KirkwoodGolf: ENGLISH LADIES GOLF ASSOCIATION PRESS RELEASE

Monday, July 30, 2007

ENGLISH LADIES GOLF ASSOCIATION PRESS RELEASE

NIKKI DOLEY IS ENGLAND'S MOST IMPROVED
GIRL GOLFER - AND THAT'S A FACT!

Hampshire’s Nikki Doley played four shots below her handicap to win the Abraham Trophy at Brickendon Grange, Hertfordshire – and claim the title of England’s most improved girl golfer. Nikki, 16, from Meon Valley returned a net 69 to beat 18 other finalists, who had all qualified on the basis of handicap reduction. She was one shot clear of her closest challengers, Georgia Gilling, a ten-handicapper from Essex, and Lancashire’s Elizabeth Stebbings who plays off 16.
“I am so chuffed,” said Nikki, who lives between Portsmouth and Southampton. “I really wanted to win this and it hasn’t quite sunk in yet.”
Nikki got off to a great start in the competition with two birdies in the first four holes, before a bumpy patch where she notched up four double bogeys and a triple. “But I got it back together and finished well with two pars,” she said.
Nikki took up golf only 18 months ago because: “My dad and brother play and I got fed up of sitting around golf clubs. I decided to take it up and take them on.”
She got her first handicap within months and during the qualifying period for the Abraham Trophy final she reduced from 35 to 18. She was down to 14 for the final and expects her latest score to cut her handicap yet further.
Along the way she has already won the titles of Hampshire and Meon Valley’s most improved girl golfer.
Leading scores:
69 Nicola Doley (Meon Valley) (14).
70 Georgia Gilling (Rochford Hundred) (10), Elizabeth Stebbings (Wilpshire) (16).
73 Victoria Collis (Beaconsfield) (7), Charley Hull (Kettering) (6), Georgia Hall (Ferndown) (10), Gemma Dryburgh (Beaconsfield) (16).

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