British women's amateur stroke-play near Belfast

Kylie, Roseanne, Pamela and

Carly only Scots to beat cut

Kylie Walker (Buchanan Castle), Crieff's Roseanne Niven, Pamela Pretswell (Bothwell Castle) and Comrie's Carly Booth were the only Scots to beat the halfway cut in the British women's open amateur stroke-play golf championship at Malone Golf Club near Belfast today.
There were some very hard lucky stories - Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm) and Emily Ogilvy (Auchterarder) failed by just one shot to survive.
The biggest name among the non-qualifiers was Michele Thomson, the Scottish champion and Curtis Cup player from Ellon.
Kylie Walker slipped back from a 71 to a 75 for two-over-par 146, but that's a total that keeps her well in the hunt, only three shots behind the two teenage leaders, Curtis Cup reserve Sahra Hassan (Vale of Glamorgan) and Caroline Karsten from the Netherlands. Caroline had a hole in one in her second round.
Kylie's only birdie came at the first but she did par the last eight holes after dropping four shots at regular intervals before that.
Roseanne Niven, picture above by Cal Carson Golf Agency (all rights reserved), was heading for a par 72 after birdieing the 15th and 16th but she bogeyed the last two holes for a 74 and joint 20th place on 149.
Pamela Pretswell and Carly Booth are both on the 151 mark, making the cut with a shot to spare after looking to be in the danger zone for most of the day. Pamela improved from a 77 to a 74, while Carly went back from a 74 to a 77.
Carly had early birdies at the third and seventh but came down to earth with a triple bogey 7 at the eighth, the hole that cost her a 6 in the first round. But, after her failure to make the match-play stages of last week's British girls championship at Monifieth she needed to make this cut. She has - now she can relax a bit and finish with two good scores.
Emily Ogilvy bogeyed four holes in a row from the 13th for an 80 and a total of 153, one shot too many to qualify.
Megan Briggs, another to miss out by just one stroke, will be rueing the double bogey 6 she took at the last in her first round. She could conjure up only one birdie in a second-round 77 for 153.
Alford's Laura Murray had double bogeys at the 12th and 14th in an inward 40 for a 78 and a total of 154.
Kelsey MacDonald took 44 shots (seven over par) to reach the turn in an 80 for 157.
Michele Thomson improved by seven shots with a 75, but the damage had been done with her first-round 82. She had birdies at the third and seventh but a double bogey 6 at the 11th saw her lose momentum.

A look at the broader picture ...

ALL CHANGE AT THE TOP ON
SECOND ROUND AT MALONE

FROM THE LADIES GOLF UNION WEBSITE
It was all change at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the second day of the Ladies' British open amateur stroke-play championship.
Claire Aitken (Mid Kent) and Audrey Goumard from France, the joint overnight leaders on two-under-par 70, both required 76 shots for the second circuit and dropped down to joint eighth place on two-over-146.
Going into Friday's final two rounds, two teenagers lead the way.
Netherlands girls international Caroline Karsten joined Curtis Cup reserve Sahra Hassan in the pole position at one-under-par 143, thanks to a hole in one in the second round.
It was the second ace that Caroline had ever had and she did it with a seven iron at the 132yd 15th hole.
Caroline hit the bullseye with her tee shot, the ball going straight into the cup without a bounce.
She finished on 71, one better than her Wednesday score, having holed putts of around the 20ft mark for birdies at both the opening holes. She gave these shots back with a double bogey 5 at the short fourth and turned in level par 37.
After a bogey at the 11th put her one over-par for the day, Karsten had a good sand save at the 12th before producing her eagle 1 at the 13th to get to one under the card and that's how it remained with pars at the remaining holes for 34 home and a 71.
Sahra Hassan had earlier taken the early afternoon lead on a bright, sunny day with a 71 for 143.
Welsh international Sahra, 19-year-old member of the Vale of Glamorgan club, felt she did not play as well as she did for her first-day par score of 72, "but I did scramble well," she said.
Hassan had one birdie fewer than on Wednesday but also two bogeys less.
Sahra was able to save par figures at the second and fourth from off the green and got one of the rare tournament birdies at the par-4 fifth - statistically the toughest hole on the course in the first round.
Hassan hit the green with a rescue wood second shot and holed a 6ft putt for a 3 and she also birdied the long seventh. A shot dropped at the ninth put her out in one-under-par 36.
From there in it was nine straight pars with the Vagliano Trophy player unable to convert any of her birdie chances.
England girl international Rachel Connor from Manchester claimed the honour of being the first player to return a sub-70 score in the championship. And that put her in third place on 144, one shot off the pace, at the end of the second day.
Rachel, a member of the winning England team at the recent girls' home internationals at Panmure and the runners-up in the European girls' team championship, also in Scotland, shot a three-under-par 69, thanks to covering the last 13 holes in six under par.
For the first five holes, Connor went from an overnight three over par to six over par overall with bogeys at the second, third and fifth.
A birdie at the short sixth lit the flame for Rachel and she followed it up with further birdies at the long seventh, ninth, short 15th, 16th and 18th in halves of 37 (level par) and 32 (three under par).
That gave the 18-year-old daughter of the Scots-born Manchester club professional, Brian Connor, a level par aggregate of 144.
Sharing fourth place, only two shots behind the leaders, are 13-year-old Lisa Maguire (Slieve Russell), Tara Davies (Holyhead), Christel Boeljon (Netherlands) and Valerie Sternebeck (Germany).
Former Curtis Cup player Tara Delaney from Carlow was a second player to hit the 69 mark. Coupled with her opening 77, she moved into the top 10 at halfway on 146. Tara had a bag of six birdies - the fourth, seventh, ninth, 10th, 15th and 16th in halves of 35 and 34. She dropped shots at the fifth, 11th and 13th.
Tara is one of three Irish challengers within two or three shots of the lead.
On 145 is Lisa Maguire, the 13-year-old Slieve Russell twin who holds the European Junior Masters girls' title and the Irish girls championship. After bogeys at the 14th and 15th, Lisa birdied the 17th for an inward 35 and a 72 (sister Leona, the Irish women's champion, also made the cut on 151).
Alongside Tara Delaney on 146 is Limerick University student Niamh Kitching (Claremorris) after a repeat 73.
Claire Aitken had only one birdie in her 76 for 146. That was at the long seventh. She dropped shots at the second, third, fifth, 12th and 15th.
Audrey Goumard had two birdies, at the fourth and 17th, but she cascaded six shots to par between them, including a triple bogey 7 at the 13th in halves of 37 and 39 for 76.
Around mid-afternoon it looked as if the halfway cut to 40 and ties would be around 150 or 151, which put Curtis Cup players Elizabeth Bennett (Brokenhurst Manor) (150) and Florentyna Parker (Royal Birkdale) (151), not to mention new Swiss amateur champion Pamela Pretswell (Bothwell Castle) (151) in the danger zone, but at the end of the day, they were "saved" by the early cut forecast being at shot or two out.
The precise number of 40 players with 36-hole tallies of 152 or better qualified to play the final two rounds.
Notable players sidelined include last year's Irish match-play champion Karen Delaney (Carlow) on 153, this year's "Helen Holm" winner, Barbara Genuini (France) on 154, Scottish Under-21 champion Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar) on 157 and, on the same score, another Scot, Curtis Cup player Michele Thomson (McDonald Ellon).