EVIAN MASTERS THIRD ROUND
LEADERBOARD
France. Par 216 (3 x 72)
Players from US unless stated
210 Juli Inkster 73 68 69
212 Jeong Jang (Kor) 69 71 72
213 Ji-Yai Shin (Kor) 73 70 70, Diana D'Alessio 69 68 76, Sophie Gustafson (Swe) 69 72 72
214 Natalie Gulbis 72 69 73, Il Mi Chung (Kor) 73 71 70, Annika Sorenstam (Swe) 71 69 74
215 Mi-Hyun Kim (Kor) 69 72 74, Momoko Ueda (Jpn) 74 67 74, Karrie Webb (Aus) 70 72 73, Laura Davies (Eng) 71 70 74
216 Linda Wessberg (Swe) 69 72 75, Sun Ju Ahn (Kor) 69 73 74, Laura Diaz 71 71 74, Angela Stanford 73 74 69, Maria Hjorth (Swe) 71 71 74, Christina Kim 67 75 74
217 Seon Hwa Lee (Kor) 72 74 71, Jin Joo Hong (Kor) 67 70 80, Eun Hee Ji (Kor) 66 76 75, Lorena Ochoa (Mex) 72 70 75, Shi Ahn Hyun (Kor) 73 69 75
218 Joo Mi Kim (Kor) 71 72 75, Ashleigh Simon (Rsa) 70 72 76, Catriona Matthew (Sco) 74 70 74, Morgan Pressel 73 72 73, Michele Redman 75 69 74, Cristie Kerr 72 73 73, Stephanie Arricau (Fra) 73 71 74, Pat Hurst 66 76 76
219 Virginine Lagoutte (Fra) 76 68 75, Ai Miyazato (Jpn) 73 73 73, Rachel Hetherington (Aus) 71 73 75, Meena Lee (Kor) 71 73 75, Young Kim (Kor) 72 75 72, Angela Park 70 74 75, Nicole Castrale 75 70 74
220 Paula Creamer 75 72 73, Wendy Doolan (Aus) 73 76 71, Sarah Lee 71 72 77, Sherri Steinhauer 72 73 75, Helen Alfredsson (Swe) 77 70 73
221 Jee Young Lee (Kor) 77 73 71, Karin Sjodin (Swe) 72 72 77, Ji-Hee Lee (Jpn) 73 73 75, Rebecca Hudson (Eng) 72 76 73
222 Stacy Prammanasudh 73 77 72, Lynnette Brooky (Nzl) 75 72 75, In Kyung Kim (Kor) 71 75 76, Brittany Lincicome 66 74 82, Amy Yang 73 73 76, Brittany Lang 73 74 75
223 Na On Min (Jpn) 75 72 76, Kyeong Eun Bae (Kor) 67 74 82, Veronica Zorzi (Ita) 77 73 73, Lisa Hall (Eng) 77 70 76, Meaghan Francella 71 79 73, Hee Young Park (Kor) 72 75 76, Gwladys Nocera (Fra) 80 70 73
225 Lindsey Wright (Aus) 76 72 77, Sophie Giquel (Fra) 78 70 77, Silvia Cavalleri (Ita) 74 76 75, Becky Brewerton (Gbr) 72 71 82, Candie Kung (Tai) 78 68 79
226 Gloria Park (Kor) 73 77 76
227 Hiroko Fujishima (Jpn) 74 76 77, Suzann Pettersen (Nor) 74 72 81
228 Michelle Wie 73 71 84
229 Nikki Garrett (Aus) 75 71 83
232 Sung Ah Yim (Kor) 76 74 82, Karen-Margreth Juul (Den) 77 73 82

CARLY BOOTH WINS EUROPEAN YOUNG
MASTERS TITLE AND SCOTLAND GAIN
BRONZE MEDALS IN TEAM EVENT

Carly Booth, only recently turned 15 and with +3 of a handicap, pulled off the biggest win yet of her career in France today when she won the girls' title at the European Young Masters at Golf de Bondues, near Lille and France's northern border with Belgium.

Added to that gold medal, Carly and the three other Scots in the field - Jill Meldrum (Dullatur), David Law (Hazlehead) and Paul Shields (Kirkhill) gained the bronze medals in the combined international team event.
Carly, pictured right, made all the running in the girls' individual category to complete a brilliant hat-trick over the past few weeks:
+Winner of the Scottish Under-21 girls' open stroke-play by nine strokes at Auchterarder.
+Winner of the Scottish Under-18 girls' match-play title after a scoring a nine-under-par 64 in the qualifying rounds at Peterhead.
Now, after leading at Golf de Bondues with an opening round of 69 and being joined in the lead after a second-round 76, Carly finished three shots ahead of 50 of the most talented Under-16 year old girls in Europe.
Her final round of level par 72 gave her a 54-hole total of one-over-par 217.
Her nearest challenger was Finland's Sofia Hoglund on 220.
Carly finished third in the event last year, an achievement that helped to earn her selection for the Junior Ryder Cup match.
"I'm so happy," said Carly. It's my third victory in a row after the two Scottish titles. Today my game was OK again aftere missing a lot of fairways, greens and putts in the second round."
Jill Meldrum from Dullatur finished in joint 34th place on 249.
In the boys' category, David Law from Hazlehead finished 14th on 223 after rounds of 75, 72 and 76.
Paul Shields (Kirkhill) had 74, 76 and 77 for 227 and 24th place.
Matteo Manassero (Italy), only 14, won the boys' title with an aggregate of one-under-par 215. Each country had two boys and two girls in the field and the international team event collated their scores. Scotland were lying second to Italy and ahead of third-placed England with one round to go but eventually finished third as England overtook them.
+The European Young Masters tournament will be played in France for the next two years. In 2008 the venue will be Chantilly.

FINAL TOTALS
GIRLS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
217 Carly Booth (Sco) 69 76 72.
220 Sofia Hoglund (Fin) 73 72 75.
221 Fanny Volte (Aut) 75 71 75.
222 Josephine Janson (Swe) 73 77 72.
Other scores:
230 Stephanie Meadow (Ire) 80 75 75 (jt 11th).
232 Alexandra Peters (Eng) 76 79 77 (jt 16th).
241 Sarah Louise Winter (Ire) 77 86 78 (jt 28th).

243 Natasha Gobey (Wal) 80 82 81 (31st).
249 Jill Meldrum (Sco) 82 84 83, Helen Searle (Eng) 83 86 80 (jt 34th).

259 Kelly Miller (Wal)_ 83 86 90 (43rd).

BOYS

Par 216 (3 x 72)
215 Matteo Manassero (Ita) 72 72 71.
216 Robin Kind (Ned) 75 70 72, Eddie Pepperell (Eng) 75 69 72.
217 Oscar Sharpe (Eng) 69 77 71, Claudio Vigano (Ita) 70 75 72.
Other scores:
223 David Law (Sco) 75 72 76 (jt 14th).
225 Colin Fairweather (Ire) 72 80 73 (jt 17th).
227 Paul Shields (Sco) 74 76 77 (24th).
230 Christopher Nugent (Wal) 77 77 76 (jt 27th).

236 Rhoodri Harston (Wal) 79 80 77 (jt 37th).

237 Iarlaith Keane (Ire) 85 80 72 (jt 38th).

COMBINED TEAM EVENT
656 Italy
665 England
667 Scotland.
669 Spain. 671 Czech Rep. 676 France. 679 Denmark. 680 Sweden. 681 Finland. 683 Netherlands. 684 Ireland. 685 Norway. 687 Austria. 687 Germany, Belgium. 689 Switzerland. 690 Portugal. 697 Slovenia. 703 Turkey. 709 Wales. 725 Iceland. 748 Russia. 751 Hungary. 762 Latvia. 763 Greece.

VAGLIANO TROPHY FINAL SCOREBOARD

GREAT BRITAIN 9, CONTINENT OF EUROPE 15

First day: GB&I 3, Continent of Europe 9.
Second day: GB&I 6, Continent of Europe 6.

SECOND DAY

FOURSOMES
(GB&I names first)
M Reid (Eng) & T Delaney (Ire) lost to A Nordqvist (Swe) & C Westrup (Swe) 3 and 1.
K Smith (Eng) & N Edwards (Eng) lost to P Lindberg (Swe) & B Mozo (Spa) 4 and 3.
K Caithness (Sco) & B Loucks (Wal) bt E Cabrera (Spa) & D Becker (Ger) 3 and 1.
R Bell (Eng) & L Bennett (Eng) bt S Gal (Ger) & C Ciganda (Spa) 3 and 2..

GB&I 2, Continent of Europe 2.

SINGLES
Edwards lost to Ciganda 5 and 4.
Smith lost to Gal 1 hole.
Reid bt V Derrey (Fra) 1 hole .
Loucks bt Becker 5 and 3.
Caithness bt Lindberg 6 and 4.
Bennett bt Cabrera 3 and 1.
Delaney lost to Westrup 1 hole..
Bell lost to Nordqvist 1 hole.

GB&I 4, Continent of Europe 4.

KRYSTLE SPARKLES WITH TWO

LAST-DAY WINS BUT GB&I LOSE
GRIP ON VAGLIANO TROPHY

Teenager Krystle Caithness, playing for Great Britain & Ireland only a few miles up the Fife coast from her home in Cellardyke, sparkled with two wins out of two on a day when the Continent of Europe won back the Vagliano Trophy which has adorned the Ladies Golf Union trophy room in St Andrews for the past four years.
The Continentals chalked up a 15-9 victory which represented the biggest ever defeat suffered by GB&I since the 24pt format was introduced to the biennial match in 1975.
Krystle, pictured right, had the honour of scoring the biggest win by any player or players over the four sessions of play at the Torrance course, Fairmont St Andrews. She beat Sweden's Pernilla Lindberg by 6 and 4.
Krystle, 18, and a member at the St Regulus women's club in St Andrews, was left out of the Friday singles after figuring in the GB&I line-up which was thrashed 4-0 in the opening foursomes.
Restored by skipper Mary McKenna to the foursomes line-up on the second morning,
Krystle and Breanne Loucks from Wrexham dovetailed well to help GB&I win the last two alternate shot ties and share the honours 2-2, although trailing 11-5 overall.
Then Krystle recaptured the form that had temporarily deserted her since she was a member of the winning British squad of five in the Commonwealth tournament in South Africa in May.
She won five holes in a row from the third to the seventh in going six up on Sweden's Pernilla Lindbeg. The Caithness purple patch included an eagle 3 at the 468yd fifth where she holed a 52 degree wedge shot from 76 yards.
Six up at the turn, Krystle eventually won by 6 and 4 after losing the 10th and 11th but winning the 11th and 14th.
Breanne Loucks also chalked up an afternoon win for a reviving GB&I team. The Welsh Curtis Cup player beat Germany's Denise Becker from Germany by 5 and 3. Denise broke the Old Course women's record the last time she was in Scotland - at the St Rule Trophy 54-hole tournament in June.
But Carlota Ciganda, the Spanish winner of the recent British women's open title, had won the top singles by 5 and 4 over Naomi Edwards to put 12pt on the board for the visitors.
Then Germany's Sandra Gal gained the clinching 13th point overall for the Continentals to secure the trophy. She beat Kerry Smith by one hole.
Liz Bennett beat Emma Cabrera by 3 and 1 but GB&I lost the last two singles which went to the 18th green.
Caroline Westrup beat Ireland's Tara Delaney by one hole and another Swede, Anna Nordqvist beat Rachel Bell with a birdie at the 18th. Anna finished up the top player from both sides with four wins out of four.
No surprise that the Continent of Europe won. They had a team laden with leading players from the European and American college rankings.
It all started to go horribly wrong for home skipper Mary McKenna's team in the opening foursomes on Friday. The Continent won them 4-0 and the GB&I players played second fiddle thereafter.
The Continentals took the first-day singles 5-3 to lead 9-3 at the halfway stage.
That became an 11-3 advantage when the first two Saturday foursomes went Europe's way.
Then the home team rallied with wins by Krystle Caithness in partnership with Breanne Loucks, and the all-English partnership of Rachel Bell and Liz Bennett.
A lunchtime lead of 11-5 left the Continent needing only 1 1/2pt from the eight afternoon singles to clinch victory

MACKIE BOWL AT GULLANE – TRAVEL

Competitors in the Mackie Bowl at Gullane Ladies Golf Club on Sunday 29th July are reminded that the Seniors British Open is on at nearby Muirfield. Please therefore allow additional travel time in case of road congestion in the area to ensure that they arrive in plenty of time for registration ahead of tee-off.

EVIAN MASTERS SCOREBOARD

SECOND ROUND LEADERS
Par 144 (2 x 72)

137 Diana D'Alessio (US) 69 68, Jin Joo Hong (S Korea) 67 70.
140 Annika Sorenstam (Swe) 71 69, Jeong Jang (S Korea) 69 71, Brittany Lincicome (US) 66 74.
Other scores:
141 Laura Davies (Eng) 71 70.
142 Karrie Webb (Aus) 70 72.
143 Becky Brewerton (Wal) 72 71.
144 Catriona Magtthew (Sco) 74 70, Michele Wie (US) 73 71.
147 Paula Creamer (US) 75 72.

All the scores and more information available on www.ladieseuropeantour.info

SATURDAY MORNING VAGLIANO TROPHY TEE TIMES

Saturday foursomes in the Vagliano Trophy women's amateur international match at Fairmont St Andrews are:

8.0 Melissa Reid & Tara Delaney v Anna Nordqvist & Caroline Westrup.
8.10 Kerry Smith & Naomi Edwards v Pernilla Lindberg & Belen Mozo.
8.20 Krystle Caithness & Breanne Loucks v Emma Cabrera & Denise Becker.
8.30 Rachel Bell & Elizabeth Bennett v Sandra Gall & Carlota Ciganda.

The eight final singles will tee off from 1pm.

+There is no admission charge for spectators.

FIGHTING TALK FROM MARY MCKENNA AS
GB AND I TRAIL BY SIX POINTS

Great Britain & Ireland’s leading female amateur golfers face an uphill task to retain the Vagliano Trophy at Fairmont St Andrews on Saturday.
The Continent of Europe team, arguably the strongest they have ever fielded in this biennial contest, lead 9-3 at the halfway stage after sweeping aside the morning foursomes challenge of Mary McKenna’s team 4-0.
The home team played more to their individual reputations in the singles but the Continentals still won this session 5-3.
Home skipper Mary McKenna refused to be pessimistic about the eventual outcome.
"There are still 12 points to be won on Saturday - and we will be going to win them all. My team played their hearts out in very tough, windy conditions. A bit more luck out way and it could have been so different at the end of the day.
"My players are obviously disappointed and I'm disappointed for them, but certainly not with their performance. They prepared well for this match. I couldn't have asked them for any more."
Spaniard Macarena Campomanes, captain of the Continental team, said: "We played very well in the foursomes, not normally one of our strengths and they don't really know each other all that well. But we've been practising hard at foursomes play and it worked out well today. The players have a lot of confidence and it's a very strong team. I'm delighted the way they have played."
Krystle Caithness, the only Scot in the GB&I team – she is a member of the St Regulus club at St Andrews, was not fielded in the afternoon singles.
She partnered Ireland’s Tara Delaney to a 2 and 1 defeat at the hands of Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg and Belen Mozo (Spain) in the morning foursomes.
England slipped 6-0 behind on the scoreboard when they lost the top two singles.
The home team did not gain their first point of the day until 5.34 when Kerry Smith, the chef at Waterlooville Golf Club, Hampshire, cooked up a 3 and 1 win over Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg.
Another Hampshire player, Liz Bennet, won by 4 and 3 against another Swede, Caroline Westrup and the only other GB&I point came from Breanne Loucks of Wrexham. The Welsh champion won by two holes against Spain’s Belen Mozo.
Results:

FOURSOMES
(GB&I players first)

Melissa Reid (Eng) & Breanne Loucks (Wal) lost to Carlota Ciganda (Spa) & Sandra Gal (Ger) 4 and 2.
Naomi Edwards (Eng) & Kerry Smith (Eng) lost to Emma Cabrera (Spa) & D Becker (Ger) 3 and 1.
Tara Delaney (Ire) & Krystle Caithness (Sco) lost to Pernilla Lindberg (Swe) & Belen Mozo (Spa) 2 and 1.
Rachel Bell (Eng) & Liz Bennett (Eng) lost to Caroline Westrup (Swe) & Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 1 hole.

GB&I 0, Continent of Europe 4.

SINGLES
Reid lost to Ciganda 3 and 2.
Sahra Hassan (Wal) lost to Valentine Derrey (Fra) 4 and 3.
Smith bt Lindberg 3 and 1.
Edwards lost to Nordqvist 2 holes.
Loucks bt Mozo 2 holes.
Delaney lost to Becker 1 hole.
Bennett bt Westrup 4 and 3.
Bell lost to Gal 1 hole.

GB&I 3, Continent of Europe 5.

Day 1 score: GB&I 3, Continent of Europe 9.

++Full details are available on the Ladies Golf Union website: www.lgu.org

CARLY SLUMPS BUT STILL SHARES THE LEAD
IN EUROPEAN YOUNG MASTERS

Comrie's Carly Booth slumped from an opening round of 69 to a four-over-par 76 and was joined in the lead at one-over145 by Finland's Sofia Hoglund in the girls' section of the European Young Masters tournament at Golf de Bondues, France today (Friday).
Jill Meldrum (Dullatur) had a second-round 84 for 166 to be sharing 39th place.
In the boys' section David Law (Hazlehead) and Paul Shields (Kirkhill) were shring 10th and 19th places respectively. Law had a par 72 for 147 and Shields a 76 for 150.
England's Eddie Pepperell shares the lead on level par 144 after a 69. On the same mark are Matteo Manassero of Italy and Slovenia's Tim Gornick
LEADING SCORES
Girls
Par 72
145 C Booth (Sco) 69 76, S Hoglund (Fra) 73 72.
146 F Wolte (Aut) 75 71.
147 J Korda (Cze) 75 72.
150 J Janson (Swe) 73 77.
Other scores:
155 A Peters (Eng) 76 79, S Meadow (Ire) 80 75 (jt 15th).
166 J Meldrum (Sco) 82 84 (jt 39th).
Boys
Par 72
144 E Pepperell (Eng) 75 69, M Manassero (Ita) 72 72, T Gornik (Slo) 76 68.
Other scores:
146 O Sharpe (Eng) 60 77 (9th).
147 D Law (Sco) 72 72 (10th).
150 P Shields (Sco) 74 76 (19th).

SCOTS LOSE TO SWEDES IN BRONZE MEDALS PLAY-OFF

Scotland lost 3-2 to Sweden in the play-off for third place and the bronze medals in the European senior women's amateur team golf championship at Royal Drottningholms Golf Club near Stockholm, Sweden today.
France, the defending champions, won the gold medals again by beating England 3-2 in the final.
The Scots, who had given France a tough match in Thursday's semi-finals, won the foursomes 1-0 against the Swedes through Kathleen Sutherland and Moira Thomson but could win only one of the four singles, Fiona De Vries beating Christina Birke 2 and 1 in the top of the order match.
Lorna Bennett lost 4 and 3, Helen Faulds lost 2 and 1 and Pamela Williamson went down by two holes.
England's match against the French followed the same pattern. Carole Caldwell and Hilary Smyth won the foursomes 3 and 2 for England but France won three of the four singles. Only Susan Dye won her singles for England.
Details:
SCOTLAND 2, SWEDEN 3
Foursomes: K Sutherland & M Thomson bt G Ekman & M-B Heden 6 and 5 (1-0).
Singles: F De Vries bt C Birke 2 and 1, L Bennett lost to A-K Hermansson 4 and 3, H Faulds lost to B Werneskog-Ljung 2 and 1, P Williamson lost to V Hoff 2 holes (1-3).
ENGLAND 2, FRANCE 3
Foursomes: C Caldwell & H Smyth bt A Lanrezac & M-C Ubald-Bocquet 3 and 2 (1-0).
Singles: S Ellis lost to C Mourgue d'Algue 2 and 1, C Quinn lost to C Chatrier 3 and 2, C Watson lost to V Burrus 4 and 3, S Dye bt K Boutahchicht 5 and 3 (1-3).

Final placings: 1 France, 2 England, 3 Sweden, 4 Scotland.

CONTINENT of EUROPE TAKE FOURSOMES 4-0
IN VAGLIANO TROPHY OPENING MORNING

The Continent of Europe completed a 4-0 whitewash over Great Britain & Ireland in the opening morning's foursomes at the two-day Vagliano Trophy match in bright and breezy conditions over the Torrance course, Fairmont St Andrews.
Details (GB&I players first)

Melissa Reid (Eng) & B Loucks (Wal) lost to Carlota Ciganda (Spa) & Sandra Gal (Ger) 4 and 2.

Naomi Edwards (Eng) & Kerry Smith (Eng) lost to Emma Cabrera (Spa) & D Becker (Ger) 3 and 1.

Tara Delaney (Ire) & Krystle Caithness (Sco) lost to Pernilla Lindberg (Swe) & Belen Mozo (Spa) 2 and 1.

Rachel Bell (Eng) & Liz Bennett (Eng) lost to Caroline Westrup (Swe) & Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 1 hole.

++Details of all the ties are available on the Ladies Golf Union website, www.lgu.org

EVIAN MASTERS FIRST ROUND SCORES

66 P Hurst (US), Eun Hee Ji (South Korea), B Lincicome (US).
67 Kyeong Bae (South Korea), C Kim (US), Jin Joo Hong (South Korea).
69 D D'Alessio (US), S Gustafsson (Swe), L Wessberg (Swe), Sun Ju Ahn (South Korea), Jeong Jan g(South Korea), Mi Hyun Kim (South Koriea).
70 A Simon (SAf), A Park (Brazil), K Webb (Aus).
Other scores included:
71 M Hjorth (Swe), A Sorenstam (Swe), L Davies (Eng).
72 B Brewerton (Wal).
73 M Wie (US).
74 C Matthew (Sco), P Creamer (US).

SCOTS PLAY SWEDES FOR BRONZE MEDALS

Scotland are playing host nation Sweden today for third-placed bronze medals in the European senior women's amateur team championship near Stockholm.
Top seeds France, who beat the Scots 3 1/2-1 1/2 in yesterday's semi-finals, play England for the gold medals.
England beat Sweden 3-2 in the other semi-final.

ENGLISH LADIES GOLF ASSOCIATION PRESS RELEASE

YORKSHIRE'S JODI EWART WINS ENGLISH
(CLOSED) STROKE-PLAY TITLE

Yorkshire’s Jodi Ewart wins English strokeplay championship
International Jodi Ewart (right) claimed her first national title when she won the English strokeplay championship by two shots at Silloth-on-Solway in Cumbria.
“This is just wow!” said the 19-year-old from Catterick Golf Club in Yorkshire, who also won the U23 and U21 trophies.
She moved into the lead with a two over par 75 in the third round of the 72-hole tournament, which was played in relentless strong winds. In the final round she played very solid golf to defeat the tough conditions and, despite a double bogey five on the 16th, she came in with another 75.
“I set myself a game plan, not to get ahead of myself and to take it one shot at a time. It worked - and this win means so much,” she said.
Jodi was 12-over par for the tournament, two clear of Danielle Montgomery (Lambourne). Sarah Attwood (Gog Magog) climbed the leaderboard into third place, helped by a third round of level par 73. She finished on 15-over.
Lincolnshire 16-year-old Holly Clyburn (Woodhall Spa) (pictured left with Club Captain Steve Berry) held the lead at the halfway stage but fell back to fourth place over the final 36 holes with a pair of 80s. But her play impressed spectators and she won the U18 trophy. The tough conditions during the championship were reflected by the CSS which was 76, 77, 78, 76.
This is Jodi’s biggest individual win but only the latest in her long list of golfing successes. She won her first full England cap as a 17-year-old and she holds a gold medal and two bronzes from European team championships.
Next month she returns to the University of New Mexico, where she had an outstanding first year, winning one tournament and finishing the 2006/07 American college season ranked 20th nationwide
The win was also some compensation for being left out of the GB&I team for the Vagliano Trophy, which takes place this weekend. “I was disappointed – but I don’t think I’ll ever know how they work,” said Jodi.
She loves team golf and remarked: “I love playing for England - I got my first pink jumper when I was 14. I’ve also had fantastic support from ELGA which just helps so much and I’m so grateful.
“But if I ever get a chance to play for GB&I I will try my hardest for them. I always try my hardest for whichever team I’m in.”
Meanwhile Danielle Montgomery was encouraged by her performance as she prepares for final qualifying for the women’s British Open and for her appearance at the first stage of Japanese Tour school qualifying in mid-August.
I have put in four solid rounds, under the conditions, I struck it well and I didn’t get nervy,” said Danielle who has been learning to speak Japanese. “I can take a lot out of this week and hopefully carry on.”
The U23 county team trophy was won by Lancashire: Corisande Lee (West Lancashire) and Louisa Stirling (Formby Ladies’).
Full scores: www.englishladiesgolf.org

CARLY (69) LEADS IN EURO YOUNG MASTERS

Scottish Under-18 and Under-21 girls champion Carly Booth continued her brilliant run of four with a three-under-par 69 to lead by four shots at the end of the first round in the girls' section of the European Young Masters at Golf de Bondues in France.

Carly finished third in the event last year, a performance which earned her a place in the European Junior Ryder Cup team.

Carly, only recently turned 15, leads from four players on 74.

Jill Meldrum (Dullatur) had an 82.

In the boys' section, England's top prospect Oscar Sharpe is setting the pace with a 69.

Paul Shields (Kirkhill) had a 74 and David Law from Hazlehead a 75.

egir

SALLY BEATEN IN SECOND ROUND OF US
GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP

Sally Watson was beaten 5 and 3 by Tiffany Lua from Rowland Heights, California in the second round of the United States girls' junior golf championship at Tacoma Country & Golf Club, Lakewood in Washington State.
Sally won only two holes, the seventh and the 11th, cutting her deficit on both occasions to one hole.
But the 16-year-old South Queensferry girl, who had been the sixth best qualifier for the match-play stages, lost four holes in a row from the 12th.
Tiffany birdied the 12th to go two up. Then Sally bogeyed the 13th and 14th to go four down. The American, the 26th qualifier, finished off the match with a birdie 2 at the short 15th.
Sally was three over par for the holes played, in contrast to the morning first-round tie when she had been two under par in winning by 2 and 1 against Karis Akin from Kentucky to reach the last 32.
Twelve months ago, Sally had made it through to the last 16.

SALLY WINS HER FIRST MATCH IN US GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP

Sally Watson, the No 6 qualifier, was two under par in winning her opening match by 2 and 1 in the United States girls' junior championship at Tacoma Country & Golf Club, Lakewood in Washington State.
The 16-year-old from South Queensferry beat Karis Akin from Kentucky, who had qualified on the limit mark, with the help of an eagle 3 at the par-5 16th. The virtually clinched victory for the Scot who had been either square or one down through the first 10 holes.
Sally went ahead to stead with a par 5 at the 11th where her opponent took 7.
A series of halves was ended with Sally's eagle 3 at the 16th. A half in par at the next ended the contest and put Sally through to the last 32. Twelve months ago she made it through to the last 16.
Her opponent in the second round is the No 26 qualifier Tiffany Lua (California) who was also two under par in winning her first round tie by 3 and 2 against Cyd Okino from Hawaii.

HOLLY LEADS ENGLISH STROKE-PLAY BY THREE

Lincolnshire teenager Holly Clyburn birdied the last five holes for a three-shot lead at the halfway stage of the English women's (closed) amateur stroke-play championship at Silloth-on-Solway, Cumbria.
It was the second day in a row that the 16-year-old from Cleethorpes had staged a spectacular finish. In her first round she took the lead after she birdied seven of the last 10 holes for a one-under 72. This time, playing in stiff winds, she came back from 10-over par after 11 holes to return a five-over 78.
It gave her a 36-hole total of 150 and a three-stroke lead over Katie Mundy of Dunwood Manor (76, 77) and Danielle Montgomery of Lambourne (77, 76). England international Jodi Ewart of Catterick is a shot further back (76, 78).
“I struggled again for the first few holes,” said Holly, whose home club is Woodhall Spa. “I was a bit nervous, I was leading a big event and everyone was expecting a lot. But then I got a grip!
“By then it was very windy and I had to work really hard on the clubbing, especially on the back nine where it was downwind. If you had relied on your yardages you would have been so far out.”
She steadied herself with a fighting par on the 13th, where she twice found gorse, and then turned her score around with birdies on the five remaining holes. The most notable was her two on the 143-yard 16th, where Holly almost holed her wedge shot. She signed off on the 18th by holing a long putt.
“I love the course, it’s a great course,” said Holly, whose experience at Cleethorpes helped prepare her for the wind at Silloth. “Now I’m going to try and make a good front nine!”
Buckinghamshire’s Danielle Montgomery (Lambourne) also staged an impressive finish with an eagle three on the 15th and birdies on the 17th and 18th. On the last she hit a nine-iron from 150-yards and left herself with just a 3ft putt. Her closing holes helped her to a three-over 76 and a 153 total. “I struck it well but it was hard judging the wind. I mis-clubbed once and it cost me a double bogey – but I had a good finish.”
England international Jodi Ewart struggled with her putting all day – although she made no mistakes on the 17th, where she rolled the ball in the hole for an eagle 3.
“In the first round I had 27 putts, today I’ve had a lot more. I just don’t understand how it can change so much in a day,” said Jodi. “It’s a bit disappointing but tomorrow is a different day – and I’ll do some putting practice.”
The field was reduced to the leading 36 players and ties after the second round. The cut fell at 165.
Among those who successfully qualified for tomorrow’s final 36 holes were Cumbria players Clare Brown of Furness (81, 76) and Rebecca Edwards of Maryport (75, 89).

Online scoring: www.englishladiesgolf.org

WEBSITE FOR EUROPEAN SENIOR WOMEN'S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

For a completely unbiased report from the European senior women's team championship in Sweden, log on to the tournament website:
http://ladyseniors.golf.se/extra/pod/?module_instanc

Ellon player's decision to come home from US college has paid off

NO REGRETS AT QUITTING AMERICA:

MICHELE THOMSON NOW NUMBER

ONE IN SLGA WOMEN'S RANKINGS

Seven months ago teenager Michele Thomson cut short a four-year golf scholarship at Jacksonville State University, Alabama and came home to Ellon.
“I felt my golf was going backwards because the university did not have what we would call a golf coach, somebody to check my swing and technique on a regular basis and give advice,” said Michele (pictured left) at the time.
That she made the right decision was confirmed today by being named No 1 in the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association’s latest list of player rankings. Aberdeenshire champion Michele is No 1, ahead of Heather MacRae (Dunblane New) and Carly Booth (Comrie) and even Scottish champion Jenna Wilson (Strathaven).
The rankings are based on players’ scores in relation to the competitive standard scratch score of the day at designated tournaments. Michele has averaged a score of 1.6 UNDER the CSS for every counting round. That is very good golf indeed.
Michele was No 2 qualifier in the Scottish women’s championship at Barassie and reached the semi-finals before going out but, arguably, her best performance of the season was to reach the quarter-finals of the British women’s open amateur championship at Alwoodley and take the Spanish girl who went on to win the title, Carlota Ciganda, to the 18th green.
British events are not among the SLGA designated tournaments for rankings’ scores.
“It’s Michele’s consistency in tournaments that has lifted her to the top of rankings,” said her father Graham, an oil executive, meantime in Jakarta.
“She had a handicap of one when she was in the States. Currently, she is +1, so that shows how much she has improved as well.”
Long-hitting Miss Thomson has certainly impressed two different sets of selectors – she gained her first full cap for Scotland in the European women’s team championship in Italy and was named a Great Britain & Ireland team reserve for this weekend’s Vagliano Trophy match at Fairmont St Andrews.
In the girls’ rankings, Carly Booth is No 1 ahead of Jane Turner (Mortonhall) and Pamela Pretswell (Bothwell Castle) with Nairn Dunbar’s Kelsey MacDonald in the No 4 position.
Last word from Michele:
“Although I believe with the help of coaches Neil Marr and Ross Cameron I have improved this year I still consider myself someway behind Jenna Wilson and Heather MacRae because they have actually won national championships this year.
"I enjoy their company and with now being Scotland team mates of theirs I am learning so much more from them. Hopefully I can turn this into learning into winning championships next year.”

Latest SLGA rankings (log on to the SLGA website to see what each player's average score has been in relation to CSS).

WOMEN
1 Michele Thomson (McDonald Ellon), 2 Heather MacRae (Dunblane New), 3 Carly Booth (Comrie), 4 Jenna Wilson (Strathaven), 4 Krystle Caithness (St Regulus), 6 Emily Ogilvy (Auchterarder), 7 Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar), 8 Pamela Pretswell (Bothwell Castle), 9 Rachael Livingstone (Musselburgh Old), 10 Sara Bishop (Cochrane Castle).
11 Kelly Brotherton (Tulliallan), 12 Rebecca Wilson (Monifieth), 13 Roseanne Niven (Crieff), 14 Jocelyn Carthew (Ladybank), 15 Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm), 16 Martine Pow (Selkirk), 17 Clare-Marie Carlton (Fereneze), 18 Elaine Moffat (St Regulus), 19 Laura Murray (Alford), 20 Kerri Harper (Inverness).

GIRLS
1 Carly Booth (Comrie), 2 Jane Turner (Mortonhall), 3 Pamela Pretswell (Bothwell Castle), 4 Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar), 5 Lindsey Hunter (Dalmahoy), 6 Roseanne Niven (Crieff), 7 Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm), 8 Rebecca Wilson (Monifieth), 9 Rebecca Watson (Elie & Earlsferry Ladies), 10 Sammy Vass (Tain).
11 Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm), 12 Jill Meldrum (Dullatur), 13 Eve Muirhead (Pitlochry), 14 Gillian Monteith (Portpatrick Dunskey), 15 Jacqueline Sneddon (Alyth), 16 Isla Craigie (Torwoodlee), 17 Samantha Leslie (Westhill), 18 Louise MacGregor (Falkirk), 19 Susan Jackson (Fife), 20 Lauren MacCallum (McDonald Ellon).

United States girls junior championship at Lakewood, Washington

SALLY WATSON (FOUR UNDER PAR)

QUALIFIES FOR MATCH-PLAY IN

JOINT FIFTH PLACE

Sally Watson, 16, from South Queensferry has qualified for the match-play stages of the United States girls' junior championship for the second year in a row.

This time, at Tacoma Country & Glf Club, Lakewood in Washington State, she did it in joint fifth place in an international field of 156 with a four-under-par tally of 140 (69-71) to establish herself as one of the genuine contenders for the prestigious title.

Sally, who reached the last 16 of this championship 12 months ago, succeeded this week where last year's two finalists failed.

Defending champion Jenny Shin from California and beaten finalist Vicky Hurst from Florida both finished on nine-over-par 153, missing the match-play cut by two strokes. Jenny shot 73-80, Vicky 74-79.

Miss Watson beat Carly Booth from Comrie at Tain to become the youngest ever winner of the Scottish Under-18 girls' match-play title two years ago when she was only 14. She has not played in that tournament since. Carly, 15, won that championship at Peterhead last week. Sally reached the final of the British girls championship last year.

A resident student at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy at Bradenton, Florida, Sally birdied the first, third, 10th, 14th and 16th in her second-round, one-under-par 71. She had bogeys at the second, eighth, ninth and 15th in halves of 36 (one over par) and 35 (two under par).

At that point in the day, the Scot, the only European entry to the championship, shared the leading mark in the clubhouse with 12-year-old Alexis Thomson from Florida, the youngest ever competitor in the recent US Women's Open. Alexis had scores of 72 and 68.

The top seed among the 64 qualifiers for the match-play was 15-year-old Kimberly Kim from Hawaii. She did not play nearly so well as she did in her opening 62, which was three shots inside the course record, but a 72 gave her a 10-under-par total of 134 - two ahead of Ha-Na Jang (South Korea) 69-67 and three in front of Mina Harigae (California) 68-69.

The only other competitor to finish ahead of Sally Watson in the card-and-pencil test was Kristen Park from California in fourth place with 68 and 70 for 138.

Sally is in the lower half of the draw - Kimberly Kim is in the top half. The Scot will play Karisa Akin from Elizabethtown, Kentucky in the first round. Karisa had scores of 73 and 78 to hit the limit mark of 151 and was officially placed joint 58th.

LEADING QUALIFIERS

Par 144 (2 x 72) 6,363yd.

134 Kimberly Kim (Hawaii) 62 72.

136 Ha Na Jang (South Korea) 69 67.

137 Mina Harigate (California) 68 69.

138 Kristen Park (California) 68 70.

140 Alexis Thompson (Florida) 72 68, Sally Watson (Scotland) 69 71, Jennifer Johnson (California) 69 71, Evan Jensen (Florida) 68 72.

GOLF DRAW
LYON INTER-CLUB FOURSOMES

Aberdeen Ladies will be defending the trophy in the Lyon Inter-Club Foursomes over their home course at Balgownie on Monday and Tuesday, August 6 and 7.
The draw is:

AUGUST 6
First round – 9.0 Aberdeen Ladies v Deeside. 9.15 Newmachar v Cruden Bay. 9.30 Ballater v Westhill. 9.45 Kemnay v Newburgh.
10.0 Murcar Links 1 v Banchory. 10.15 Murcar Links 2 v Stonehaven. 10.30 Inchmarlo v Dunecht House. 10.45 Hazlehead v Aboyne.
Quarter-finals – 2.30, 2.45, 3.0, 3.15.
AUGUST 7
Semi-finals – 9.0 & 9.15.
Final – 2pm.

English women's (closed) amateur stroke-play championship

HOLLY'S BIRDIE BLITZ PUTS HER TWO
SHOTS CLEAR AT SILLOTH ON SOLWAY
Lincolnshire teenager Holly Clyburn swept home with seven birdies in her last 10 holes to set the first round lead in the English women's (closed) amateur stroke-play championship at Silloth-on-Solway Golf Club, Cumbria today.
Holly, 16, played the back nine in six-under par 32 and her one-under par total of 72 leaves her two shots clear of the field.
Her closest challengers are Charlotte Wild (Mere) and Kirsty Rands (Burhill) who both scored one over par 74.
Cumbria’s Rebecca Edwards (Maryport) and Hertfordshire’s Charlotte Field (Bishop’s Stortford) both returned 75 and share fourth place. England international Jodi Ewart (Catterick), third reserve for the Vagliano Trophy match on Friday and Saturday, shot 76 and is in a group of four players in sixth place.
Holly, from Woodhall Spa, set off in the calm morning conditions but she struggled with the pace of the greens and notched up four bogeys and a double bogey in her first eight holes. “I told myself I needed to start playing golf,” she said afterwards – and, as the wind strengthened, that’s exactly what she did.
The long-hitting Lincolnshire champion began her birdie blitz with a 2 on the 110yd ninth and followed up with more on the 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th.
“I just got the pace of the greens and then kept making birdies everywhere,” said Holly, whose eagle putts on the long 14th and 15th both lipped out. “Seven birdies in 10 holes – you can’t beat that! I’m really happy.”
Yorkshire’s Jodi Ewart, who helped England to the bronze medal in the European team championship earlier this month, was satisfied with her score in the windy conditions.
“For the first 10 holes I had to keep it low and punch it into the wind,” said Jodi, who hurt her wrist coming out of the rough and applied an ice pack after play.
The wind was behind on the inward nine, which includes four par-5s and five players took advantage of the conditions to score eagles. Kate Whitmore (Sandiway), Carly Warrington (Sickleholme) and Emma Sheffield (Newark) all scored 3 on the 460-yard 14th, while Rachael Goodall (Heswall) made short work of the 428-yard 15th.
Becky Dowell (Enmore Park) eagled the 17th, after scoring birdies on the 15th and 16th. Her purple patch helped her to a two-under 36 on the inward half - despite a double bogey 7 on the 13th. She finished with a four-over 77.
All competitors play 18 holes on each of the first two days of the championship. The leading 36 players and ties go forward to play the final 36 holes on Thursday.
Because of their selection for the GB&I team for the Vagliano Trophy match, England's Rachel Bell (Ganton), Liz Bennett (Brokenhurst Manor), Naomi Edwards (Ganton), Melissa Reid (Chevin) and Kerry Smith (Waterlooville), are missing from the field for the stroke-play championship.
Online scoring: http://www.englishladiesgolf.org/

South Ayrshire Pre-Handicap and Tom Lehman competitions

http://www.golfsouthayrshire.com/events2007/junioropen.htm

Entries close this week for the South Ayrshire Pre-Handicap and Tom Lehman competitions.

Monday 6th August 2007 • Fullarton Golf Course
The Pre-Handicap Open is for any child who is not yet at handicap standard and will be played over 18 short holes on Troon Fullarton Golf Course.Entry is only £2.00 and each entrant will receive a small goody bag.

Tuesday 7th August • Lochgreen, Darley and Fullarton Golf Courses
In the Tom Lehman competition, Megan Briggs is going for a hat trick of wins having previously won in 2004 and 2006.

MHAIRI'S ABERDEEN LINKS RECORD

Mhairi Johnstone cut a shot off the previous Kings' Links women's course record with a score of two-under-par 67 when playing in the Northern Golf Club junior medal today. Her figures were:
OUT: 5 4 2 5 4 4 5 4 4 - 37.
IN: 2 4 2 4 4 4 3 4 3 - 30
She had an eagle 2 at the 12th and birdie 2s at the third and 10th to offset bogey 5s at the first and fourth. All the rest were pars.

HELEN ANCHORS SCOTLAND TEAM

EFFORT IN EUROPEAN SENIORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

Helen Faulds, pictured right, held Scotland on course for one of the top four match-play flight places with a steady round of two-over-par 73 – one of the best of the day – in the first qualifying round of the European senior women’s amateur team golf championship at Ropyal Drottningholms Golf Club, Stockholm today.
The Scots finished the day in fourth place on 388, behind Sweden (378), defending champions France (382) and England (385).

The qualifying rules for the seniors differs from the other European team championships in that only four teams - not eight - qualify for the top flight and contest the medals.

The teams from fifth to eighth place at the end of the stroke-play make up a second flight.
So Scotland need to hold on to fourth place at least over the second and final round of qualifying.
Backing up Helen were Pamela Williamson with a 77, Lorna Bennett a 78, Fiona De Vries an 80 and Kathleen Sutherland also an 80. Moira Thomson had the non-counting score under the best five from six to count format. She had an 82.
Best individual round of the day was a 71 from Sweden’s Viveca Hoff.

FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND
378 Sweden (V Hoff 71, C Birke 74, M-B Heden 77, B Werneskog-Ljung 77, G Ekman 79).
382 France.
385 England (S Ellis 76, C Watson 76, C Quinn 77, H Smyth 78, C Caldwell 78. Non-counting: S Dye 82).
388 Scotland: H Faulds 73 (36-37), P Williamson 77 (40-37), L Bennett 78 (38-40), F De Vries 80 (38-42), K Sutherland 80 (41-39). Non-counting; M Thomson 82 (40-42).
393 Switzerland.
394 Spain.
398 Germany.
399 Belgium.
400 Italy.
408 Ireland: M Gorey 79 (39-40), V Hassett 80 (39-41), S O’Brien-Kenney 82 (40-42), E MacMullen 83 (40-43), M Madden 84 (44-40)Non-counting: M Henderson 88 (45-43).
410 Netherlands.
417 Austria.
421 Finland.
422 Denmark.

+Only the top four teams at the end of the second qualifying round qualify for the championship match-play flight.

WARWICKSHIRE GIRL (12) WINS ENGLISH
SCHOOLS UNDER-16 TITLE

Warwickshire’s Elizabeth Mallett became a national titleholder at the age of 12 when she won the English Schools Under-16 championship at Thetford, Norfolk.
Elizabeth, a member of one of ELGA’s birdie squads, took the title four days before her 13th birthday with rounds of 82 and one-over par 75.
She was two shots clear of her closest rival, Alex Peters, the reigning English U-13 and Midland ladies’ champion from Notts Ladies’, who scored 84, 75.
Norfolk schools’ champion Emma Davies, from Eaton in Norwich, held the halfway lead on 80 and added a second round 85 to finish third.
Elizabeth, a four-handicapper from Sutton Coldfield Ladies’ said afterwards: “This is the biggest win of my life and I still can’t quite believe I did it."
Elizabeth took up golf on her ninth birthday after her father gave her a present of a nine-iron and a putter. She quickly got her first handicap and hopes to be off two by the end of this season.

SATURDAY CLOSING DATE FOR MARY McCALLY
TROPHY ENTRIES

Note from Fiona Macgregor, Dumfriesshire Ladies County Captain, that the closing date for the Mary McCally Trophy 36-hole SLGA Order of Merit tournament on Sunday, August 12 at Dumfries & Galloway Golf Club is SATURDAY, JULY 28.
For some reason, entries are well down this year - only 12 up to yesterday.

Fiona also wishes to pass on the news that the South of Scotland championship, scheduled for Dumfries & County Golf Club on Sunday, August 5 has been CANCELLED due to lack of entries.

MAURA MORRIN WINS CURRAGH

SCRATCH CUP BY ONE FROM

DANIELLE AND NIAMI

By SINEAD KEANE
Maura Morrin, pictured right, returned great scores of 72 and 74 to finish with a total of two over par 146 to capture first place in Sunday's Curragh Scratch Cup, sponsored by the Bank of Ireland.

She was just one shot clear of Danielle McVeigh who finished second on a countback from defending champion Niamh Kitching.

Kitching had shot a final round of one under 71. However, she very sportingly called a two-shot penalty on herself for incorrectly dropping out of gound under repair on the 13th hole.

PRIZEWINNERS

146 Maura Morrin (The Curragh) 72 74.

147 Danielle McVeigh (Royal County Down Ladies) 75 72 (better second round), Niamh Kitching (Claremorris) 74 73.

148 Karen Delaney (Carlow) 74 74 (better second round), Gillian O'Leary (Cork/UCC) 73 75.

150 Emma Gilmore (Mountbellew) 74 76 (better last nine), Ciara Butler (Newlands) 74 76.

Best first round (outwith major prizewinners)

Scratch: Susanne Corcoran (Portumna) 75 (best last six).

Handicap: Sally Casey (Seapoint) (7) 68.

Best second round:

Scratch: Marian Riordan (Tipperary) 74.

Handicap: Jennifer King (Enniscorthy) (12) 71.

US Girls' Junior Championship 1st Qualifying Round

SALLY WATSON (69) JT FIFTH

AFTER KIMBERLEY KIM HAS

ASTONISHING ROUND OF 62

South Queensferry girl Sally Watson, now 16 and the only European player in the field, has made a great start to the US girls' junior championship at Tacoma Country & Golf Club, Lakewood in Washington State.

The Scot score a 69 over the par-72, 6,363yd course to have only four players ahead of her at the end of the first qualifying round.

Sally was just getting into her stride as one of the later starters in the big international field when Kimberley Kim posted the astonishing score of 10-under-par 62.
Kim’s score tied Christina Kim for the lowest 18-hole score in a USGA girls’ or women’s championship. Last year, Kimberly Kim became the youngest winner in U.S. Women’s Amateur history.Kimberly Kim, 15, from Hawaii, had 10 birdies and no bogeys over the par-72, 6,391yd course.
She shot 31 on each side, making four birdies on the front nine and six on the back nine, including four in her final five holes. Kim’s score was the lowest of the morning by six shots.
The 64 players with the lowest 36-hole aggregates at the end of play on Tuesday will make up the field for the match-play stages.This is Kimberly Kim’s second scoring record of the year. In May, she shot 10-under 206 at the American Junior Golf Association's Thunderbird International Junior to win by eight shots and break by three strokes the tournament scoring record held by Morgan Pressel (2005) and Belen Mozo (2004), the Spaniard who won both the British girls and women's open amateur titles in 2006.

Sally Watson, pictured above, who came through one of the many nationwide qualifying competitions to get into US girls' junior championship field, began her first qualifying round around 12.30 at the 10th hole. She birdied the par-4 13th but gave the shot back with a bogey at the next. She was level par through her first six holes.

Then Sally started to make things happen. She birdied the long 16th and the short 17th to get to two under the card, then parred the 18th to cover her first nine holes in 35 (two under par).

Sally kept it going with a birdie 3 at the 1st hole - her third birdie in four consecutive holes.

Miss Watson bogeyed the second - only her second slip all day - and then reeled off four straght pars to be still two under par with three to play in her first qualifying round.

Sally showed no signs of tiring. She was able to mark up a fifth birdie of the day at the par-4 seventh, then parred eighth and nine for 34 home - a stellar effort in the biggest Under-18 girls' tournament in the world.

Here's how the leaderboard looks:

Par 72

62 Kimberley Kim (Hawaii).

68 Evan Jensen (Florida), Mina Harigae (California), Kristen Park (California).

69 Sally Watson (Scotland), Demi Frances Runas (California), Stephanie Kono (Hawaii), Madison Pressel (Florida), Courtney Ellenbogen (Virginia), Ha Na Jang (South Korea), Stephanie Kim (New York State), Jennifer johnson (California).

++The projected cut-off point for the 64 qualifiers, based on the first-round scores, is 148. There were 64 scores at 74 and better at the end of the first day.

For lots more really interesting information, you can call up the USGA's championship website on: http://www.usgirlsjunior.org/

We are closing the subject of Tam Pepper's E-mail (scroll down to read his critical comments) with the following reader's response.

From Tom Anderson

Just seen Tam Pepper's letter to you and your request for comments.
Yes - Tam Pepper is quite right you are biased in your reporting.
At present in Scotland we have the most promising and excellent group of young lady amateur golfers for many years together with a number of very good young professionals.
However, in reading your reports at times one would think Scotland young lady golfers consisted purely of Carly Booth and Vikki Laing and sadly the newspapers usually draw their small printed reports from you.
Let's be fair to all members of the above highly talented group of young lady golfers in Scotland. In recent times they all deserve much better publicity than they have received.

Tom Anderson

Last word on the subject from the Editor:

I was astonished when Mr Pepper somehow turned round my praise of Carly Booth to hold me responsible for making her unpopular with her fellow competitors. That was news to me. I was not aware that Carly was "unpopular."
As for Mr Anderson's comments.
Carly Booth won the Scottish Under-21 girls' title by NINE shots. Difficult to write about anyone else in that tournament unless there was unlimited space, which there is not.
Carly won the Scottish Under-18 girls' match-play championship. I did touch on other girls' achievements during that week but Carly Booth began with a brilliant score of nine-under-par 64 and no self-respecting golf writer could have ignored her after that.
She was the player that even non-golf enthusiasts, i.e. newspaper readers, were talking about. She even made the Leader column in the Aberdeen Press and Journal.

Colin Farquharson

ABOYNE PRODUCES

PAIR OF ACES IN JUNIOR MASTERS
QUALFIER AT STIRLING

Craig Graham and Lauren Duncan, both junior members at Aboyne Golf Club, sparkled in the Stirling sunshine as the pair clinched victories in the Dunfermline Building Society Junior Masters Central Regional qualifying tournament
Twelve handicapper Graham showed his promise with a scratch score of 74 to amass a whopping 46 Stableford points and run away with the boys' title and seal his place among the favourites for the Gleneagles Finals.
Clubmate Laura Duncan, playing off 11, surged home in 19pt to earn a total of 34, to edge home on a count back from Dunblane’s Nicola Robertson. Also on the 34 mark was West Lothian’s Claire Stewart who took third prize in the girls section.
Northern’s Caitlin Geddes and Ayrshire’s Kelly McNee clinched the final two qualifying spots in fourth and fifth place.
The boys section was a tight affair after a day of low scoring as the summer finally made an appearance. No fewer than 12 players broke the 40pt barrier, with host club star Liam Haldane making local knowledge count with a scratch 71 and a 41pt haul.
Haldane took the runner-up spot courtesy of an inward nine countback against Falkirk Tryst’s Lewis Thom , also on 41pt, finishing third. Ally Morrison (Inverary) and Scott MacDonald (Dunblane) both amassed 41 points and were unlucky to miss out on the prizes.
Clydebank’s Ryan Scivington had the shot of the day, holing a superb seven-iron for an eagle 2 at the 17th. The youngster followed it up with a birdie at the last but just missed out on a place in the final on 39 points.
The leading 10 boys make it through to the Gleneagles final on October 7, with 40 points going through, although two players on that mark miss out.
Dunfermline Building Society’s Ken Dow congratulated all players who took part:
“The Open Championship in Scotland is a great inspiration to Scotland’s young golfers, who can get to see the world’s top stars at close quarters. With the scoring we’ve seen today, hopefully some of our own junior golfers can go on to match the likes of Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia.”
“We are delighted to support grass roots golf in partnership with the Scottish Golf Union, and its encouraging to see so many communities across Scotland represented at the Junior Masters.” added Ken.

QUALIFIERS

BOYS

46pt Craig Graham (Aboyne) (12).

41 Liam Haldane (Stirling) (4) , Lewis Thom (Falkirk Tryst) (23), Ally Morrison (Inverary) (28), Scott McDonald (Dunblane) (14).

40 Callum Greenhill (Turnhouse) (13), Grant Carnegie (Dunblane) (3), Euan McIntosh (East Aberdeenshire) (6), Jamie Black (West Lothian) (20) , Callum Cromar (Lumphanan) (6).

Non-qualifiers included:

40 Neil McGregor (Bridge of Allan) (8), Mark McLaren (Kirriemuir) (12).

39 Ryan Scivington (Clydebank & Dist) (12), David Kinnaird (Tillicoultry) (16).

38 George Imlach (Duff House Royal) (16).

37 Gary Chalmers (Dollar) (7), Sean Lawrie (Portlethen) (13).

36 Ewan Stevenson (Portlethen) (22), Christopher MacAulay (Lochgilphead) (20), Stuart McTaggart (Carnwath) (18), Daniel Naismith (Kirriemuir) (6).

GIRLS

34pt Lauren Duncan (Aboyne) (11), Nicola Robertson (Dunblane) (25), Claire Stewart (West Lothian) (23).

30 Caitlin Geddes (Northern) (21).

29 Kelly McNee (Ayrshire) (18).

Non-qualifiers included:

29 Alexis Hutton (Falkirk Tryst) (25).

27 Rachel Polson (Peterculter) (11).

24 Kayleigh Buttars (Kilspindie) (36).

23 Amy Taylor (Kirriemuyior) (19).

20 Nicole Underhill (Falkirk Tryst) (33).

19 Kirsty Ferguson (Kirriemuir) (23).

17 Amy Grant (Kilspindie) (34).

Girls - 34pt Lauren Duncan (Aboyne), Nicola Robertson (Dunblane) (25), Claire Stewart (West Lothian) (23); 30 Caitlin Geddes (Northern) (21). 29 Kelly McNee (Ayrshire) (18).

ends

GILLIAN IS GALLOWAY GOLF CHAMPION

BY ONE STROKE FROM TRACY

Gillian Monteith (Portpatrick Dunskey), pictured left, regained the Galloway women's county golf championship at Stranraer Golf Club with rounds of 77 and 78 for 155.
She had a shot to spare over Stranraer's Tracy Milligan, who had a pair of 78s over her home course.
Defending champion Addi Shamash (Kirkcudbright) finished third on 166 with scores of 89 and 77.
There was a good measure of consolation for Tracy Milligan when she won the Rennie Salver for the best net score in the first round. Tracy had a 72 off six to win by two strokes from Stranraer clubmate A Smith, playing off 10.
Vikki Wright (Stranraer) won the Junior Trophy with a net 77 off 19.

LEADING SCORES
SCRATCH
155 G Monteith (Portpatrick Dunskey) 77 78.
156 T Milligan (Stranraer) 78 78.
166 A Shamash (Kirkcudbright) 89 77.
169 C Meldrum (Stranraer) 85 84.
186 E Vance (St Meddan) 100 86.
187 A McDonald (Portpatrick Dunskey) 99 88.
RENNIE SALVER
(Handicap: First round)
72 T Milligan (Stranraer) (6).
74 A Smith (Stranraer) (10).
75 S Downs (Gatehouse of Fleet) (15).
77 V Wright (Stranraer) (19), B Rey (Southerness) (14).

VAGLIANO TROPHY PLAYER WINS BIARRITZ CUP

Emma Cabrera (Spain) and Valentine Derrey (France), two members of the Continent of Europe team for this weekend's Vagliano Trophy match against Great Britain & Ireland at Fairmont St Andrews, finished first and fifth in the Women's Biarritz Cup over 72 holes at Biarritz Golf Club in southwest France on Sunday.
Emma, who had made several appearances on the Ladies European Tour as an amateur, had rounds of 69, 69, 67 and 73 for a two-over-par total of 278. She won by two strokes from French player Caroline Afonso.
Valentine Derrey scored 70, 69, 73 and 76 for 288.

NORTH OF SCOTLAND JUNIOR OPEN PLACES AVAILABLE

Late entries will be accepted on 01463 713334 for the North of Scotland Junior Open to be played on the Loch Ness New course, Inverness on Sunday (July 29).
Girl entries include the Tain sisters Sammy and Julie Vass.

MEXICAN VIOLETA MAKES BREAKTHROUGH
ON UNITED STATES FUTURES ROUR

By LISA D MICKEY
With an entire golf-mad Mexican nation ignited by the play of Lorena Ochoa on the LPGA Tour, along comes another young Mexican woman professional to throw a little more kerosene on the fire.
Duramed FUTURES Tour rookie Violeta Retamoza fanned the flames on Sunday when she rallied with a final-round 67 to win her first professional title at the $80,000 Alliance Bank Golf Classic in Syracuse, New York State.
Retamoza carded rounds of 75-66-67 for a three-day total of 208 (-5) to edge defending champion Ha Na Chae (69) of Seoul, Korea by one shot. Chae finished second at four-under-par 209.
“I’m really excited and I have been waiting for this,” said the rookie from Aguascalientes, Mexico. “I knew I had to keep fighting and I guess everything fell into place.”
Interestingly, Retamoza was chasing good friend Cortney Reno in the final round at The Links at Erie Village. Reno had a two-shot lead heading into the last day and had built a two-stroke lead over Chae and Brandi Jackson after her birdie on the eighth hole.
But as luck would have it, Reno yanked her tee shot left and out of bounds on the par-5 seventh hole. By the time she had putted out for double-bogey, the one-time Tour winner had dropped into a three-way tie for the lead.
“I never hit it left when I miss,” said Reno of Grosse Ile, Mich. “There was no wind and nothing to contend with. I have no idea where that came from.”
Reno bogeyed the next hole and scored all pars until she three-putted the 17th for bogey to drop into a tie for fourth at 211 (-2) alongside Kim Welch (67) of Sacramento, Alissa Kuczka (70) of Phoenix and Kelly Cavanaugh (70) of Palos Verdes, Calif.

LINDSAY KIRKWOOD IS NEW DUMFRIES-SHIRE CHAMPION

Lindsay Kirkwood (Powfoot) won the Dumfries-shire Ladies County Golf Association championship by beating another first-time finalist, Eileen Scott (Lockerbie), by 5 and 4 at Lockerbie GC today.
Both contestants played well and the decisive factor was that Lindsay coped better with the lightning fast greens and some difficult pin placements on slopes.
In the semi-finals, Lindsay beat J Graham (Dumfries & Galloway) 7 and 5 while Eileen beat Fiona Macgregor (Thornhill) 2 and 1.
In the final of the handicap competition, Elena Coppola beat Sue Bedford (Dumfries & Galloway)2 and 1.

Results:
SCRATCH
Quarter-finals - F McGregor (Thornhill) bt M Pringle (Langholm) 5 and 4, E C Scott (Lockerbie) bt S McLeod (Lochmaben) 3 and 2, L Kirkwood (Powfoot) bt M Tait (Thornhill) 8 and 6, J Graham (Dumfries & Galloway) bt G McClymont (Thornhill) 9 and 7.
Semi-finals - Scott bt Macgregor 2 and 1, Kirkwood bt Graham 7 and 5.
Final - Kirkwood bt Scott 5 and 4.
HANDICAP
Semi-finals - S Bedford (Dumfries & Galloway) bt J Grierson (Lockerbie) 5 and 3, E Coppola (Lockerbie) bt M Gibson (Dumfries & Galloway) 6 and 5.
Final - Coppola bt Bedford 2 and 1.

SOUTH KOREAN WINS WOMEN'S WORLD
MATCH-PLAY TITLE


Japan's Ai Miyazato is still looking for a first win on the LPGA Tour after 42 tournaments. She was beaten 2 and 1 by South Korean Seon Hwa Lee in the 18-hole final of the HSBC Women's World match-play championship at New Rochelle, New York State today.
In the play-off for third place, former Stirling University student Maria Hjorth from Sweden lost to Mi Hyun Kim, the second South Korean in the last four, by 2 holes.
Maria lost to Ai Miyazato in the semi-finals by 3 and 2.
Lee beat the No 10 seed, Mi Hyun Kim, by two holes in the all-South Korean semi-final over the hilly, tree-lined Wykagyl Country Club course.

VIKKI MISSES FUTURES CUT AT SYRACUSE

US-based Vikki Laing from Musselburgh failed to take advantage of perfect scoring conditions and was on the wrong side of the 36-hole cut in the Futures Tour's Alliance Bank Classic at The Links at Erie Village, Syracuse in New York State on Saturday.
Vikki had rounds of 74 and 77 for a total of nine-over-par 151 over the 6,206yd, par-71 course. That was one stroke too many to qualify for the final round.
Polly Willett from London was the only British player to beat the cut. She had a second-round 69 for 146.
Brenda McLarnon from Belfast finished on 152 with 74 and 78 while South Wales amateur Natasha Morgan, a student at Lynn University, Boca Raton in Florida had 82 and 80 for 162.
Most of the leaders broke 70 on a day when there was little or no wind and Friday's rain had left the greens soft and holding. Temperatures touched 77 degrees.
Cortney Reno (Michigan) jumped two shots clear at four-under-par 138 with a 68.
LEADERBOARD
Par 142 (2 x 71)
138 Cortney Reno (Michigan) 70 68.
140 Ji Min Jeong (South Korea) 75 65, Ha Na Chae (South Korea) 71 69.
141 Kelly Cavanaugh (California) 76 65, Violeta Retamoza (Mexzico) 75 66, Alissa Kuczka (Arizona) 70 71, Onnarin Sattayabanphot (Bangkok) 70 71, Brandi Jackson (South Carolina) 70 71.
Other qualifiers included:
146 Polly Willett (London) 77 69.
Non-qualifiers included:
151 Vikki Laing (Musselburgh) 74 77.
152 Brenda McLarnon (Belfast) 74 78.
162 Natasha Morgan (South Wales) (am) 82 80.