3rd Hacienda del Alamo Women's & Girls' Festival

Kelsey MacDonald (left) and Amy Boulden (right), pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency at last September's Women's Home Internationals at Irvine Golf Club. Click on images to enlarge.

Amy Boulden's super second round of 69 pips

-

Kelsey MacDonald for Murcia Ladies title

Amy Boulden, 16-year-old Welsh international scratch player, beat four other members of the GB&I Curtis Cup preliminary squad for the June match in America to win the Murcia Ladies Open at the 3rd Hacienda del Alamo Women's & Girls' Festival today at the five-star resort in Murcia, south-east Spain.

Amy, a member at the Maesdu club, Llandudno, is one of the crop of rising young stars who have won the Women's Home Internationals title for Wales in 2008 (at Wrexham) and 2009 (at Irvine, Ayrshire) and will be bidding for an unprecedented hat-trick on home turf at Whitchurch Golf Club, Cardiff from September 8 to 10.

The way she is playing this early in the year suggests that Miss Boulden is among the favourites for a Curtis Cup match debut at Essex County Golf Club in Massachusetts from June 11 to 13.

Because the GB&I team of eight is being selected in April, before the English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh closed championships, candidates for selection have to take the opportunity to impress the Curtis Cup selectors in overseas events such as the Hacienda del Alamo Festival.

It was a very close-run thing between Amy Boulden and Stirling University student Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar), winner of the Scottish Under-21 open girls' title for the past two years, today.

Kelsey, 19, has set her sights on making an appearance in the 2012 Curtis Cup match which will be played in her home town of Nairn - but she might well make her debut two years earlier!

Both matched the par of 144 for two rounds over the Dave Thomas designed course of 5534 metres and, with no provision for a play-off, Boulden was declared the winner by virtue of having the better second round.

Amy had rounds of 75 and 69, Kelsey a pair of 72s.

Boulden, who also had the best net total of 144, had six birdies in her three-under-par second round as she rose from fourth place overnight. She birdied the first, seventh, ninth, 10th, 14th and 16 with bogeys at the second, fourth and 11th in halves of 35 (one under par) and 34 (two under par).

Kelsey, whose opening-day 72 left her lying second, two shots adrift of English champion Charlie Douglass, the left-hander from Brocket Hall, had birdies at the first, fifth, ninth and 18th and bogeys at the fourth, 12th, 14th and 17th in halves of 34 (two under par) and 38 (two over par).

In the final analysis it was that run of bogeys on the inward half that cost the Scot outright victory but she finished ahead of Charlie Douglass, who tagged a 77 on to her 70 to finish third on 147, and English girls champion Holly Clyburn (Woodhall Spa) who had 73 and 75 for fourth place on 148.

The fifth member of the Curtis Cup preliminary squad in the field, former English champion Hannah Barwood (Knowle) finished fifth on 149 with scores of 76 and 73.

Just turned 17 years of age, Hayley Davis (Ferndown), after a first-round 82, came storming up into joint sixth place with a 72, a second-round score bettered only by winner Amy Boulden, and a total of 154.

Eighteen-year-old Jess Wilcox (Blankney) shared sixth place with scores of 78 and 76 for 154.

Ormskirk's Lucie Walker and Lydia Johnston (Harleyford) tied on 172 at the head of the smal field for the Murcar Under-18 Girls' Open. Both girls made significant improvement between their first and second rounds with victory going to Walker with the better second round.

Walker had rounds of 93 and 79, Johnston 91 and 81.

Lydia had the best net total in this category of 160 off six of a handicap.

Emily Taylor (Royal Lytham) won the Murcia Under-16 Girls' Open with scores of 79 and 78 for 157. The 15-year-old Lancashire one-handicapper finished eight shots ahead of 14-year-old Amber Ratcliffe from the Royal Cromer club. Amber, who has enjoyed success at previous Hacienda del Alamo Festivals, had rounds of 83 and 82 for 165.

Fifteen-year-old Megan MacLaren (Wellingborough), whose father is a European Tour director, finished third on 167 with scores of 88 and 79.

The best net total in the Under-16s' category was 152, returned by 12-year-old Alice Hewson, an eight-handicap junior member of the Berkhamsted club in Hertfordshire. She had net scores of 74 and 78. Alice, who is also a talented swimmer, by the way, finished second in last year's Wee Wonders competition at St Andrews.

In the youngsters' Stableford competition, Sophie Phillips, from the El Soto club in Spain, had an impressive total of 64 (33-31) pts over the two rounds.

The Murcia Seniors Open was decided on a Stableford points format over two rounds and Sheila Brunton (Carnoustie Ladies) was the winner with 48 (25-23) points off eight of a handicap.

Runner-up was Gillian Gardiner (Fleetwood) with 45 (26-19) points off 27.

Local member Penny Burrows, playing off 22, was third with 42 (22-20) points.

+The next event on the Hacienda del Alamo Festival programme is the 54-hole Hacienda del Alamo Ladies/Seniors/Girls' Open on Thursday-Friday-Saturday.