KELSEY OUT TO LEAVE AMATEUR RANKS IN BLAZE OF GLORY

                    KELSEY MACDONALD ... Final year as an amateur
                                        IMAGE BY CAL CARSON AGENCY
 
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Kelsey MacDonald will not look back on 2012 with much pleasure. It was a year in which she suffered two big setbacks.
Number One was failing to be selected for the GB and I team for the Curtis Cup match being played in her home town of Nairn in June.
Number Two was letting a Ladies European Tour card slip through her fingers over the fourth round of the Final Qualifying School in Morocco in December.
Still an amateur, the 22-year-old Stirling University student will turn pro later this year, possibly following the trail blazed by fellow Scot Pamela Pretswell who turned pro after the Curtis Cup match and won enough money on the Ladies European Tour's developmental circuit (LETAS) before the end of the season to gain automatic promotion to the LET without having to go to the Tour School.
It's often forgotten that MacDonald played for GB and I in the 2011 Vagliano Trophy match against the Continent of Europe at Royal Porthcawl and a week or so later was a member of the Great Britain team of five who won the Astor Trophy by beating Australia, Canada, New Zealand (Lydia Ko included) and South Africa.
So Kelsey could well play in her second Vagliano Trophy match, to be held at Chantilly Golf Club, near Paris in late June.
"Having had a couple of setbacks last year, it has really taken some time to get my confidence back. Going to the
LET Access events, for which I am very grateful through invitations from the R and A, made me realise that I have the ability to compete against professionals and found I was back to enjoying my golf again," said Kelsey who is meantime with the Stirling University squad in Florida, competing on the Orange Blossom women's amateur tour..
"I was really gutted I did not get my Ladies European Tour card, as I prepared very well. However, the experience was enjoyable and I am sure it will prove invaluable in the long run.
"It definitely has given me the desire and motivation to  continue pursuing my ambition to be a top touring professional as I know I am more than good enough."
Scottish champion at Craigielaw in 2010, the year when she reached the final of the British women's open amateur championship at Ganton before losing to Kelly Tidy, MacDonald has plenty to play for in her final (half) season as an amateur.
Regaining the Scottish crown at Longiddry in May is well within her scope and winning the "British" at Machynys Peninsula, South Wales in mid-June would really set her up as a rookie tour pro later in the year.
"Looking forward, I feel I am back to where I should be and have regained the confidence in myself and my golf.
"I really appreciate the support everyone has given me and I know 2013 will be a good one."