She sounded very tired so I don't think she'll be picking up a golf club over the next few days," added her father, who is no doubt that Sally's decision to first of all spend some time at the IMG Academy at Bradenton in Florida before heading across to the west coast of America to start at Stanford has helped her game improve enormously.

"Her closing 66 was a major milestone in her career but, with 89 players in the field for her US Women's Open qualifier, it was a tall order," he noted. "She's quite good, though, in a situation where she has to put her mind to something. She can dig deep."

Sally, who is coached by Kevin Collins, an American based at the David Leadbetter Academy at Bradenton, will join Ricoh Women's British Open champion Catriona Matthew, among 68 players exempt from qualifying and the first to file her entry for the event, in the field at Oakmont.