Lisa and Leona Maguire pull out of
British girls' championship

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Shock weekend news for the Ladies Golf Union, organisers of this week’s British open girls’ amateur championship, tee-ing off today (Monday) at Monifieth Links.
Two of the star attractions, 13-year-old identical twins Lisa and Leona Maguire from Ballyconnell, County Carlow in Ireland, have been withdrawn on the eve of the flagship tournament.
Shock? Very much so. The unexpected withdrawal of not one but two potential winners of the prestigious Under-18 championship is akin to Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson dropping out of the Open championship field 24 hours before it starts.
Leona beat Lisa in the final of this year’s Irish WOMEN’S championship. Lisa beat Leona in the final of the Irish girls’ championship. Lisa won the recent European Young Masters’ girls’ title with Leona joint second.
Both automatically gained selection for the European Junior Ryder Cup team to play the Americans in Kentucky next month.
Lisa won five of her six matches for Ireland in last week’s girls’ home internationals at Panmure Golf Club. Ireland beat Scotland on the final day to finished second to England.
Leona hurt her back on the second day and did not play against the Scots.
Susan Simpson, the LGU’s director of championships, says she was given no reason when notified that the Maguires would not play at Monifieth.
A child of 13 having a sore back from playing golf was perhaps a warning signal.
One Irish official who did not wish to be named told me:
“ I get the impression that both the girls are very tired after the girls’ home internationals, coming so close after their participation in the four rounds of the European Young Masters in France. They need a rest from competitive golf.
“You have to remember they are only two little girls who are 13 years of age. They don’t have the strength yet to cope with a busy golf programme. Leona and Lisa have been on the road for weeks. They need a rest. If it means they miss a major tournament, that can’t be helped. It’s for their own good.
Former Scots amateur and professional star Jane Connachan knows first hand the danger of burn-out for child golfing prodigies.
“At that age you’ve got to have other interests. I didn’t. I played my first major competition when I was 10. I never had fun golf. I HAD to play well and to play well you had to practise long and hard. By the time I was 20 I was scunnered with golf.”
Connachan quit the Ladies European Tour when she was only 27.
The Maguires will be missed, no doubt about it, but it is still one of the best fields ever assembled for a British girls’ championship.
There are 30-odd players with handicaps of +0.5 or better. Comrie’s Carly Booth, only 16, has the lowest handicap of +3.1 in the international field. To get into the championship a player had to have a handicap of under 4.5.
Carly and Nairn Dunbar’s Kelsey MacDonald, handicap +2.1, carry Scotland’s biggest hope of providing a first title winner since Clare Queen in 2001 and before that, Mhairi McKay in 1992 and 1993.
England have a strong hand in Hannah Barwood, winner of the English women’s title at the age of 17, Holly Clyburn, Scots professional’s daughter Rachel Connor and Kelly Tidy.
Welsh girls champion Amy Boulden was one of the handful of players with five wins out of six in the girls home internationals.
The most intriguing overseas entry is 15-year-old Daniela Lendl, from Connecticutt. She is one of former world tennis ace Ivan Lendl’s five daughters. She has a handicap of +2 and was No 7 qualifier in the recent US girls championship but surprisingly lost in the first round of the match-play.
Ivan soon got his own golf game down to scratch when he retired from tennis.
After 36 holes of stroke-play on Monday and Tuesday at Monifieth, the 64 players with the lowest aggregates – a play-off if necessary to produce the precise figure – will go forward to the match-play from Wednesday to Friday’s semi-finals and 18-hole final.