Improved weather brought improved scoring but no change at the top of the qualifying leaderboard in the 95th Scottish women’s amateur golf championship at Southerness links on the shores of the Solway Firth today..
Overnight leader Pamela Pretswell, a Glasgow University student and member of the Bothwell Castle club, duly claimed the No 1 seed position among the 32 who advance to the match-play stages. And she underlined her claims to be the favourite with a second-round, one-under-par 72, the best round of the two days, compared with her opening score of 76 in the windblown first day, which was also the best of that day.
Hamilton-based Pretswell, has never been able to enter this championship before due to first school and later university examinations clashing with it. She is obviously playing well, having won the West of Scotland title recently and last summer’s victory in the Swiss women’s open amateur title put her on the short leet for the Great Britain & Ireland team to play the Continent of Europe in Hamburg in July.
Big-hitting Kylie Walker (Buchanan Castle), another member of the GB&I squad, again birdied four par-5 holes in returning a 74 for the No 2 qualifying spot on 151.
Carnoustie’s Katy McNicoll, brother of Keir who won the St Andrews Links Trophy and Leven Gold Medal last season, did very well to be the third best qualifier on 155.
She flew back to Scotland last week after graduating at Lynn University, Boca Raton and has had little or no time to acclimatise after the heat and comparatively calm weather of Florida.
But she put together rounds of 79 and 76 to qualifying for the match-play stages with ease.Two former Scottish champions, Elaine Moffat (St Regulus) on 163 and Martine Pow (Selkirk) on 164, qualified but the third former title-holder in the field of 80, Anne Laing (Vale of Leven) did not with a total of 171.
Martine Pow was one of three players whose 36-hole totals were good enough to qualify them for the match-play stages but they withdrew due to unavailability.
Mher eye over prospect international candidates.artine is a Scotland selector and will be kept busy over the remainder of the championship running
Students Rachael Watton (Mortonhall), 80-78 for 158, and Alyson McKechin (Elderslie), 84-80 for 164, pulled out because of examinations later in the week.
Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm) was the first player over the two days to equal the par of 73 for the 6010yd course and her Scotland international team-mate, Laura Murray (Alford) posted a 74, which put them both on the 156 mark at the head of the mid-afternoon finishers.
They were knocked off the top spot just after 5pm by Katy McNicoll who birdied the ninth, 13th and 14th in adding a 76 to her opening 79 for a 155 total.
At the end of the day, Megan appeared as No 4 seed and Laura as No 5.
Scottish Under-21 champion, Kelsey Macdonald (Nairn Dunbar), the third GB&I squad member in the championship, had a frustrating day which saw her drop down to the No 6 seed berth with a repeat of her first-round 78 despite the improvent in the conditions.
The Stirling University student, who began the qualifying process with a 9 at the par-4 first hole on Tuesday, today had a double bogey 6 at the third and a triple bogey 7 at the 12th.
As No 1 qualifier at Lossiemouth 12 months ago, Kelsey was beaten in the first round by Tain's Sammy Vass. Maybe she will prosper in a lower place among the qualifiers..
The withdrawal of Pow, McKechin and Watton meant that the play-off was not on 166 but instead involved the four players who totalled 168 - Claire Hargan (Mortonhall), Gillian Lockhart (Kilmarnock Barassie), Fiona Gilbert (Carnoustie Ladies) and Diane MacDonald (Dumfries & County).
They set off on a four-way play-off for the last two places. The play-off started at the 16th which Diane "won" with a 4 and Gillian was eliminated with a 6. Fiona and Claire both had 5s so they carried on halved the 17th in 4 before Claire claimed the last place (she is actually No 31 in the draw - too complicated to explain) by holing an eagle putt for a 3.
One of the pleasing features of the composition of the 32 qualifiers is the number of teenagers who are still in the championship.
Youngest of all is 14-year-old Lesley Atkins (Minto) who recently became the youngest ever Borders county champion. She qualified in the No 14 position. A great achievement for one so young.
Then there's 15-year-old Ailsa Summers (Carnoustie Ladies) who qualified even higher than Lesley - in the No 9 sport to be precise. Again a performance that augurs well for the future.
Aberdeenshire teenager Samanthat Leslie (Westhill), who reached the final of her women's county championship two or three weeks back, qualified in 17th place. Ironically for Aberdeenshire, Samantha plays Murcar Links' Carol Wilson in the first round.
MATCH-PLAY QUALIFIERS
Par 146 (2 x 73). 6010yd. CSS for Round 1: 78.
148 Pamela Pretswell (Bothwell Castle) 76 72.
151 Kylie Walker (Buchanan Castle) 77 74.
155 Katy McNicoll (Carnoustie Ladies) 79 76.
156 Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm) 83 73, Laura Murray (Alford) 82 74, Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar) 78 78.
157 Ann F Ramsay (Kirriemuir) 82 75.
158 Jane Turner (Craigielaw) 80 78.
159 Ailsa Summers (Carnoustie Ladies) 78 81.
160 Louise Kenney (Pitreavie) 81 79, Elaine Cuthill (Lanark) 80 80, Sheena Wood (Aberdeen Ladies) 80 80, Gillian Monteith (Portpatrick Dunskey) 79 81.
161 Lesley Atkins (Minto) 86 75, Clare-Marie Carlton (Fereneze) 80 81, Carol Wilson (Murcar Links) 79 82.
162 Samantha Leslie (Westhill) 85 77, Claire MacDonald (Gullane Ladies) 83 79, Susan Wood (Drumpellier) 82 80, Lorna Bennett (Ladybank) 79 83.
163 Emily Ogilvy (Auchterarder) 84 79, Elaine Moffat (St Regulus) 84 79, Rachael McQueen (Troon Ladies) 80 83.
164 Sara Bishop (Windyhill) 89 75, Jacqueline Sneddon (Alyth) 85 79, Sheila Cuthbertson (Peebles) 84 80, Karen Marshall (Baberton) 82 82, Susan Jackson (Ladybank) 80 84.
166 Wendy Nicholson (Broomieknowe) 89 77, Fiona de Vries (St Rule) 85 81.
168 (after four-way play-off) Claire Hargan (Mortonhall) 89 79, Diane MacDonald (Dumfries & Co) 81 87.
+WITHDREW FROM QUALIFYING
(unavailable for match-play stages):
158 Rachel Watton (Mortonhall) 80 78.
164 Martine Pow (Selkirk) 86 78, Alyson McKechin (Elderslie) 84 80.
West of Scotland Non Qualifiers:
168 Gillian Lockhart (Kilmarnock Barassie) 85 83,
169 Jennifer Jenkins (Ralston) 86 83, Lesley Hendry (Routenburn) 82 87.
170 Carol Whyte (Windyhill) 87 83, Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm) 85 85,
171 Anne Laing (Vale of Leven) 84 87.
174 Helen Faulds (Douglas Park) 87 87.
177 Gillian McGinlay (Cochrane Castle) 88 89.
186 Elaine Whyte (Windyhill) 92 94.
205 Lindsay Mathie (Windyhll) 108 97.
206 Ann MacDonald (Windyhill) 102 104.
213 Ruth McIntyre (Windyhill) 102 111.
219 Tracy Masterton (Windyhill) 119 100.
FIRST-ROUND CHAMPIONSHIP TIES
1 Pretswell v 32 D MacDonald.
17 Leslie v 16 Wilson.
9 A Summers v 24 Bishop.
25 Sneddon v 8 Turner.
5 Murray v 28 Jackson.
21 Ogilvy v 12 Sheena Wood.
13 Monteith v 20 Bennett.
29 Nicholson v 4 M Briggs.
3 McNicoll v 30 De Vries.
19 Susan Wood v 14 Atkins.
11 Cuthill v 22 Moffat.
27 Marshall v 6 K MacDonald.
7 Ramsay v 26 Cuthbertson.
23 McQueen v 10 Kenney.
15 Carlton v 18 C MacDonald.
31 Hargan v 2 Walker.
Thanks go to Colin Farquharson for this report
Ladies Golf News in Scotland, the West of Scotland and Renfrewshire