FIONA RETURNS TO SLGA FOLD, TONI JOINS LATER THIS MONTH

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Fiona Farquharson has returned to the SLGA to take over from Company Secretary Dr Sheila Hartley who has come to retirement age.
And Claire Hargan's successor as Championship Manager - the SLGA staffer who runs tournbaments - is to be Antonia Melvin-Ffinch, a fully-qualified PGA professional at Aberdour Golf Club. It's all happening for Antonia - "Just call me 'Toni'" - she got married just over a month ago, which changed her surname from Ffinch to Melvin-Ffinch.
Claire Hargan has left the Perth-based SLGA HQ staff to work for the R and A.
Dr Hartley was Glenbervie Golf Club's secretary manager until she replaced Peter Smith as the SLGA secretary in 2003.
Fiona Farquharson, pictured right, who has been women's club champion at King James VI GC more times than she can remember, was Championship Manager with the SLGA prior to Claire Hargan but left the post so that she could play more golf as a senior.
Now Mrs Farquharson - no relation to yours truly - is back in the fold. No official announcement to that effect but Fiona is listed as Company Secretary in the new SLGA Handbook, so we'll take that as read.

Toni Melvin-Ffinch, pictured left, who did her PGA training at Aberdour, near Dunfermline in Fife, under the tutelage of club pro David Gemmell, starts her new role just in time for the SLGA’s first big event of the season – the Helen Holm Scottish women's open amateur stroke-play championship at Troon at the end of this month.
"Looks like I am going in at the deep end, but I'm looking forward to it," said Hertfordshire-born Toni who moved up to Scotland 20 years ago with her dad.
David Gemmell said of the SLGA's newest recruit:
“The quiet, timid assistant I employed nearly six years ago now has turned into an efficient, hard-working professional.”
The first national event on the SLGA 2012 calendar is the Scottish Under-16 girls' open championship at Strathmore Golf Centre on Thursday and Friday of this week.

CATHERINE MALCOLM TOP SEED FOR AYRSHIRE COUNTY CH/SHIP

Catherine Malcolm (Prestwick St Nicholas) was the leading qualifier for the match-play stages of the Ayrshire women's county championship at Troon Portland today.
She had a 77 - two over par and also two over the CSS.
Sorry that's the only score we can get off the Ayrshire LCGA website.
The 15 other qualfiers were:
Alex Glennie (Kilmarnock Barassie)
Lesley Hendry (Largs)
Ros Purdom (Prestwick St Nicholas)
Jane Finnie (Troon Ladies)
Pauline Patrick (Irvine Bogside)
Audrey Thompson (Loudoun)
Mhairi McKay (West Kilbride)
Catherine Garrett (West Kilbride)
Sara-Ann Bottomly
Sheila Adams (Loudoun)
Rachel Irvin (Largs)
Gillian Henderson (Belleisle)
Barbara Beckett (Loudoun)
Nora McCrossan (Troon Ladies).

DAVID AND KELSEY TOP THE R AND A SCHOLARS' GOLF CLASS

Yorkshireman David Booth and Highlander Kelsey MacDonald, both Stirling University students, won the men's and women's titles at the the R and A Foundation Scholars' Tournament which began with two rounds over the Eden Course on Monday and ended with the final 18 holes over the Old Course today. Curtis Cup reserve Kelsey from Nairn won the women's award for a second time with two strokes to spare but there was late drama in the men's event. Booth, Stirling team-mate Jack McDonald and Conor Wilson from Plymouth University finished in a tie on 215 at the head of the leaderboard. Wilson was in the burn at the first play-off hole and was eliminated. Booth and McDonald then moved over to make the 18th the second sudden-death hole and Booth won the title by holing an 8ft birdie putt. Scoring was difficult on a day of  nonstop rain, sometimes torrential. In those circumstances Conor Wilson's two-under-par closing round of 70 was a great effort, allowing him to make up his three-shot start of the day leeway on both Booth and McDonald who finished with 73s. Kelsey Macdonald added a very good final round of 71 to her Eden scores of 76 and 72. Her final total of 219 was the ninth best overall and she won the women's title by two shots from Stirling team-mate and fellow Highlander, Hannah McCook from Nethy Bridge. Hannah had scores of 75 and 70 over the Eden and a 76 on the Old Course. David Booth, who hails from Rotherham , was  playing in his sixth and final Scholars tournament before turning pro after he graduates later this year. He said: "The conditions were tough so you just had to grind out a score, taking it hole by hole. And that's what I did. "It's my second play-off against Jack McDonald in a couple of months and in the back of my mind I'm thinking, is he going to try and get his own back but I just thought no, I'm going to go out there and try and make birdies. "I played awesome tee-to-green but couldn't hole a putt. The one that won the play-off was just about all I holed over the two days and three rounds."  The 23-year-old from Rotherham can now look forward to taking his place on the European team for the Palmer Cup students' international match against the United States at Royal Co Down, Northern Ireland in June. "It's such a big prize to play in that match against the top college golfers in America ," said Booth. Defending champion Nick Macandrew (Aberdeen University) finished in a tie for 22nd place on 225.  Women's champion Kelsey MacDonald has won a place in a Ladies European Tour event later in the year. "It was quite tough this week, I struggled on the greens on the Eden Course," said the 21-year-old Nairn Dunbar GC member. "I struggled a wee bit today but hit it in really close with my approaches, which helped a lot." Jane Turner (Robert Gordon), who was defending the women's title, finished in sixth place on 227.   For the 2011/2012 academic year, The R and A awarded around 100 Foundation scholarships, taking its support of student golf to more than £300,000. FINAL TOTALS Rounds 1 and 2 over Eden Course. Round 3 over Old Course MEN 215 David Booth (Stirling) 73 69 73, Jack McDonald (Stirling) 74 68 73, Conor Wilson ( Plymouth ) 72 73 70 (Booth won sudden-death play-off at second extra hole). 216 Alexander Culverwell ( Stirling ) 70 70 76. 217 Graeme Robertson ( Stirling ) 71 74 72. 218 Oliver Roberts (Stirling) 75 71 72, Kit Holmes (Stirling) 74 69 75, Daniel Sommerville ( Dundee ) 72 70 76. 219 Gareth Jenkins ( Birmingham ) 74 73 72, Michael Daily ( Stirling ) 71 70 78. 220 Dewi Merckx ( Stirling ) 72 70 78. 221 Jamie Lynch ( Forth Valley College ) 73 75 73, Matthew Wheeler (St Andrews)74 72 75, Tai Yasuda (Loughborough) 70 75 76, Darren Timms ( Stirling ) 69 74 78. 222 Laurie Potter ( Exeter ) 79 72 71, Patrick Spraggs (Stirling) 76 74 72, Fraser Moore (Stirling) 71 74 77, Andrew Wallace ( Stirling ) 74 70 78. 223 Mathias Eggenberger (Stirling) 76 76 71, Martin Tavoda ( Birmingham ) 72 73 78. 225 Nick Macandrew ( Aberdeen ) 74 75 76., Thomas Jessamine ( Birmingham ) 73 72 80, Mike Howard ( Stirling ) 70 73 82 226 Jean Pierre Verselin (France) 72 79 75, Jack Scotty ( Edinburgh ) 73 77 76 229 Alexander Braida ( Italy ) 76 76 77, Julien Richelle ( Belgium ) 79 72 78. 230 Clement Lemaire (France) 77 78 75. 232 Lewis Hollingworth (Lincoln) 74 80 78. 234 Matt Hill (Loughborough) 75 72 87. 235 Chiara Brizzolari ( Italy ) 80 75 80. 237 Karlis Broders (Loughborough) 83 75 79. 246 Steve Martin (Loughborough) 89 76 81. WOMEN 219 Kelsey MacDonald (Stirling) 76 72 71. 221 Hannah McCook (Stirling) 75 70 76. 223 Susan Jackson (Edinburgh) 76 73 74. 224 Gabrielle MacDonald (St Andrews) 74 74 76. 225 Charlotte Austwick (York) 73 73 79 227 Jane Turner (Robert Gordon) 71 75 81 228 Melissa McMahon (Buckinghamshire New) 77 74 77, Kate McIntosh (Elmwood) 74 77 77, Eilidh Briggs (Stirling) 71 74 83 232 Lauren Spray (Birmingham) 81 74 77 233 Bronwyn Davies (Myerscough) 76 80 77, Alison Knowles (Exeter) 73 79 81 234 Rebecca Wilson (Stirling) 81 74 79 236 Gemma Bradbury (St Andrews) 76 76 84 238 Jordana Graham (Stirling) 79 75 84 239 Nicola Rawlinson (Loughborough) 79 77 83 246 Gillian Scanlan (Strathclyde) 75 80 91 251 Alice Barnes (Exeter) 87 85 79.

Europeans Have Come A Long Way

By John Hopkins at the Global Golf Post

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | On a dark Sunday night in April 1981, I got my first glimpse of Augusta National from the back seat of a van transporting British golf writers from Augusta airport to the houses we had been billeted in by the tournament organisers. In those days, Hord Hardin was chairman of Augusta National and Seve Ballesteros, 23, was the defending champion as well as the youngest champion after his four-stroke victory the year before.

Dark and brooding, gifted and temperamental, Ballesteros seemed ill at ease that week, sensing plots against him were being hatched behind every pine tree. With rounds of 78 and 76 he comfortably missed the cut. He won $1,500 and appeared happy to be out of the place.

Your correspondent, meanwhile, was having the time of his life. He had his hair cut in the barber shop near where the pro shop is now, was driving a car while staying in a house provided by the club and eating breakfast and sometimes dinner cooked for him. He would file his story to London by dictating it in the middle of the night over a crackly phone line from Augusta via an operator in Savannah to his office in London.

The story had been written in the then press room, the Quonset hut where journalists were penned, to the right of the first fairway. We sat in rows with a television set perched precariously on a shelf above our heads pecking away at our portable typewriters or the sturdy Royals, Remingtons or Underwoods that Augusta National supplied if we hadn't brought our own.

"Be an ignominious death to be killed by a falling television at Augusta National," one colleague remarked.

"Make a good story, though," another replied.

In 1981, there were eight times as many British journalists as the two competitors from the European Tour - Ballesteros, the defending champion, and Sandy Lyle, who had qualified by winning the Order of Merit the previous year. For European players, those were the only two ways into The Masters then. Europe was the forgotten continent. It was much the same at the other major championships in the U.S. There seemed to be a bias against players from Europe. Actually, there seemed to be a bias against the European Tour officials. Ken Schofield and George O'Grady, the executive director and assistant executive director of the Tour, did not get accreditation at Augusta until 1986.

"In 1982 Sam (Torrance) couldn't finish well in a late-season tournament and it cost him second in the Order of Merit and that meant he was denied a place at Augusta," Schofield said. "At the next year's Association of Golf Writers' dinner, I was sitting next to Hord Hardin and relayed this. All he said was: 'We never put much credit on runners-up.' Hord even told Renton (Laidlaw): 'Renton, what you've got to remember is we're a tournament in America first and foremost for Americans.'"

Soon though, Europeans started winning regularly - Ballesteros for a second time in 1983 and Bernhard Langer for a first two years later. As every winner had automatic entry thereafter, his victory meant an extra player in the field.

"Seve was a real inspiration to us all," three-times Masters victor Nick Faldo told Global Golf Post's John Steinbreder last week. "And his victories at Augusta, on a place not deemed a European-style golf course and with much better conditioning and much faster greens than we were used to at the time on the Euro Tour, sent a message that we could do well in the States and at Augusta."

The two words "do well" are typical British understatement. Europeans dominated at Augusta, winning seven of the 11 that followed Ballesteros' second in 1983 and suddenly the doors, against which Schofield and O'Grady had railed for so many years, started opening.

"I remember talking to Hord Hardin in 1986 and he asked me, 'Are you the young man who has come across here to tell me how we must take more European players into the Masters?' " O'Grady said. "My answer was not at all. We have come to look and observe and tell you if I thought our players could be competitive.

"To be fair, the credit for breaking into the U.S. falls to (Schofield) without a shadow of doubt," O'Grady continued. "He fought tooth and nail and if you know Schofield you know what that means. Let's face it, Augusta is the ultimate meeting ground for anyone in golf. You can't not be here."

Last week, 38 players from the European Tour competed at Augusta, 19 times as many as in 1981. Schofield, now consulting for The Golf Channel, and O'Grady, now chief executive of the European Tour, were deservedly proud. And, for that matter, so was your correspondent. He was attending his 31st Masters, which meant he had spent 31 weeks in this glorious part of Georgia and he looked forward to spending many more.

This article was taken from the Global Golf Post. For more like it please click here. The Global Golf Post is a free weekly golf publication delivered every Monday to your computer screen 50 weeks of the year.

CACTUS LADIES PRO TOUR

EVENT#10 TRES RIOS

FIRST ROUND SCORES

1 JOY TROTTER 66
2 LORI ATSEDES 70
3 SHANNON FISH 71
T4 ALEX SHULTE 72
T4 COURTNEY MAHON 72
T4 SARA HURWITCH 72
7 BRITTANY JOHNSTON 73
8 LAUREN SULLIVAN (amateur) 75
T9 ALLISON MICHELETTI 76
T9 McKENZIE JACKSON 76
T11 BRITTANY BENVENUTO 78
T11 KYLEE DUEDE (amateur) 78
13 KATHRYN CORBIERE (amateur) 79
14 NATALIE GUIDRY 80
15 JORDAN ALLYNE 83
16 ERICA DECHOWITZ (amateur) 87

LIZI SWEETNAM LEADS ARKANSAS TECH TO FOURTH TITLE IN A ROW

Londoner Lizi Sweetnam, in her final year at Arkansas State University, spearheaded the college women's team to a fourth successive victory in the Mulerider Invitational tournament over 36 holes at Texarkana Golf Ranch, Texas.
Arkansas Tech placed five players in the top 10 in a field of 29 with Lizi (pictured) the best of the bunch in third place on 163 with scores of 83 and 80 over a par-72, 6145yd course.
Brittany Marquez (Harding University) won the individual honours with scores of 76 and 79 for 155 - six ahead of runner-up Rachel Harmon (Henderson State) (83-78).

BRONTE NARROWLY BEATEN, BUT MEGHAN WINS IN FRANCE

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLAND GOLF

England faced disappointment and triumph on the last day of the French Lady Junior Championship at St Cloud, near Paris.
Bronte Law, pictured right by courtesy of Leaderboard Photography, was narrowly defeated in her bid to win the title, but Meghan MacLaren scored a resounding victory in the second flight Cartier Trophy. Bronte, the top seed from Bramhall, Cheshire, lost by hole to Celine Boutier of France in a 36-hole final which was peppered with birdies. The French player, supported by a crowd of about 100 spectators, crucially birdied the par-five 35th hole to go one up and held on to win when the last was halved in par. For most of the match Bronte held the advantage. The 17-year-old, selected to make her Curtis Cup debut for GB and I at Nairn from June 8-10, was three up after eight and didn’t lose a hole until the ninth, where she was beaten by a birdie.
On the second nine the players traded birdies, but Bronte was always at least two up and that was the score after 18 holes. Boutier struck immediately after lunch, winning the 19th, but Bronte hit back with a birdie at the 21st to again be two up.
However, Boutier whittled away at the deficit and was all-square after the 26th, before winning the 27th to move ahead in the match for the first time. Bronte twice birdied holes to pull her opponent back to all-square but Boutier made the critical move with her birdie on the par five 35th hole.
Both girls were below par for the match, with just one shot separating their scores.

Meanwhile, Meghan MacLaren (Wellingborough), pictured left by courtesy of Leaderboard Photography, also beat par as she dominated her 36-hole final against Clara Baena of Spain, winning by 7 and 5.
Meghan, an England girl international, made a quick start, winning the 3rd, 6th, 7th 8th and 9th to be five up at the turn and that was also her score at the halfway stage.
After lunch she maintained the momentum and birdied the 19th to get to six-up. She lost the next hole but birdied the 21st and 24th to move to seven up. Her opponent won back two of the next four holes, but Meghan produced a run of three consecutive pars which closed out the match and gave her the title on the 31st hole.
Meghan enjoyed a fantastic run through the Cartier Trophy and was only once taken as far as the 16th hole.
Overall, the championship was a huge success for the England squad. Meghan MacLaren, together with Georgia Hall (Remedy Oak) and Emily Taylor (Royal Lytham and St Annes), won the Vilmorin Cup, the nations’ team competition. The combination of Holly Clyburn (Woodhall Spa), Bronte Law and Lauren Taylor (Woburn) were third. Bronte led the way as top qualifier for the championship matchplay and was joined in the knockout stages by Georgia, Emily, Holly, Lauren and Elizabeth Mallett (Sutton Coldfield Ladies’).
Georgia reached the semi-finals after an all-England quarter final against Holly Clyburn. Emily reached the second round, while Lauren and Elizabeth both bowed out in the first round.
Performance Director Linda Bayman commented: “It’s been a great week. The girls all seemed to step up a gear, they putted well and played more aggressively. All the Continental countries were taking note of our players.”

JULIE FORBES COMES HOME FROM IRELAND, LINKS UP WITH GARY

Sister and brother Julie and Gary Forbes behind the counter of the pro's shop at Murcar Links GC. Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency.   

 Former Scotland international and winner on the Ladies European Tour, Julie Forbes from Aboyne has returned to the North-east of Scotland after 13 years in Ireland.
"I enjoyed my time as a golf teacher and coach in Ireland but I felt it was time to come home to my roots," said Julie.
She has joined the staff of brother Gary who is the club professional at Murcar Links Golf Club.
"Julie has already stood in for me as coach to the Aberdeenshire ladies golf squad when I was away playing in an indoor bowls tournament (Gary is international class at this sport), so she is available to coach, not only girls and women, but also males and not only with the Murcar Links club," said Gary.
"It's great to have her back. I've been telling her to come home for years."
Julie was Aberdeenshire women's country champion in 1989 and turned pro in the 1990s. She won a LET event in France but eventually settled down to a teaching career in Ireland, based at Drogheda.