Lina and Nuria share seven-stroke lead in 

Morocco with one round to go

Lina Boqvist and Nuria Iturrios share a seven-shot lead over the rest of the field heading into the final round of the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco.

The pair lead on 10-under-par after third rounds of 69 and 70 respectively and the stage is set for an epic final round duel on the Blue Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.

Caroline Hedwall, Hannah Burke and Laura Fuenfstueck, all on three-under-par, are capable of going on a birdie rampage, as are best friends Camilla Lennarth and Marianne Skarpnord, both at two-under-par, but it will take something special to reel in the leaders.

 Iturrios has the advantage of having won her first Ladies European Tour title in the event at the same venue three years ago and is relishing the match play situation.

Boqvist is looking for her first title. Her best finish on tour was a tie for third in her rookie season in 2015 but she has held firm since leading after the first round, playing on new greens, through high winds on Friday and then in hot weather on Saturday. 

She won the 2012 Swedish Match Play event as an amateur, the last time she played the format, so seemed to be fired up for a duel with Iturrios.

Boqvist, 27, from Gislaved in Sweden, said: “It was very good out there and I played very solid with four birdies and 14 pars. I had  two up-and-downs from the rough, so it was very good. I only hit nine fairways, but I was in the semi-rough so it was fine. I love the course. It’s my better than last year: the greens are firmer, but it’s a better course now and it’s going to be a fun day tomorrow.”

Iturrios, 24, from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, said: “Lina and I were playing so well and hitting good shots. We are both enjoying playing like that, so let’s see for tomorrow. I just want to focus on my own game. Anyone could win tomorrow, they could shoot seven-under and you never know with golf, so I want to keep working and enjoy it.”

Hedwall shot a final round of nine-under-par 63 to win the Lacoste Ladies Open de France in October last year and could be a threat to the leaders.

After signing for a third round of five-under-par 68, she said: “I was playing really solid today and I created a lot of birdie opportunities. I was happy with my game.

“Compared to yesterday, it was much easier, because the wind blew up yesterday and the greens firmed up so much it was hard to get close to the pin. It was much easier to play today and I took advantage of it. They moved up a couple of holes and the holes were more accessible because the greens were softer. I’ll be looking for as many birdies as possible because to have a shot at the win, that’s going to be needed.”

Final round play gets under way at 8.20am from two tees on Sunday, with the last three-ball containing Boqvist, Iturrios and Hedwall starting their final round at 10.21am. 

New Gleneagles golf ambassador Hannah McCook to help inspire newcomers to golf

Gleneagles Hotel Media Release

Wednesday 20 February 2019

Gleneagles, the world-famous Perthshire  hotel and sporting estate, has today announced Hannah McCook, as a new Golf Ambassador, supporting the iconic Perthshire venue’s plans to inspire more young people, school children and women to take up the game.

Recently turned professional, proud Scot Hannah (25), who was born in Aberdeen and raised in Strathspey, was one of Scotland’s leading amateur players, winning three consecutive Scottish Golf Ladies Order of Merit titles before transitioning to the pro ranks this year.

Hannah joins fellow Scot and 1999 Open Champion, Paul Lawrie, as an ambassador, at a time when the award-winning 850-acre Perthshire estate prepares to celebrate the Centenary of its Top 100-ranked championship courses, The King’s and The Queen’s, designed by James Braid.

Gleneagles will also host the 16^th staging of The Solheim Cup, from September 9-15, the pinnacle of women’s professional golf, on the Jack Nicklaus-designed PGA Centenary Course.

Hannah, who was previously a member at Gleneagles during her Sports Studies degree course at the University of Stirling, said:
“I’m incredibly proud to be representing both Scotland and Gleneagles as a professional golfer. Gleneagles holds a special place in my heart and to now be a golf ambassador for such an iconic Scottish brand is a dream come true.”

Gary Silcock, Director of Golf at Gleneagles, commented: “In a year when Gleneagles welcomes the biggest event in women’s golf to Perthshire, it seems fitting that we announce a new partnership with Hannah, one of Scotland’s female golfing talents of the future.

“Her emotional attachment to Gleneagles means she understands our golf proposition perfectly. We have a strong desire to inspire and encourage more young people, school children and women to take up the game and Hannah’s energy and enthusiasm will help us achieve this.”

2018 marked Hannah’s stand-out season as an amateur, winning both the Welsh Ladies Open Stroke-play and its Irish equivalent just a week later. Hannah was part of the victorious team to represent Scotland at the Ladies Home Internationals in Ireland, and she also represented her country at the World Amateur Team Championships.

Hannah will initially focus her tournament play on the Ladies European Tour Access Series, with the aim of progressing onto the main Ladies European Tour. She also continues to work with the SportScotland Institute of Sport and PGA personal coach, David Torrance.

For further information about Gleneagles, visit: www.gleneagles.com

 

Stephanie Meadow scores first Symetra Tour 

victory after play-off in California

There was just as much drama on the back nine of Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon yesterday as there was at the Masters, and when the dust settled, Team Ireland-supported Stephanie Meadow, pictured below, was crowned the 2018 winner of the  Symetra Tour's IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort  and  Spa at Beaufort, California

The path to a first Symetra Tour victory for the Northern Ireland player wasn’t simple, however. After 36 holes, both Meadow and Carleigh Silvers (Martinsville, Indiana) were tied for the lead at 4-under par overall.

“I would’ve pretty much doubted it,” said Meadow, regarding how everything played out. “I thought if I was going to be in a playoff, I probably would have had to shoot 7-under to catch her. It happens, people have tough days on the last day and if you just stay steady, you never know what can happen.”

On the first sudden-death play-off hole (No. 18), Meadow drained a 40-foot putt to put the pressure squarely on Silvers, which proved to be the deciding factor. 

“To make it, and it was dead center, was pretty awesome,” Meadow said with a big smile on her face. “Honestly, I hadn’t made anything all week so for those two putts—No. 18 in regulation and then the playoff hole—to go in, was pretty special. I guess I was saving them up.”

Entering the final round, Meadow sat tied for fifth at 2-under par. She was seven shots back of 36-hole leader Jenny Haglund (Karlstad, Sweden), who limped to an 8-over par (80) finish, ending tied for seventh at 1-under. 

Meadow erased an early double bogey on No. 6 with two birdies to shoot even par going out. Then the back nine started tough with a bogey on No. 10, but she remained calm and found her way to birdies on Nos. 13, 16 and 18. 

Two groups behind Meadow was Silvers who, for a brief moment this afternoon, took the outright lead at 4-under par thanks to a birdie on No. 16. From there, the two went back and forth. Meadow then tied Silvers at 4-under with her birdie on No. 18, just before Silvers snagged a one-stroke advantage back with a birdie on No. 17. However, her bogey on the final hole led to the playoff.

“She made her putt and that was awesome,” said Silvers. “She earned that, making that long birdie putt. That was pretty cool, so congratulations to her. I just wanted to give mine a chance and I did, it really looked pretty good until the last two feet.”

It is the first Symetra Tour win for Meadow, the former four-time All-American at the University of Alabama. The victory is also the first on the Symetra Tour for a woman from Northern Ireland. 

“It has been a long road for me so the hard work pays off,” Meadow said. “It just feels amazing right now.

Full Leaderboard HERE

Senior Golf Circuit January schedule

VenueFormat

11 - 14 Jan

5th Algarvian Invitational

Pinheiros Altos and Laranjal

72 hole strokeplay

17 - 21 Jan

2nd Algarve Charity Pro Am

Quinta do Lago, San Lorenzo, Pinheiros Altos

72 hole pro-am

The Senior Golf Circuit is open to senior men, pro and amateurs, of age 48 and over. It is also open to lady professionals of any age. 

Log on to the Senior Golf Circuit for more details.
http://www.seniorgolfcircuit.com/

23 - 24 Jan

Monte Rei Winter Classic III

Monte Rei, Portugal

36 hole stroke-play 

First her caddie goes, now Lydia Ko splits with David Leadbetter Golf Academy

By Golfweek Staff
Lydia Ko, the world’s top-ranked women’s golfer, has cut ties with David Leadbetter and the Leadbetter Golf Academy, Leadbetter announced in a statement Wednesday evening.
Ko, 19, had worked with Leadbetter and Sean Hogan, director of instruction at the Leadbetter Golf Academy, since 2013, when Ko, then 16, left her New Zealand-based coach Guy Wilson after 11 years together.
“We as a team want to thank Lydia for the privilege of helping her develop her game over the past three years,” Leadbetter said in the statement. 
“… We wish Lydia the very best for the future and know that, going forward, if she is able to withstand the many outside pressures associated with being number one in the world, and if her team keep their expectations realistic, then she can go on to even bigger and better things.”
Ko and her caddie of two years, Jason Hamilton, parted ways in October.
“All Lydia told me was she wanted a different set of eyes out there,” Hamilton told Golfweek.
Ko said of the caddie split: “I really think that some people might think I might have ended on bad terms with my former caddie, Jason. But no, I really enjoyed working with him the past few years. … Sometimes change is a good thing.”

 Carly Booth's birdie-eagle finish for a 67 

 

in hot Greece at Aegean Airlines pro-am

 

NEWS RELEASE FROM PGAs OF EUROPE

The 2016 Aegean Airlines Pro-Am at Costa Navarino in Greece got off to a blazing start after PGA of South Africa Professional, Paul Marks, carded a career-best opening 63 (-8) to lead by two shots.

With temperatures surpassing 40 degrees at the Messinia-based Costa Navarino resort, the 11th edition of the popular Pro-Am got underway in challenging conditions for PGA Professional and amateur competitors alike.

Marks, who is also PGA of South Africa Chairman, made an early bid for the lead at the Par 71 Bay Course, with a birdie at the second hole followed by a further six birdies in a row to go out in just 29 shots.

“It just clicked and my putter was fantastic,” said Marks.  “All round I hit my irons superbly well and I hit my driver well today too – it was just one of those rounds.  It’s my lowest round in a Professional tournament and equals my lowest score ever…so now I have to find a 62 from somewhere!” Marks’ Round 01 score was made even more impressive considering a double-bogey five on the par-three 16th hole that was swiftly cancelled out by birdies on the final two holes. But hot on his heels are two past champions of the Pro-Am; Lee Rinker (PGA of America) and Henrik Engdahl (PGA of Greece).  Both again played on the low-scoring Bay Course earning themselves a pair of six-under par 65s. Ladies European Tour Member, Carly Booth, recovered beautifully from a three-hole stretch of bogeys on her back nine with a birdie on the Bay’s 17th hole and an eagle at the last for a four-under 67 matching the PGA of Germany’s David Heinzinger’s 67. Back over on Costa Navarino’s Dunes Course, defending Champion, Jake Roos, also matched their four-under par efforts with two birdies on each nine holes and share of fourth place after Round 01.

For Full Round 01 Scores Visit http://eur.pe/2016Aegean

In the Team Pro-Am event Paul Marks and amateurs, Berny Lane, Alan Rahme, and Kamal Singh, and PGA of Italy Professional Adriano Mori and his amateurs, Marco Colombo Poggi, Luciana Marina Carli, and Fabio Poggi, lead having scored big targets of 92 points (-20).

In third place is Team Engdahl including amateurs John Stefanidis, Makis Papadopoulos and Chairman of Aegean Airlines, Theodore Vassilakis, just one point behind on 91 points (-19).

The second round of the Aegean Airlines Pro-Am will see the teams swap courses with the Teams completing the 36 hole Team Pro-Am and the Professionals complete the second of three Individual Professional rounds.

Local knowledge helps Laura lead by three

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Laura Murray is on course to win the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Ladies Open title for the second year in a row at Murcar Links.
The Paul Lawrie GC player from Alford, pictured, playing in the final group of the day, posted a three-over-par 74 to take a three-shot lead into the final round on Friday.
Kelsey MacDonald (Carrick on Loch Lomond), American Beth Allen (Falkirk) and Sarah Attwood (Gog Magog) had been the long-time joint leaders on 77 on a day when one player had a 10 at the long fourth and there were triple bogeys galore.
Murray made the most of her local knowledge and the fact that the wind dropped when her group were playing the last few holes.
"I've played this course so many times I could probably get round blindfold. I know the places I should be in from tee and, just as important, I know the places that don't want to end up," said Laura who missed the cut on her LET debut in Morocco last week.
"I holed out well and that helped, nothing very long but the 18th was a good example - I sank a four or five-footer for a 3, my only birdie of the day."
But Murray is certainly not counting her chickens as far as the £2,250 first prize is concerned.
"There are a lot of good players in this field and three strokes is not an unassailable lead over a course like this."
Pre-tournament favourite Trish Johnson, the former Solheim Cup player, and a winner last year at Kingsbarns on her only other appearance on the Ladies' Tartan Tour, had a 78.
"I thought the course was playing very long because the fairways are soft and there is little or no run. That's not a criticism of the course. I think it is a cracking lay-out and I would love to play Murcar Links in the summer when it would play like a links," said Trish.
Pre-tournament favourite Trish Johnson, the former Solheim Cup player, and a winner last year at Kingsbarns on her only other appearance on the Ladies' Tartan Tour, had a 78.

"I thought the course was playing very long because the fairways are soft and there is little or no run. That's not a criticism of the course. I think it is a cracking lay-out and I would love to play Murcar Links in the summer when it would play like a links," said Trish (pictured right).Former Curtis Cup player - one of several in the field - Michele Thomson from Ellon was another who thought the course was "too long" for the lady pros, given the adverse conditions.
But that was another advantage for clear-cut leader Murray. She is arguably the longest hitter in the field and and reduced run on her drives was not a problem for Laura.
SCROLL DOWN PAST THE SCORES FOR
 FRIDAY'S TEE TIMES

FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 71 (36-35)

74 Laura Murray (Paul Lawrie GC) 39-35
77 Beth Allen (Falkirk) 38-39, Sarah Attwood (Gog Magog) 39-38, Kelsey MacDonald (Carrick on Loch Lomond) 41-36
78 Heather MacRae (Gleneagles) 40-38, Kiran Matharu (Cookridge Hall) 37-41, Trish Johnson (Wiltshire) 40-38, Michele Thomson (unatt) 42-36, Gabriella Cowley (Hanbury Manor) 44-34, Annabel Dimmock (Wentworth) 38-40
79 Maria Tulley (Eastbourne Downs) 42-37, Chloe Rogers (Celtic Manor) 40-39
81 Keely Chiericato (Manston) 39-42, Becky Brewerton (Wiltshire) 46-35, Lucy Goddard (Hanbury Manor) 40-41
83 Lisa Shervill (The Shropshire) 43-40
84 Nicola Ferguson (American Golf) 44-40, Jane Turner (West Linton) 46-38, Alyson McKechin (Elderslie) 42-42, Jess Wilcox (Blankney) 43-41
85 Tracey Boyes (Corhampton) 44-41, Rachel Drummond (Buckinghamshire) 45-40, Emilee Taylor (Holmhall) 42-43
87 Jorden Ferrie (Hilton Park) 43-44.
88 Kirstin Scott (Gleneagles) 46-42, Gillian Paton (Royal Montrose) (am) 47-41
96 Fiona Wait (Bathgate) (am) 48-48
No return - Gemma Webster (Succession Group)

FINAL ROUND (Friday) tee times
09.00 Wait, Paton, Scott
09.10 Ferrie, Taylor, Drummond.
09.20 Boyes, Wilcox, McKechin
09.30 Turner, Ferguson, Shervill.
09.40 Goddard, Brewerton, Chiericato
09.50 Rogers, Tulley, Dimmock 
10.00 Cowley, Thomson, Johnson
10.10 MacRae, Matharu, MacDonald
10.20 Attwood, Allen, Murray.