GILLIAN KIRKWOOD CURTIS CUP PICTURE GALLERY

 The body language tells the story. Georgia Hall (left) and Stephanie Meadow were two up with three to play in their afternoon four-ball tie ... and finished up with a halved match.
Picture by Gillian Kirkwood

                      

You can have a look at all the pictures Gillian Kirkwood is taking over the three days  at St Louis, Missouri in her Curtis Cup Gallery.
The link is:

 https//www.flickr.com/photos/124451747@N04/

 Gabriella Cowley and Eilidh Briggs, on the first tee before making their Curtis Cup debuts in the afternoon foursomes. Picture by Gillian Kirkwood

Eilidh Briggs and Gabriella Cowley are making  their  Curtis Cup debuts in the afternoon foursomes on the opening day. 
They were not played in the morning four-balls which the United States swept 3-0.
 Eilidh and Gabriella will be partners in the afternoon second match off the tee.

TO VIEW THE LIVE SCORING SERVICE

CLICK HERE 


The story so far:
Morning four-balls:
United States 3, Great Britain and Ireland 0
Afternoon foursomes
United States 2, GB and Ireland 1.

Day 1 scoreline: US 5, GB and Ireland 1.


Ashlan Ramsay and Ailson Lee halved with Stephanie Meadow and Georgia Hall.

Erynne Lee and Annie Park bt Eilidh Briggs and Gabriella Cowley 3 and 1.


Emma Talley and Ally McDonald halved with Annabel Dimmock and Bronte Law.
+Dimmock and Law won the 18th to square the match

JOHN DRYBURGH COMMENTS:
Americans got hot. First morning match they were 8 under and in Gemma's match they were 7 under through 15. Kim's putter was hot. She made 3 putts of more than 20 feet, including the putt to close the match.
ELAINE FARQUHARSON-BLACK:
We just didn't hit it quite as close as the US and as a consequence, not so many single putts.
Storms forecast for 11am Saturday, so hopefully we will have some points on the board by then. We need to come out of the blocks fast.

NEW STRATEGY BY LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR TO ENCOURAGE AMATEURS

L E T TO GIVE TOURNAMENT INVITES TO EUROPEAN LADIES AMATEUR CHAMPION AND WINNER OF EGA RANKINGS 2014 

FROM THE EUROPEAN GOLF ASSOCIATION WEBSITE

The Ladies European Tour is pleased to announce that it will extend a tournament invitation to both the winner of the European Ladies’ Amateur Championship at Estonian Golf and Country Club, Estonia, July 23-26 and the winner of the 2014 EGA Amateur Ladies Ranking by September 9, 2014.

The Ladies European Tour has a new strategy to create a development pathway from entry level to the heights of professional golf by providing an inspirational vision to aspire through richer amateur golf integration, members’ education and services. This is at the core of the organisation’s commitment to developing sport, seeking to build foundations for success on the world stage.

The LET Development Department works in partnership with people, organisations and national federations to inspire women and juniors to play golf and encourage them to achieve their aspirations.

 The LET will support the national federations’development programmes not only by providing playing opportunities for amateur golfers at LET events, but also by encouraging LET members to share their knowledge, experience and skills. 

Ivan Khodabakhsh, chief executive officer of the Ladies European Tour, commented: “The Ladies European Tour is fully committed to the development of golf and we have a new strategy to offer talented golfers who want to develop their potential the opportunity to do so. Through the LET Access Series, PING Junior Solheim Cup and working closely with national federations and our members, we will enable more young people to become involved with the sport and support their progression throughout their careers. The Ladies European Tour is one of the world’s leading professional golf tours and with golf’s inclusion in the Olympic programme, it is important that we take a leadership role in the development of the sport.”

For more information: Eva-Lotta Sternmarker, LET Development, evalotta@ladieseuropeantour.com

SELECTION CRITERIA FOR JUNIOR RYDER CUP MATCH AT BLAIRGOWRIE

The 2014 Junior Ryder Cup will take place from September 22 – 23 2014 at Blairgowrie Golf Club The Ryder Cup Junior Match is a biennial contest between Europe and America, and the teams consist of boys and girls under the age of 18. The USA retained the trophy in 2012, winning 14½-9½ at Olympia Fields in Chicago. The event is an international showcase of golf’s next generation, and is designed to continue to build international friendships between top junior golfers in the United States and Europe. Notable past players include Rory McIlroy, Matteo Manassero, Carly Booth, Suzann Pettersen and Hunter Mahan. Selection criteria The European Junior Ryder Cup team will be made up of six boys and six girls. Automatic qualification will be given to the winning boy and girl of the 2014 European Young Masters. One boy and one girl who are under 16 on 1 January, 2014, will be picked by the selection committee. Four boys and four girls who are under 18 on 1 January, 2014, will be picked by the selection committee. The selection committee will pay attention to results in European Girls Championship, European Boys Championship, European Young Masters, World Amateur Ranking and performance in other significant Junior and amateur events during 2014. The selection committee is made up of Stuart Wilson, European Junior Ryder Cup Team Captain, Kristin Gunhildur, Assistant Captain, and is backed up by representatives from the European Golf Association and Ryder Cup Europe LLP.

CURTIS CUP DAY 1 - FOUR-BALL FOURSOMES

  

GB and I team captain Tegwen Matthews and her second pairing, Annabel Dimmock and Gemma Dryburgh, wait on the first teee for the start of the second match this morning. Picture by Gillian Kirkwood.

AMERICANS SWEEP INTO 3-0 LEAD

United States made a clean sweep of the three four-ball ties on the opening morning of the 38th Curtis Cup match at St Louis CC, Missouri.

GB and I's lead-off pair, Stephanie Meadow and Georgia Hall lost by 2 and 1 to Maria Stackhouse and Emma Talley, having been two down after 15 holes.
In the second match, Annabel Dimmock and Gemma Dryburgh lost by 4 and 3 to Alison Lee and Kyung Kim.
And Bronte Law and Charlotte Thomas also lostg by 4 and 3 to Annie Park and Ally McDonald.


To follow the live scoring service from the USGA
of the afternoon games

CLICK HERE 

EILIDH BRIGGS PLAYS IN FOURSOMES

Eilidh Briggs will make her Curtis Cup debut in the afternoon foursomes. She will partner Gabriella Cowley who also was not called on to play in the opening session.
Charlotte Thomas and Gemma Dryburgh are rested after playing in the morning.
FOURSOMES LINE-UP
USA names first:
Ashlan Ramsay and Alison Lee v Stephanie Meadow and Georgia Hall
Erynne Lee and Annie Park v Eilidh Briggs and Gabriella Cowley
Emma Talley and Ally McDonald v Annabel Dimmock and Bronte Law

RUN FOR IT! SUPPORTERS ABOUT TO SING CURTIS CUP SONG

A motley crew - that's Gillian Kirkwood's description, at the first tee at St Louis, Missouri today, about to sign their Curtis Cup song. Gillian mentions "Renfrewshire" but I am not quite sure if she means there is a party there to support Eilidh Briggs (and the rest) or not. Explanation later.

MICHELLE WIE, HEE YOUNG PARK SHARE LEAD ON SIX-UNDER 65

BUNCHED LEADERBOARD IN LPGA 

EVENT IN CANADA


FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE
Hee Young Park’s third-round 61 and 26-under-par winning total in the same event a year ago was fresh on Michelle Wie’s mind as the fifth group teed off Thursday at Manulife Financial LPGA Classic at Grey Silo golf course, Waterloo in Ontario, Canada..
Wie knew the birdies have to come in bunches to win this tournament, and she did, posting a 6-under-par 65. But while Wie’s birdies on three of the last four were enough to put her out of reach of the rest of the field in round one, they weren’t enough to separate her from the defending champ, Hee Young Park, who went off in the breezier afternoon wave and fired a 6-under 65 to match Wie.
“I was early off and I just wanted to make a lot of birdies early on. It’s definitely one of those golf courses where you have to keep making birdies,” Wie said. “My 6 under today, you know, it’s not enough. I need to keep making birdies for the rest of the weekend. Still a lot of work cut out for me.”
Stacy Lewis shot 2-under 69 and is four shots back. No. 2 Inbee Park is tied for 18th with Lewis and fourteen others. Thirty-one players are within four shots of the lead and the stacked leaderboard should provide for plenty of movement amongst the leaders heading into the weekend.
Canadian Brooke Henderson, the world’s No. 3 amateur again, proved she belonged amongst the world’s best. 
Playing in her sixth LPGA event as a 16-year-old, Henderson, whose forefathers emigrated from Scotland to Canada, fired a 1-under-par 70 with birdies on the last two holes to finish under-par for the day.
“It was a rough start, but a good finish really saved my round,” Henderson said. “One-under-par in this wind on the first day, I’ll definitely take it.”
On such a short course with a par of 71, the forecast is for level par or maybe even one under being the cut-off point at the end of 36 holes.
Which means the Brits on the 71 mark at the end of the first round are on the qualifying tightrope.
They are: Catriona Matthew, Becky Morgan, Lydia Ko and Laura Davies.

TO VIEW ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES AND THE SECOND-ROUND
LIVE SCORING

CLICK HERE

ENGLAND GIRL CAP FOUR UNDER PAR AT THE BERKSHIRE

Issued 6th June, 2014

                         Astor Salver success for Sophie Keech
England girl international Sophie Keech won the Astor Salver at The Berkshire with a four-under par total for the 36 holes.
She follows in the footsteps of a fellow Dorset player – the England international Hayley Davis, who won this trophy two years ago.
“I knew Hayley had won this and I thought it would be really cool if I could win too, so I was really pleased,” said Sophie, the English girls’ champion from Parkstone. Earlier in the season she won the amateur prize at another of the top women’s scratch events – the Roehampton Gold Cup.
At The Berkshire, Sophie opened her account with a three-under 69 on the Blue course, which included 13 straight pars followed by four birdies and a solitary bogey on the 16th.
She signed off with a one-under 72 on the Red course, which included an eagle three on the 15th, which took her score under par.

During the day she drove well and holed a number of long putts to make her score – but she took the greatest pleasure in her par five on the 17th on the Red course.
Her second shot finished in a divot, below her feet, and she could only knock the ball forward and eventually had to hole a 11-footer for her par. “I’d just got under par with my eagle and I had it in my mind that I’d need to be under par,” she said. “I kept saying to myself that I had to keep under and I rolled in the putt!”
Sophie was two shots clear of Dulcie Sverdloff (Garon Park, Essex), who also opened with a 69. In the afternoon, Dulcie birdied the last two holes of the round for a 74 to finish a stroke ahead of former England champion, Kerry Smith (Waterlooville, Hampshire).
Sophie won the English girls’ championship last summer, as well as the English schools' and South West girls’ titles.
 She was a member of England’s winning team at the Girls’ Home Internationals. This year she received England Golf’s Silver Tee award for the way she combines her golf and her studies and represented England Golf at the French Lady Junior Championship.

Click here for the full scores

Lyndsey Hewison
Press Officer
England Golf
pr@englandgolf.org
07825 752 193

ENGLAND ENTER STRONG SIDE AT ROYAL ST GEORGE'S, KENT

Issued 6th June, 2014

Trio target team title at British championship

Internationals Hayley Davis, Annabel Dimmock and Bronte Law will represent England Golf in the Nations Cup event at the women’s British amateur championship at Royal St George’s, Kent.

The best two scores from three will count towards the team trophy in each of the two qualifying rounds, which will be played on June 24 and 25. The leading 64 players then go forward to the match play stages with the final played on June 28.

The players:

Hayley Davis, 21 (Ferndown, Dorset, image © Leaderboard Photography) is a past winner of the English women’s and girls’ championships. She is a student at Baylor University, Texas and has won on the US women’s college circuit where she was 10th in the 2014 national women’s college championship, with a final round 65. She has represented GB and I in the Vagliano Trophy.

Annabel Dimmock, 17, (Wentworth, Surrey) is representing GB and I in the Curtis Cup this weekend, having won both the Helen Holm Scottish open stroke play title and the match play Jones Doherty Cup in the USA this year. She has also been runner-up in the Welsh open stroke play, the Spanish amateur and the South Atlantic ladies’ amateur.

Bronte Law, 19, (Bramhall, Cheshire) is playing her second Curtis Cup for GB and I this weekend. She has also represented GB and I in the Vagliano Trophy and Europe in both the Junior Solheim Cup and Junior Ryder Cup matches. She is a student at the University of California and has won on the US women’s college circuit.

Lyndsey Hewison
Press Officer
England Golf
pr@englandgolf.org
07825 752 193

CONDOLEEZZA RICE SAYS A FEW WORDS AT CURTIS CUP OPENING

    Condoleezza Rice, American political scientist and diplomat -- she was the 66th United States Secretary of State, says a few words at the 38th Curtis Cup opening ceremony at St Louis Country Club, Missouri. Stanford University student Mariah Stackhouse is the first African-American player to play in history of the transatlantic match. Picture by Gillian Kirkwood.

  Scotland's two representatives in the GB and I team - Eilidh Briggs (left) and Gemma Dryburgh.

Picture by Gillian Kirkwood.

GB and I players in a happy mood before the flag-raising ceremony.

 Picture by Gillian Kirkwood

GB and I team captain Tegwen Matthews raises the Union Jack at the official opening ceremony of the 38th Curtis Cup match at St Louis Country Club, Missouri
   Picture by courtesy of the United States Golf Association 

38TH CURTIS CUP MATCH STARTS TODAY AT ST LOUIS, MISSOURI

MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS ...

Elaine Farquharson-Black, who played in the 1990 and 1992 Curtis Cup matches, alone with the trophy and her own personal memories of the tournament. Elaine captained the GB and I team at last year's Junior Vagliano Trophy match at Chantilly. Picture by Gillian Kirkwood

THURSDAY'S OPENING FOUR-BALL TIES

all times local to St Louis CC, Missouri

8am Mariah Stackhouse and Emma Talley (USA) v Stephanie Meadow and Georgia Hall (GB and I)

8.15 - Alison Lee and Kyung Kim (USA) v Annabel Dimmock and Gemma Dryburgh (GB and I)

8.30 - Annie Park and Ally McDonald (USA) v Bronte Law and Charlotte Thomas (GB and I).

FORMER VAGLIANO TROPHY PLAYER MAKES GOLF HISTORY

HAZEL KAVANAGH FIRST WOMAN TO 

WIN PGA IRISH CLUB PROS' TITLE

Hazel Kavanagh (Carr Golf Services) has made Irish golfing history this week by becoming the first woman to win the PGA Irish club professionals’ championship at Arklow.
She returned a five-under-par score of 64 which, added to a 73 from the first round, gave her a total of 137 for the 36-hole event.
Hazel’s victory comes some 50 years after Philomena Garvey became Ireland’s first female professional golfer. 
Hazel Kavanagh is a former Vagliano Trophy player and she had a few quite successful seasons on the LET professional tour.
Michael McDermott (Pure Golf Leopardstown) finished runner-up, one stroke behind Hazel. 
There  was a three-way tie for third between

Brendan  McGovern, Cian McNamara and David 

Ryan


The Willie Nolan Memorial Cup is awarded  to

 the winner of the Irish Club Professionals’

championship.