IRISH GOLFING ARMADA HEADING FOR SPAIN!

Martina Gillen driving from the 18th tee of the Old Course, St Andrews (Cal Carson Golf Agency image).

Claire Coughlan and caddie on the 17th green of the Old Course, St Andrews (Cal Carson Golf Agency image).

IRISH ACES MARTINA AND CLAIRE

BOOST THE PRO ENTRY FOR

HACIENDA DEL ALAMO

WOMEN'S FESTIVAL

Martina Gillen and Claire Coughlan - two Irish members of the Great Britain & Ireland team in the 2006 Curtis Cup match at Bandon Dunes, Oregon - are the latest professionals to confirm their entries for the Hacienda del Alamo Women's Winter Golf Festival.

Entries will close on Tuesday, January 15 for this inaugural staging of the two-week, six-event Festival to be held at the five-star golf resort near the city of Murcia in south-east Spain from February 10 to 23.

The Festival is open to lady professionals as well as lady amateurs up to a handicap of 20.
The professionals will play off the Blue Tees (6,594yd) and the amateurs from the Red Tees (6,087yd).

The pros are playing for cash awards, their prize fund being boosted by the generosity of Stewart Spence, owner of The Marcliffe at Pitfodels Hotel and Spa near Aberdeen. The first professional in each of the four individual events will earn at least 500 Euros and they will be handsomely rewarded in the two team events on the Saturdays of the Festival.

Glenmuir, the Scottish company with a worldwide reputation, hav contributed very generously to the amateurs' list of prizes.

Martin Gillen, who had her 25th birthday on January 7, and Claire Coughlan, 27, from Cork, have been two of Ireland's most outstanding amateurs of the past decade. They turned professional after the 2006 Curtis Cup and both played on the Ladies European Tour in 2007.

Martina, who won six American college tournaments as a student at Kent State University, Ohio, was Irish women's match-play champion in 2003, Helen Holm Scottish open stroke-play winner in 2005 at Troon and Irish open stroke-play champion in 2006.

As a member at Beaverstown Golf Club, Martina was an Ireland team international from 1997 to 2006 and figured in at least two title-winning squads in the Women's Home Internationals.

Apart from the 2006 Curtis Cup, she played for Great Britain & Ireland in the Vagliano Trophy match of 2005.

Claire Coughlan was Irish champion in 1999 and Irish open stroke-play title-winner in 2003. In 2005, she was beaten in the final of the British women's open amateur championship. She played in two Curtis Cup matches - 2004 and 2006 - and also the Vagliano Trophy match of 2005

A qualified gym instructor, Claire worked at a Leisure Centre in Cork.

E-mail your Festival entry direct to the Tournament Controller, Colin Farquharson, at colin@scottishgolfview.com before Tuesday's deadline.

Entries so far:

PROFESSIONALS
Claire COUGHLAN (Ireland)
Tracey CRAIK (Scotland)

Lauren DIGGLE (Wales).
Martina GILLEN (Ireland)
Maria MARTIN LOPEZ (Spain).
Danielle MASTERS (England)
Natasha MORGAN (Wales)
Marian RIORDAN (Ireland).
Lien WILLEMS (Belgium).
Jenna WILSON (Scotland).

AMATEURS

Orla BARRY (Galway) handicap 5.
Lisa BARTON (Coventry) handicap 2
Jane BINNING (Frilford Heath) handicap 2.

Anna CARLING (Vale of Glamorgan) handicap 4.
Sarah CARTY (The Island, Dublin) handicap 4.
Kimberley CROOKS (Saltburn by the Sea) handicap scratch. Age 16/17.
Charlotte DALTON (Ladbrook Park) handicap 3. Age 18.
Cara EASTON (Dalmahoy) handicap 8. Age 15.

Mandy EASTON (Dalmahoy) handicap 5.
Marion GEOGHEGAN (Navan) handicap 13.
Kate EVANS (Frilford Heath) handicap 7.

Rebecca GEE (Wellingborough) handicap 5. Age 16.
Annie GOWING (Frilford Heath) handicap 5.
Gemma JENNINGS (Navan) handicap 12.
Mary McAREE (Navan) handicap 20.
Judy McCAIRNS (Frilford Heath) handicap 9.

Kirsten MacCALLUM (McDonald Ellon) handicap 20. Age 14.
Lauren MacCALLUM (McDonald Ellon) handicap 7. Age 17.

Mary MacLAREN (Wellingborough) handicap 4.

Meghan MacLAREN (Wellingborough) handicap 7. Age 13.
Caroline MURPHY (Grange, Dublin) handicap 9. Age 17.
Emma O’DRISCOLL (Ballybunion). Handicap 5. Age 15.

Emily OGILVY (Auchterarder) handicap +1.
Karen OGILVY (Auchterarder) handicap 16.
Margaret ROONEY (Navan) handicap 20.
Philomena SHEERAN (Navan) handicap 20.

Rhian Wyn THOMAS (Vale of Glamorgan) handicap 1. Age 20.

Michele THOMSON (McDonald Ellon) handicap +1. Age 19.

Jane TURNER (Mortonhall). Handicap 1. Age 18.

Jane WHIRISKEY (Galway). Handicap 13.