The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
May not merry for field at Tain
Golf: Women struggle through foul weather
Penicuik’s Jane Turner (Craigielaw) led the field with a two-over-par 75 and only five players broke 80 as brutal weather played havoc with scoring in the first qualifying round of the 98th Scottish women’s amateur golf championship at Tain yesterday.
The clubhouse was awash with horror stories of players’ experiences in what 2010 champion Kelsey Macdonald described as terrible weather for golf.
Turner (75), Macdonald (77), Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm, 78), Ailsa Summers (Carnoustie Ladies, 79) and Alford’s Laura Murray (79) fill the first five places overnight.
It was not only very windy, but bitterly cold as temperatures never rose to double figures and there were two showers of hailstones.
Macdonald added: “The wind was mostly blowing across the fairways and thatmadeit very difficult to getparsandvery easy to get bogeys, double-bogeys and even higher figures.”
Tens and 11s at single holes became commonplace as the wild wind maintained its tempo and coldness to the bitter end. Even an experienced and very good player such as six-time Angus champion Ma ry Summe rs ( Carnoustie Ladies) marked up a 10 at the par-5 11th and finished with 103.
Turner succeed when so many others failed and said: “Holing a 20ft putt across the first green for a birdie certainly helped my attitude. I wasn’t going to let the wind beat me. I drove it well but mainly I just played really steady golf, making mistakes as was to be expected, but making the best of it and getting on with it.”
The 22- year- old will graduate from Robert Gordon University this summer and has a job waiting for her with an Edinburgh graphics design company.
She added: “I got my sec- ond birdie at the long 13th but the icing onthe cake for me was the 17th. It’s a par4, even though it is only 208yd. Today it was one of the few holes directly into the wind and I hit it really well with my driver through to the back edge of the green. I holed the putt from about 30 feet for an eagle.”
New Northern Counties champion Hannah McCook (Grantown) had the best outward half of 36 ( one over par) but had three double-bogey 6s, including the 17th and 18th, in an inward 44 (six over par).
She said: “It was a crosswind all the way until we got to the last two holes which were directly into the wind. They costme four shots. It wassuch a struggle from start to finish.”
Alford’s Laura Murray was going well when she turned in one-over 37 but she slipped to 42 shots for the inward half, bogeying the 12th, 15th, 16th and 17th. She had one birdie – a 2 at the short fifth.