LOUISE MACGREGOR, CHASING STIRLING TITLE HAT-TRICK, REACHES LAST FOUR AT BATHGATE

Louise Macgregor (Falkirk) is still on the trail of a third successive Stirling and Clackmannan county title at Bathgate GC. In tonight's quarter-finals, Louise, pictured, beat Jennifer Bryans, of the home club, by 2 and 1 and, on Wednesday evening (5.30pm) she will play Mhairi Hall (Bathgate) who won by 2 and 1 against the first-round giant-killer, Elizabeth Goodwin (Glenbervie).
Elizabeth knocked out top seed Lesley Gibb (West Lothian) to earn a quarter-final place against Mhairi Hall.
The second semi-final will see Claire Capocci (Bridge of Allan) play Linda Allan(Falkirk Tryst).
Claire won at the 19th against Margaret Tough (Falkirk) while Linda was a 3 and 2 winner against Vicki Stevenson (Stirling) 3 and 2.

TONIGHT'S QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Mhairi Hall (Bathgate) bt Elizabeth Goodwin (Glenbervie) 2 and 1.
Louise Macgregor (Falkirk) bt Jennifer Bryans (Bathgate) 2 and 1.
Claire Capocci (Bridge of Allan) bt Margaret Tough (Falkirk) at 19th.
Linda Allan (Falkirk Tryst) bt Vicki Stevenson (Stirling).

WEDNESDAY EVENING'S SEMI-FINALS
5.30pm
Hall v Macgregor.
Capocci v Allan

MARY LOU RENTON KOs No 2 SEED KEREN WARD IN EAST LOTHIAN COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

Three of the top four seeds have reached the semi-finals of the East Lothian women's county golf championship at Haddington Golf Club. The odd one out was No 2 qualifier Keren Ward (Glen) who was beaten 3 and 2 in the quarter-finals by Gifford's Mary Lou Renton, pictured, who lost to 15-year-old Clara Young (North Berwick) in last year's final. Miss Young is not defending the title.. Tomorrow's semi-finals will feature top seed and former Scotland international Lesley Nicholson (Haddington) against Elinor Blair (North Berwick), the No 4 qualifier, who was taken to the 20th by Barbara Biggart (Gullane Ladies) in the quarter-finals, and Mary Lou Renton will play Susan Penman, the No 3 seed from Gullane Ladies There were six scratchings among the 16 qualifiers for the match-play stages, due either to work commitments or injury.  The Handicap Quaich Final will be contested by defending champion Jean McNeill (Longniddry) and Irene Gray (Musselburgh). TODAY'S RESULTS. FIRST ROUND Lesley Nicholson (Haddington) wo Wendy Fenwick (Castle Park) scr. Dulcie Barnes (Gullane Ladies) wo Diane Huish (North Berwick) scr. Barbara Biggart (Gullane Ladies) bt Christine Simpson (North Berwick) 6 and 5. Elinor Blair (North Berwick) wo Maureen Woodward (Gullane Ladies) scr. Susan Penman (Gullane Ladies) wo Sheila Blackwood (Glen) scr. Ros Thoresen (North Berwick) wo Mhairi Tufail (Musselburgh Links) scr Mary Lou Renton (Gifford) bt Barbara McIntosh (Gullane Ladies) 5 and 4. Keren Ward (Glen) wo Pat Lockie (North Berwick) scr. QUARTER-FINALS Nicholson bt Barnes 5 and 4. Blair bt Biggart at 20th. Penman bt Thoresen 7 and 6. Renton bt Ward 3 and 2.

JENNY MILNE DEFENDS NORTHERN COUNTIES' TITLE OVER HOME COURSE AT ELGIN THIS WEEKEND

By ROBIN WILSON
In advance of the Scottish women's (closed) championship at Tain, teeing off with the first qualifying round next Tuesday (May 15), the Northern Counties women’s championship takes place over the Elgin golf course this weekend, concluding on Monday.
Home course player Jenny Milne, pictured, a stalwart for Northern Counties in area teams teams for the past 12 years, has only managed two championship titles, 2007 and last year at Fortrose and Rosemarkie, but she heads a good entry of 67, considering there is no gap between the Elgin and Tain events.
It is expected Milne's main challengers will come from Northern Counties' three Scottish senior caps, Tain sisters Anne Ryan and Mary Smith and Royal Dornoch's Alison Bartlett.
All three were involved in the latter match play rounds last year at Fortrose but waiting in the wings to make an impact for the younger players is Scottish junior cap and recent winner of the British Students Tour women's title, Hannah McCook (Grantown on Spey), and Thurso schoolgirl Eleanor Tunn who, 12 months ago, made an impression at Fortrose as leading scratch qualifier and semi finalist.
Not to be overlooked is Royal Dornoch's Cara Gruber, a hat-trick champion in 2008, 2009 and 2010 

PAULA GRANT WINS HERMITAGE LADIES SCRATCH CUP

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY
THE IRISH LADIES GOLF UNION

Paula Grant (Lisburn) joined a hostful of legends when she won the 41st Hermitage Ladies Scratch Cup, kindly sponsored by Dermot Kelly Ltd., at a chilly but dry Hermitage Golf Club on Sunday 6th May
Trailing Mary Dowling’s (New Ross) sensational 69 at lunchtime, Grant (pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency at the 2011 Women's Home Internationals) mastered the undulating greens in the afternoon to sign for a 2 under the card 71 while Dowling dropped 3 strokes for a 76. Leona Maguire (Slieve Russell) leapfrogged the field with a best-of-the-afternoon three-under-par 70 to join Dowling in second while Co. Louth’s Deirdre Smith holed her five-wood approach at the long 16th for eagle to share fourth with an ever improving Maria Dunne (Skerries) who is enjoying a re-surgence to form at top ladies level.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 146 (2x73) CSS 75 75
144 Paula Grant (Lisburn) 71 73
145 Leona Maguire (Slieve Russell) 75 70 Mary Dowling (New Ross) 69 76
150 Deirdre Smith (Co. Louth) 75 75 Maria Dunne (Skerries) 72 78
151 Emma O'Driscoll (Ballybunion) 76 75
152 Patrice Delaney (Birr) 78 74 Amy Farrell (Moate) 77 75 Jessica Carty (Holywood) 76 76
153 Gillian O'Leary (Cork) 76 77
154 Ariana Coyle Diez (Elm Park) 74 80
155 Lisa Maguire (Slieve Russell) 75 80
156 Gertie McMullan (The Island) 79 77
158 Alison Taylor (Malahide) 82 76 Louise Mernagh (Woodenbridge) 79 79 Aoife Lowry (Tipperary) 78 80 Pat Doran (Donabate) 78 80
159 Carla Reynolds (Seapoint) 80 79 Maria O'Reilly (Headfort) 80 79 Helen Jones (Strabane) 77 82
161 Chloe Weir (Shandon Park) 83 78
162 Shannen Brown (The Heath) 78 84
163 Aedín Murphy (Carlow) 86 77 Olivia Mehaffey (Royal Co Down) 86 77 Zoe Allen (Lurgan) 83 80 Julie McCarthy (Forrest Little) 82 81 Mary Doyle (The Heath) 82 81
164 Sue Philips (Woodbrook) 83 81 Carmel Cahill (Hermitage) 81 83 Roisin Brady (Co. Louth) 81 83 Sheena McElroy (Grange) 81 83 Rebecca O'Regan (Newlands) 80 84 Suzie Hayes (Hermitage) 77 87
165 Laura Doherty (Howth) 84 81
166 Fiona Carroll (Galway Bay) 84 82 Niamh McSherry (Lurgan) 84 82 Marie Therese Eustace (Hermitage) 82 84 Mary Duane (Hermitage) 81 85 Pauline Walsh (Headfort) 81 85
167 Lynda Maher (Charleville) 88 79 Valerie Hassett (Ennis) 87 80 Lily Owens (Malahide) 86 81 Jennifer Hickey (Doneraile) 83 84
168 Hannah Henderson (Ballyclare) 88 80 Fiona Farrell (Skerries) 84 84168 Marilyn Henderson (Royal Belfast) 84 84 Roisin Collins (Black Bush) 83 85 Sinead Sexton (Lahinch) 78 90
169 Niamh Ward (Lurgan) 85 84 Anna Courtney (St. Annes) 84 85 Niamh Giblin (Dun Laoghaire) 79 90
170 Victoria Craig (Clandeboye) 86 84
171 Marian Finn (Thurles) 80 91
172 Aisling Parker (Greenore) 87 85
173 Ruth Maguire (Corrstown) 89 84 Madelaine Brennan (Carlow) 86 87 Rosemary Kavanagh (Wicklow) 86 87 Niamh Prendeville (Hermitage) 84 89
174 Sandra McCaffrey (Lucan) 86 88
175 Valerie Shannon (Lahinch) 83 92
177 Nicola Coffey (Woodbrook) 85 92
178 Janet Wilson (Royal Balfast) 91 87
179 Darcey Carr (Milltown) 94 85 Mai Tan (Dun Laoghaire) 87 92 Catherine Kavanagh (Mitchelstown) 85 94
180 Meadhbh Doyle (Portarlington) 97 83
181 Aisling Brennan (Hermitage) 91 90 Valerie Cotter (Powerscourt) 90 91
183 Bernie Cox (Carlow) 90 93 Deirdre Malone (Beech Park) 90 93
191 Clodagh Hopkins (Woodbrook) 98 93
193 Heidi Simpson (Royal Portrush) 100 93
NRs Suzy Sheehan (The Island) 85 NR, Viv Johnston (Castle) 93 NR, Ita Donnelly (Dundalk) 95 NR

TURNING PRO WAS A HUGE STEP, I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE EASIER, SAYS CARLY BOOTH

FROM THE BBC SPORTS.COM WEBSITE

Comrie teenager Carly Booth described becoming the youngest winner of the Ladies' Scottish Open as "a dream come true".

Booth, 19, won her first Ladies European Tour title with a one-shot win over Florentyna Parker and Frances Bondad at Archerfield, East Lothian.
The Scot's final round of 71 gave her a four under par total of 212 after she had begun the day in a three-way tie.
She told BBC Scotland: "I'm overwhelmed. After two years on the Tour I have managed to find my way."
Booth's victory was clinched when Parker could not sink a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole.
The win secures Booth an exemption to play on the Ladies European Tour until 2014 and means that she will compete at the Evian Masters in July, the Women's British Open at Royal Liverpool in September and the Women's Australian Open next year.
Booth began the day in a three-way tie with Parker and Stacy Lee Bregman but none of them could edge clear.

 Things turned in Booth's favour on the 16th where she recovered from a tough tee shot into the rough to record a par, while Parker missed a putt and dropped a shot.

Booth found a bunker on the 18th but rescued another par to sneak the win.
She described her final shot as "the longest two-foot putt I've ever had to hole".
"It was only about two feet and I only just got it in the hole," she told the Ladies European Tour website .
"It stopped at least for a second and I thought it was going to come up short."
Booth's prodigious talent as a teenager meant that much was expected of her when she turned professional.
She had a handicap of 20 when she was seven and was only 11 years old when she became club champion at Dunblane New and she went on to win Scottish Under-18 and Under-21 titles at a tender age.
In 2008, Carly, then 15, became the youngest ever player to represent Great Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup at the Old Course, St Andrews match against the United States.
She said of the pressure her talent attracted: "I liked it. I liked having the challenge. I think with my family being very competitive with sports, there was always that bit of competition between us and it gave me that drive.
"But turning professional was a huge step. I thought it would be a lot easier.
"I struggled the past two years, just finding my way, building confidence, getting to grips with the level.
"I think what I have improved massively is my mindset. Whether I am playing badly or not, I am trying to keep the same tempo and mindset and not get too flustered."

Carly Booth was talking to BBC Radio Scotland's The Golf Show, Sundays 1030 BST, presented by Graham Spiers.

The programme is available on the BBC iPlayer.

Download The Golf Show podcast.

AILSA SUMMERS, CHASING FOUR IN A ROW, IS THROUGH TO ANGUS SEMI-FINALS

     Ailsa Summers, winner of Angus county championship for past three years.

             Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency.

Ailsa Summers (Carnoustie Ladies), seeking to win the Angus women's county championship for a fourth year in a row, is through to the semi-finals of this year's event at Montrose Links.
But her mother Mary, six times champion between 1985 and 2005, lost in the first round to Susan Arbuckle (Panmure Barry).
On a day when the weather varied from sunshine to hailstones, Ailsa beat Shonagh Raitt (Forfar) 4 and 3 followed by a 7 and 6 win over Louise Smith (Monifieth).
In the semi-finals on Sunday, May 13, Ailsa will play Ashley Alston (Royal Montrose), conqueror of leading qualifier Jackie Brown (Monifieth) by 2 and 1 in the quarter-finals.
The other semi-final will feature Katie Reid (Monfieith) against Scotland senior international Kathleen Sutherland (Royal Montrose) who won the Angus county title in 1990 and 1995.

RESULTS

SCRATCH CHAMPIONSHIP
FIRST ROUND

Jackie Brown (Monifieth) bt Chris Healey (Carnoustie Caledonian) 8 and 7

Ashley Alston (Royal Montrose) bt Claire Penman (Carnoustie Caledonian) 2 and 1
Louise Smith (Monifieth) bt Fran Millar (Carnoustie Caledonian) 3 and 2
Ailsa Summers (Carnoustie Ladies) bt Shonagh Raitt (Forfar) 4 and 3
Katie Reid (Monifieth bt Agnes Freeman (Panmure Barry) 4 and 3
Susan Arbuckle (Panmure Barry) bt Mary Summers (Carnoustie Ladies) 3 and 2
Jacqueline Sneddon (Alyth) bt Jemma Chalmers (Monifieth) at 21st
Kathleen Sutherland (Royal Montrose) bt Fiona Blair (Carnoustie Ladies) 5 and 4

QUARTER-FINALS
Alston bt Brown 2 and 1
A Summers bt Smith 7 and 6
Reid bt Arbuckle 6 and 5
Sutherland bt Sneddon 3 and 1

HANDICAP CHAMPIONSHIP
QUARTER-FINALS
R Adamson (Panmure Barry) bt Wendy Smith (Monifieth) 5 and 3
Susan Sneddon (Forfar) bt Marion Duthie (Panmure Barry) 6 and 4.
Angela Campbell (Panmure Barry) bt Sheila Brunton Carnoustie Ladies 1 hole.
Alice Leiper (Carnoustie Ladies) bt Pam Nicoll (Royal Montrose) 1 hole.
SEMI-FINALS
Adamson bt Sneddon 3 and 2
Leiper bt Campbell at 19th.