West of Scotland's Kylie Walker was the only one of six Scots to survive the Final Qualifying competition at Panmure Golf Club today and win one of the 18 places up for grabs in the Ricoh Women’s British Open which tees off over the neighbouring Carnoustie championship links on Thursday.Kylie, -- pictured left - (courtesy of calcarson agency) who plays out of The Carrick at Loch Lomond, came through a play-off between eight players who matched the par of 71 on the Ladies Golf Union’s composite women’s course at Panmure. She had kept her nerve with six solid pars to finish her round and she was remarkably at ease in the sudden-death eliminator to reduce the eight to five who would advance to rub shoulders with the big name LPGA Tour stars.
Walker birdied the long second hole to be one of the five who advanced to the main event.
Was she nervous about it all? Not a bit!
“I really enjoyed the play-off. It was great fun. At the second I hit a four-iron for my second pin high and was able to two-putt for a birdie 4 to go through,” said Kylie, who will be 25 at the end of next month.
“I’m really looking forward to playing in the Ricoh Women’s British Open. I’ve played in the Final Qualifying before but never made it through so I’m delighted.
"I’ve played Carnoustie once before. Catriona Matthew and I have the same coach, Kevin Craggs, and she is very supportive of me. Catriona took me along to play Carnoustie about a couple of months ago. And that was a great experience."
Kylie joins Catriona, Janice Moodie and Bothwell Castle amateur Pamela Pretswell (exempt from pre-qualifying because she won the British women's open amateur stroke-play championship at Tenby last August) as the four Scots in the all-star field for the Big Show.
The Scots who failed to make it were Carly Booth (72), Kelsey MacDonald (73), Clare Queen (76), Vikki Laing (75) and Gemma Dryburgh (76).
Carly was two under par with five holes to play but bogeyed the 14th, 15th and 16th. She did get a brave up and down to save par at the last but it was not enough. She was involved in a play-off for the last of the four alternate (reserve) spots but lost out in that as well.
Kelsey ran up a double bogey 6 at the 17th.
Kym Larratt (23), a second-year Ladies European Tour pro from Leicestershire, and New Zealander Lynnette Brooky, a four time winner on the LET, headed the 18 qualifiers with matching three-under-par 68s.
QUALIFIERS
Par 71
68 Kym Larratt (Eng), Kim Brooky (NZ).
69 Jessica Korda (US), Jenny Shin (S Korea), Dewi-Claire Schreefel (Net), Nikki Foster (Eng), Veronica Zorzi (Ita).
70 Frances Bondad (Aust), Holly Aitchison (Eng), Sophie Sandolo (Ita), Anna Rossi (Ita), Felicity Johnson (Eng), Joanna Klatten (Fra).
71 Beth Allen (US), Stephanie Meadow (Ire) (am), Kylie Walker (Sco), Jaclyn Sweeney (US), Rebecca Codd (Ire) (eliminated in play-off: Isabella Ramsay (Swe), Louise Larsson (Swe), Samantha Richards (unatt).
SCOTS SCORES
72 Carly Booth.
73 Kelsey MacDonald.
74 Clare Queen.
75 Vikki Laing.
76 Gemma Dryburgh
Thanks go to Colin Farquharson for the report