SCOTTISH GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP
NO SALLY, NO CARLY - BUT NO LACK
OF TITLE CONTENDERS AT PEEBLES
It's a curious Scottish Under-18 girls' golf championship at Peebles Golf Club this week. Curious, in that Sally Watson from South Queensferry, at 14 the youngest-ever winner of the title at Tain last year, is not defending the championship. She is playing in the United States girls' open championship instead.
And the 13-year-old that Sally beat in the 2005 final, Carly Booth from Comrie, is Scotland's girl representative in the R&A Junior Open for Under-16s at Heswall Golf club on the Wirral from Monday to Wednesday.
The Scottish Ladies Golfing Association were castigated in some quarters for not entering any girl in the biennial R&A Junior Open at Barassie in 2004. Now the SLGA has sent to Heswall, Miss Booth, who was undoubtedly a potential winner of the championship at Peebles. From the ridiculous to the sublime?
The trouble with a championship that does not include two of the leading lights is that whoever wins it in their absence will have the merit of the victory questioned by some, i.e. "She might not have won it if Sally or Carly had been in the field"
Which would be most unkind because the other side of the coin is that Miss Watson and Miss Booth might not have won it anyway, given the quality at the top end of the entry.
Krystle Caithness (St Regulus), for instance, is a wee bit unlucky to be "only" second reserve instead of playing for Great Britain & Ireland in the Curtis Cup at the end of the month. In this her last year in the Under-18 ranks, the by now very experienced teeanger from Cellardyke, Fife must be considered hot favourite to repeat her Under-18s championship success of two years ago at Pumpherston.
A hot favourite but not a certainty. Miss Caithness was beaten before the semi-finals last year and there is no shortage of players who, on any given day, have the potential to beat Krystle.
Repeating North of Scotland women's champion Michele Thomson (McDonald Ellon), double Northern Counties women's title-winner Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar), Renfrewshire women's champion Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm), East of Scotland girls' champion Jane Turner (Mortonhall), Roseanne Niven (Crieff), Katy Nicoll (Carnoustie) and Laura Murray (Alford) all come into that category.
Two stroke-play qualifying rounds will be played today (TUESDAY) with the leading 32 going on to the championship's match-play stages. The next best 16 in the stroke-play aggregates will contest the Ansley Reid Salver, held by Cara Easton (Dalmahoy).
OF TITLE CONTENDERS AT PEEBLES
It's a curious Scottish Under-18 girls' golf championship at Peebles Golf Club this week. Curious, in that Sally Watson from South Queensferry, at 14 the youngest-ever winner of the title at Tain last year, is not defending the championship. She is playing in the United States girls' open championship instead.
And the 13-year-old that Sally beat in the 2005 final, Carly Booth from Comrie, is Scotland's girl representative in the R&A Junior Open for Under-16s at Heswall Golf club on the Wirral from Monday to Wednesday.
The Scottish Ladies Golfing Association were castigated in some quarters for not entering any girl in the biennial R&A Junior Open at Barassie in 2004. Now the SLGA has sent to Heswall, Miss Booth, who was undoubtedly a potential winner of the championship at Peebles. From the ridiculous to the sublime?
The trouble with a championship that does not include two of the leading lights is that whoever wins it in their absence will have the merit of the victory questioned by some, i.e. "She might not have won it if Sally or Carly had been in the field"
Which would be most unkind because the other side of the coin is that Miss Watson and Miss Booth might not have won it anyway, given the quality at the top end of the entry.
Krystle Caithness (St Regulus), for instance, is a wee bit unlucky to be "only" second reserve instead of playing for Great Britain & Ireland in the Curtis Cup at the end of the month. In this her last year in the Under-18 ranks, the by now very experienced teeanger from Cellardyke, Fife must be considered hot favourite to repeat her Under-18s championship success of two years ago at Pumpherston.
A hot favourite but not a certainty. Miss Caithness was beaten before the semi-finals last year and there is no shortage of players who, on any given day, have the potential to beat Krystle.
Repeating North of Scotland women's champion Michele Thomson (McDonald Ellon), double Northern Counties women's title-winner Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar), Renfrewshire women's champion Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm), East of Scotland girls' champion Jane Turner (Mortonhall), Roseanne Niven (Crieff), Katy Nicoll (Carnoustie) and Laura Murray (Alford) all come into that category.
Two stroke-play qualifying rounds will be played today (TUESDAY) with the leading 32 going on to the championship's match-play stages. The next best 16 in the stroke-play aggregates will contest the Ansley Reid Salver, held by Cara Easton (Dalmahoy).
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Monday, July 17, 2006
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