Grace Crawford leading in both Handicap and Scratch categories in the "Race to Dunbar"

The Stephen Gallacher Foundation Order of Merit for Under 18 Girls has the same leader in both categories...  Grace Crawford of Gullane Ladies.   Points are awarded for various events in the calendar, five so far,  and there are another 11 opportunities to gain points, so all still to play for before the finish at Dunbar in the Autumn.

See the Stephen Gallacher Foundation website for more details

Scratch 

1 Grace Crawford Gullane 413
2 Eilidh Crawford Baberton 308
3 Jillian Farrell Cardross 300
4 Jasmine Mackintosh Hazelhead 255
5 Alicia Gorka Loretto 248
6 Kirsty Brodie Strathmore 210
7 Katie Graham Hamilton 178
8 Hannah Darling Broomieknowe 165
9 Megan Ashley Strathmore 165
10 Porscha Wilson Burntisland 160
11 Lucy Morrison Craigmillar Park 145
12 Louise Duncan West Kilbride 120
13 Mollaidh Nicholson Prestonfield 105
14 Carys Irvine Craigielaw 95
15 Kirsten Brown Strathaven 90
16 Jodie Graham Hamilton 90
17 Samantha MacGregor Broomieknowe 70
18 Jessica Walker Mortonhall 60
19 Molly Richmond Strathaven 60
20 Amy Foster 50
21 Eilidh Henderson Loretto 45
22 Emily Rigg Craigmillar Park 40
23 Cassie McQueen Gullane 40
24 Ella Marshall Baberton 40
25 Lorna McClymont Milngavie 30
26 Katie Crawford Gullane 30
27 Lucy Hall Craigmillar Park 30
28 Morgan Graham Falkirk 25
29 Lauren Reid Baberton 15
30 Natalie Fowler Bathgate 13
31 Orla Fitzpatrick Stirling 13
32 Katie Liddle Glenbervie 10

 Handicap

1 Grace Crawford Gullane 328
2 Alicja Gorka Broomieknowe 266
3 Mollaidh Nicholson Prestonfield 208
4 Lucy Morrison Craigmillar Park 170
5 Ella Marshall Baberton 170
6 Jodie Graham Hamilton 160
7 Cassie McQueen Gullane 155
8 Jessica Walker Mortonhall 150
9 Katie Graham Hamilton 140
10 Eilidh Crawford Baberton 85
11 Emily Rigg Craigmillar Park 55
12 Amy Foster 55
13 Erica McIntosh Craigmillar Park 50
14 Porscha Wilson Burntisland 50
15 Katie Crawford Gullane 40
16 Carys Irvine Craigielaw 40
17 Samantha MacGregor Broomieknowe 30
18 Lucy Hall Craigmillar Park 30
19 Lisa MacPherson Baberton 22
20 Katie Liddle Glenbervie 15
21 Orla Fitzpatrick Stirling 10
22 Lauren Reid Baberton 5
23 Emily Walker Mortonhall 5

Four Scots survive Ricoh Women's British Open pre-qualifier at Hankley Common

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Four Scots - Sally Watson, who tied 10th with a one-under-par 71, Heather MacRae (72), Laura Murray (73) and Jane Turner (75) - were among the 35 players who advanced to the Ricoh Women's British Open championship final qualifying at the Castle Course, St Andrews on July 31 from today's (Monday) pre-qualifier at Hankley Common Golf Club, Surrey.
Scots who failed to make the cut were former Scottish U18 girls champion, Fiona Liddell (amateur), with a 76, Gabrielle MacDonald (amateur) with a 78, Clara Young (amateur) with a 79, Iona Stephen (80) and Alison Muirhead (85).
The 72-hole Ricoh Women's British Open will be played at Kingsbarns, Fife from August 3 to 6.

Scoreboard

Huge numbers take up golf in England

Issued 17th July, 2017

England Golf’s strategy to grow the game has inspired over 640,000 people to take up the sport in the last four years and more than 44,000 to join clubs.
The growth was notably rapid in 2016/17, with over 237,000 new players and almost 17,000 new members recorded in the year to the end of March.

Forty per cent of all new participants are female, highlighting the appetite for the game among women and girls.

The figures are revealed in England Golf’s latest Impact Report, which reviews the success of support for clubs provided by the county network, with the help of national partners.

Sharon Heeley, England Golf’s Head of Delivery, commented: “It’s very pleasing to report these results and we are looking forward to even greater successes in the future.

“We now have Club Support Officers in all counties whose role is to listen to and understand the business needs of clubs and help them to achieve their aims.

“Our refreshed strategy to grow the game of golf in England puts the customer at the heart of everything we do and we’re encouraging clubs to take the same approach.

“We can help them to understand their market and the importance of providing their customers with the golfing experience they want, whether that’s competitive play, social golf, short format golf which fits into busy lifestyles, or the opportunity to meet friends and make new ones.”

England Golf’s business support has been used extensively, with over 1300 decision makers from 750 clubs attending Business Growth Hubs and demand-led workshops during the last year. A growing number of clubs are using resources to understand their market, including mapping tools which show where to find potential customers, who can then be targeted with effective marketing campaigns.

England Golf’s strategy also has an over-arching aim to increase the number of women and girls playing golf. Women currently account for just 15% of club membership and the Impact Report details the success of initiatives to attract them to try the game.

In the last two years, over 10,000 have taken part in women-only Get into golf programmes which have created over 2000 new members. Girls Golf Rocks, the recruitment programme supported by girl county players, was run in nine counties last year with 624 girls introduced to golf and over 230 joining clubs. This year Girls Golf Rocks is running in 15 counties. In addition, Family Golf Month was introduced last July and helped to get over 7300 people playing, with almost 200 taking out memberships.

Other facts highlighted by the Impact Report show that over 180,000 people took part in Get into golf activities over the last four years with over 22,500 memberships created. The Golf Express campaign, which promotes short format golf, has involved over 32,000 golfers since 2015.

Click here to view the full report

Image copyright Leaderboard Photography

HANNAH AND GRACE LEADING SCOTS BEHIND ENGLISH 1-2-3-4 AT MORTONHALL

 Hannah Darling (Broomieknowe), 13 year old winner of the Scottish U18 girls championship earlier this month, and Grace Crawford (Gullane) are the leading Scots, in a share of fifth place behind four players from England at the end of the first day of the 36-hole Scottish U16 girls' open stroke-play championship at Mortonhall Golf Club, Edinburgh.
Darling and Crawford both shot four-over-par 77s to be four shots behind the joint leaders, Alexandra Stevenson (Beamish Park) and Thalia Kirby (Harleyford).
Shot of the day came from Evie Stone (East Devon) who holed her tee shot at the par-3 10th hole on her way to returning an 82.

LEADERBOARD
par 73 SSS 73. CSS 73

73 A Stevenson (Beamish Park), T Kirby (Harleyford)
74 H Lockley (Isle of Wedmore)
75 C Worby (Newport Links).
77 G Crawford (Gullane), H Darling (Broomieknowe).
78 C Irvine (Craigielaw), F Tynan (Minchinhampton), C Griffiths (Aboyne).
79 C Whitebread (Kendal), A Thomas (Radyr).
80 E Hynd (Balbirnie Park), A McKay (Crail GS), R Foster (Turnberry), M Thomas (Beau Desert), A Mitchell (Strathmore), E Dunne (Park Hill).
81 P Wilson (Burntisland), D Kennedy (Stoke Park), F Vineall (Newport, Gwent), C Hoeder (Ger).
OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
82 A Morgan (Strathmore).
85 R Middlemas (Hawick), L Morrison (Craigmillar Park).'
86 J Taylor (Downfield), K Alexander (Blairgowrie).
87 E Henderson (Loretto).
88 S Westwood (Elgin), C McLaughlin (West Kilbride).
89 R Erskine (Kilmacolm), A Gorka (Loretto), C Neilson (Switz), T White (Cathkin Braes).
90 M Graham (Falkirk)
92 R Matheson (Hazlehead), M Docherty (Bishopbriggs).
93 N Fowler (Bathgate), S Murphy (Clydebank and Dist)
94 A Brannock (Castle Douglas).
95 C Wilson (St Regulus Ladies)
96 K Miller (Strathmore).
98 A Nisbet (Gullane)
99 K Graham (Hamilton).
100 J Graham (Hamilton), A Steedman (Murrayfield).
194 J Walker (Mortonhall), E Caton (St Regulus Ladies)
108 E Walker (Mortonhall).
111 F McGregor (Strathmore).

Link to scores at Scottish U16 girls' open 36-hole championship at Mortonhall

Leaderboard

Weekend Charge Propels Park to First Major Triumph

From the USGA Website

U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

July 16, 2017 | BEDMINSTER, N.J. By Ron Driscoll, USGA

After a close call in last year's U.S. Women's Open, 23-year-old Sung Hyun Park displayed poise down the stretch to capture the ultimate prize. (USGA/Chris Kean

Charley Hull finished as the leading British or Irish player.
She tied for 21st place on 288 with rounds of 72, 70, 73 and 73.
She earned $51,931.

Catriona Matthew tied for 44th place with scores of 72, 71, 79 and 72 for 294.
The Scot earned $19,295.

When Sung Hyun Park found herself behind the green on the 18th hole on Sunday, with a testing chip shot and an opportunity to win the 72nd U.S. Women’s Open in the balance, she admitted that her mind went blank.
The 23-year-old from the Republic of Korea had led this championship a year ago through 36 holes at CordeValle, but this time around at Trump National Golf Club in her second attempt, Park was the pursuer. She had improved her score every day, and finally took the solo lead from Shanshan Feng and amateur Hye-Jin Choi on the 16th hole of the final day.
Now, leading by two on the grandest stage in women’s golf, Park had flown the green of the par-5 finishing hole with her third shot and left herself the delicate matter of negotiating a pitch shot that sloped downhill toward the lake that fronts the green.
“My mind basically went blank, but at that moment, I was telling myself I should just stick to how I usually practice,” said Park. “I think the repetition and practice that I carried out probably paid off. To be honest with you, I was actually surprised myself.”
She executed the bump-and-run to perfection, as it trickled to within 2 feet of the hole, virtually locking up her first major championship. Park would go on to win by two over amateur Hye-Jin Choi with an 11-under-par total of 277, while the solo leader through the first three days, Shanshan Feng, displayed just how difficult Park’s task on No. 18 had been. Feng also flew the green and, from a similar position to where Park had been, chunked the shot and ended with a closing triple bogey, dropping her into a tie for fifth place, five strokes back with a final-round 75.
Park completed 72 holes with rounds of 73-70-67-67, having trailed Feng by seven strokes at the midway point, in a tie for 21st place. She made up four of those strokes on Saturday, and by the eighth hole on Sunday, she had passed Feng. Surprisingly, so had the amateur Choi, and both Park and Choi birdied the par-5 15th hole to get to 10 under par, one stroke ahead of Feng.
The tipping point of the stretch duel came on the 139-yard, par-3 16th hole, where Park hit safely over the pond, 28 feet to the left of the hole, and made a comfortable two-putt par. Playing with Feng in the final group, Choi hit into the water to the right of the green, and failed to save bogey from 16 feet after hitting from the drop zone, putting Park up by two strokes.
“When I had a birdie at the 15th hole, I thought that I may have a chance,” said Choi, who hit a 7-iron from the 16th tee that never had a chance of hitting the green. “At the time I felt that all this hard work I put together was going to disappear, so I was bit disappointed, but I had to refocus back to the remaining two holes.”

Choi birdied her final hole to record the lowest 72-hole score by an amateur in championship history (279, four better than Grace Park in 1999), and she became the first amateur to post a runner-up finish since Brittany Lang and Morgan Pressel were co-runners-up in 2005. Having seized the advantage, Park showed why she was the dominant player on the Korean LPGA Tour in 2016, with seven victories, earning the nickname “Dak Gong,” loosely translated as “shut up and attack.” Park birdied the par-4 17th – one of just four birdies on the hole that played second-toughest for the day – leaving herself a cushion as she took on the potential pitfalls of the watery 18th.
Having hit into the water on the 72nd hole to miss the playoff by two strokes in 2016 at CordeValle (when Lang defeated Anna Nordqvist), Park relied on her caddie, David Jones, to keep her mind focused.
“One of the most difficult things is to keep that concentration level up because I know firsthand that once you lose it, your play is going to just go sideways,” said Park, who joined the LPGA Tour full-time this year and had four top-10 finishes. “Particularly today, I think my caddie had a great role of helping me stay focused. Whenever I was slightly shaken, he would put me back by saying small jokes or assuring me or pep talk.”
Feng hung on gamely through much of the day, but the solo leader through the first three rounds made only two birdies on the weekend – just one of the 62 players who made the 36-hole cut made fewer.
“Well, actually I think I should be happy about my result because coming into this week I had no expectations at all,” said Feng, of the People’s Republic of China. “My last three U.S. Opens, I think I missed two cuts and last year I just made the cut [T-38] so actually this year is such an improvement.”
Eight of the top 10 finishers were Koreans, including 2011 champion So Yeon Ryu (closing 70) and Mi Jung Hur (69), who tied for third place, four strokes behind Park at 7-under 281. Amy Yang, who was tied for second starting the day and has been a fixture in the U.S. Women’s Open with five top fives in the past seven years, faded to a tie for eighth place after a closing 3-over 75. Feng was joined by Carlota Ciganda, of Spain, and Jeongeun6 Lee, of Korea, in the tie for fifth at 282.
Park becomes the 11th champion in the last 12 (all except Inbee Park in 2013) to make the U.S. Women’s Open her first major-championship win. Afterward, she tried to make sense of it.
“I almost feel like I’m floating on a cloud in the sky,” said Park. “Of course, I did have many winnings in other tournaments, but winning here at the U.S. Open means so much more and for that I am grateful and extremely happy.”
It took an embrace with her mother, Keum Ja Lee, to make it real.
“Up until the moment that I saw my mother, I really couldn’t feel that it was really happening,” said Park. “She stood right in front of me and said, I am so proud of you, Sung Hyun. At the moment it really dawned onto me, I guess I really won the championship.”
She really did.

Ron Driscoll is the manager of editorial services for the USGA. Email him at rdriscoll@usga.org.

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