NEW BRITISH WOMEN'S CHAMPION SAYS THAT SCHOOL IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS GOLF

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Some things you might not know about the new Ladies British open amateur champion:

Born and brought up in Pamplona (that's the place where bulls chase people down the streets), Carlota Ciganda was first introduced to golf at the tender age of five years by her father whose best handicap so far has been five.
Carlota is a bit hazy about the exact date but thinks she had come down to scratch of a handicap by the age of ten!
When she submitted her Ladies' British open amateur championship entry, she had a precise handicap rating of +4.8. By the time she actually played at Alwoodley, that had come down/gone up to +4.6.
But with a CSS of 77 for both the qualifying rounds at the Leeds venue and Carlota returning a six-under-par total of 138 (68-70), I reckon she must be up closer to +5 than ever.
I am open to correction, but I think that makes her the female player with the lowest handicap in Europe and possibly the rest of the world.

Carlota, six birdies and a bogey in 15 holes, was five under par in beating Ana Nordqvist (Sweden), beaten finalist for the second year in a row - and by another Spaniard (Belen Mozo) last year. Ana, who had a double bogey on her card, was one under par for the final.
Miss Ciganda won the European WOMEN'S amateur individual title when she was only 14. She had her 17th birthday at the beginning of June.
She took her school books with her to Alwoodley, and spent every night in the hotel after play, swotting up for some big school exams this week, starting on Monday.
So that Carlota and the rest of the Spanish party could catch the 5pm flight from Leeds to Amsterdam to Madrid on Sunday, the Ladies Golf Union revised their plans to play both the semi-finals and final on the the Sunday. Instead, contrary to an earlier announcement, the semi-finals were brought forward to Saturday afternoon.
"My teachers at school are very good to me," said Carlota who apologises for her "English" but, in fact, is quite fluent and she can understand English spoken to her (even by a Scot) without any problems. "They make allowances for all the golf I play but I still have to get enough marks to pass the examinations."

US COLLEGE POSSIBILITY IN 2008
If Carlota is to go to an American university, as so many of her golfing compatriots have done, it will be in the August of 2008, so she will defend the British title at North Berwick next year.
"I have been approached by Arizona University and one other American college to enrol with them after the summer of 2008. I have not yet made up my mind. I want to go to a university that will give me a very good education, very good qualifications and, at the same time, offer me very good golfing facilities, and I would like to go to somewhere where it is warm," said Carlota who played for Europe in last year's Junior Ryder Cup match at Celtic Manor.
"It may not be easy to find a college that can offer me a good degree course AND good golf facilities but I am determined to finish my education with the best qualifications I can. Becoming a tour professional is not the No 1 priority for me. When you play well and score well, golf is enjoyable. But you cannot always go out and play to the best of your ability. If you are relying on playing well to make a living, golf might not be so attractive. That's why I want to have qualifications so that if the golf side does not work out, then I can get a good job away from golf."
Carlota considered that the Alwoodley greens were just about the "truest" she had ever played on.
"Obviously I am used to fast greens in Spain so I had to get used to the wet, much slower greens for the 'British," but once I got used to the pace, I felt I could stroke the ball along the line and it would stay on line. Putting was the secret of my success all week.
DRIVING WITH A FIVE-WOOD

"It was not a long course but to miss the fairways could be a very bad mistake. The heather and the long grass meant you could lose your ball or you could only hack the ball back on to the fairway. That's why I more often took a five-wood off the tee to ensure that I stayed out of the rough.

"Normally my driving is the best part of my game (she outdrove Miss Nordqvist by up 50yd at some holes in the final) and I have trouble with my putting. But the Alwoodley greens were much like those at my home club (Ulzama Golf Club) and I felt comfortable putting on them all week. I would say that it was my putting that made me British champion."
Carlota, who is coached by Rogelio Echeverria, will have the chance to return to Britain - to Scotland, in fact. Winning the title at Alwoodley automatically guarantees her a place in the Women's British Open over the Old Course, St Andrews from August 2 to 5.

“The Spanish Federation is very good at helping us,” Ciganda said. “They bring the top girls together for training a lot and that has helped. I think we push each other too. It helps when you see friends winning. It makes you feel you can win too.”

As for the beaten finalist, the 6ft-plus Ana Nordqvist said: “I made a couple of mistakes but there wasn’t really anything I could do against someone who holes so many putts. I’ll be back next year (when the championship is played at North Berwick). Hopefully I can make it third time lucky.”

+Picture shows Carlota taking a call from a female golf writer in Sydney, Australia in the Ladies Golf Union cabin at Alwoodley within minutes of her success with five-under-par figures in the final against Anna Nordqvist (Sweden).

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