Alexandra Bushby keeps flag flying for
Scotland in English open mid-am

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH WOMEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION
Cheshire teenager Natalie Lowe knocked out the No 1 seed - Emma Fairnie from Dunbar - and swept into the quarter-finals of the English Women’s Open Mid-Amateur Championship at Wallasey.
The 19-year-old from Prestbury defeated top qualifier Emma Fairnie 5 and 4 in the second round. Earlier in the day, she beat Oxfordshire champion Sam Round 3 and 2.
“I’m really happy, really pleased,” said Natalie, who is a Cheshire county golfer and plays the amateur circuit.
“It’s the best I have done in any of the big competitions.”
She was level par in her morning match and got off to a fast start in her afternoon clash against the top seed, ~Edinburgh University student Emma Fairnie.
Natalie was three-under par for the front nine and five up at the turn – despite losing the first to a birdie.
She lost the 11th – which she describes as her bogey hole – but came straight back to win the 12th. Natalie just missed a putt to win on the 13th but a solid par on 14 secured her place in the quarter-finals.
“I was pleased with the way I had played in the morning and in the afternoonI told myself that I wasn’t expected to win and that all eyes would be on Emma. She was the one who had the pressure. I just went out to play my own game and I got off to a great start which really helped.”
Natalie – whose brother Sam is caddying for her – is joined in the quarter finals by another Cheshire player, Kate Whitmore of Sandiway who won both her matches by the margin of one hole.
There is still one Scot in the last eight - Alexandra Bushby from Strathmore Golf Centre, Alyth.
Defending champion Claire Aitken (Mid-Kent) and 2006 title-holder Charlotte Ellis (Minchinhampton) were both beaten in the first round.
Results:
Round One
Emma Fairnie (Dunbar Ladies) bt Caroline Marron (Bromborough) 2 holes.
Natalie Lowe (Prestbury) bt Samantha Round (Tadmarton Heath) 3 and 2.
ClarePartridge (Moor Park) bt Holly Calvert (Lancaster) 3 and 2.
Nicole Whitmore (Woburn) bt Claire Aitken (Mid-Kent) 2 and 1.
Hermione FitzGerald (Links) bt Sarah Walton (Clitheroe) 4 and 3.
Karen Heywood (Crompton & Royton) bt Charlie Douglass (Brocket Hall) 2 holes.
Lucy Williams (Mid-Herts) bt Lisa Ball (Matfen Hall) 1 hole.
Emma Sheffield (Newark) bt Tilly Holder (Woburn) 1 hole.
Charlotte Dalton (Ladbrook Park) bt Tara Watters (Muswell Hill) 6 and 4.
Laura Harvey (Richmond) bt Jenny Pease (Braintree) 6 and 4.
Hannah Grant (Enmore Park) bt Sian James (Bristol & Clifton) 1 hole.
Holly Aitchison (Bedfordshire) bt Ellie Givens (Blackwell Grange) 2 and 1.
Stephanie Evans (Vale of Llangollen) bt Katie Best (Sherwood Forest) 1 hole.
Alexandra Bushby (Strathmore) bt Laura Collin (John O'Gaunt) 1 hole.
Kate Whitmore (Sandiway) bt Emma Tayler (Saunton) 1 hole.
Jo Hodge (Knowle) bt Charlotte Ellis (Minchinhampton) 5 and 4.
Round Two
Lowe bt Fairnie 5 and 4.
N Whitmore bt Partridge 1 hole.
FitzGerald bt Heywood 2 holes.
Williams bt Sheffield 3 and 2.
Dalton bt Harvey 2 and 1.
Aitchison bt Grant 3 and 2.
Bushby bt Evans 1 hole.
K Whitmore bt Hodge 1 hole.
Quarter-finals draw
Natalie Lowe v Nicole Whitmore
Hermione FitzGerald v Lucy Williams
Charlotte Dalton v Holly Aitchison
Alexandra Bushby v Kate Whitmore
Online scoring: www.englishwomensgolf.org
Lyndsey Hewison
Press & PR Officer