McDonald flies the flag at Royal Lytham despite poor start

Jack McDonald’s three-overpar 73 was enough to make him the leading Scot in a highquality field for the Lytham Trophy at Royal Lytham and St Annes GC, Lancashire, writes Colin Farquharson.

The Kilmarnock Barassie player recovered well from a potentially demoralising double bogey 6 at the third and another shot dropped at the eight for an outward half of three-over 37. He slipped to four over the card with a bogey at the 13th but then birdied the 14th and 15th before a final bogey at the 17th for 36 home. It left him joint 20th place, four shots behind the leader, Hurly Long from Germany.

Next best Scots were Daniel Young (Craig Hill), Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie) and Scott Gibson (Southerness), joint 32nd on 74. The Swiss Mathias Eggenberger, who is studying at Stirling University, had a 71. nSally Watson, from Elie, and Alford’s Laura Murray put Scotland in the picture in the first round of the Swiss Ladies Open, the opening 54-hole event on the Ladies European Tour’s Access Series circuit, at Gams Werdenberg.

Watson, who will be making her debut on the main Ladies European Tour next week, shot a sparkling five-underpar 65 to share the lead with Sweden’s Emma Westin. The Edinburgh-born player had bogey-free halves of 35 and 32, with birdies at the fifth, short 11th, 12th, 14th and 17th.

Murray, playing out of the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, earned a top-10 place with a two-under 70. Her first birdie came at the 12th and then her long-hitting ability enabled her to get two-putt birdie 4s at the par-5 16th and 18th. Her only shot dropped was at the 13th in halves of 36-34. nKate McIntosh, the leading qualifier from Broomieknowe, lost in the quarter-finals of the Midlothian Women’s Championship at Mortonhall yesterday, beaten 3 and 1 by the former champion Karen Marshall (Baberton) who will play Craigmillar Park’s Sal Shepherd in the semi-finals, while the defending champion and No.2 qualifier Hannah Scott (Broomieknowe) faces Kirsten Blackwood of Glencorse who had two big-margin wins to reach the last four. nLauren Watson, a 16-year-old junior member of Deeside, was the surprise leading qualifier for the matchplay stages of the Aberdeenshire Women’s Championship at Meldrum House GC, Oldmeldrum.

Being a private members’ course, Watson and the rest of the field were unfamiliar with the layout but she put together a tidy four-over-par 74, matching the css, to finish a shot ahead of the holder Sammy Leslie, of Aberdeen Ladies). Watson has entered next week’s Paul Lawrie Ladies Tartan Tour 36-hole event at Murcar Links.