Vets' results from Brechin Golf Club

Results of SVLGA (Northern Division ) greensomes at Brechin Golf Club today were:

SCRATCH
Hodge Trophy - H Anderson (Downfield) & S McGregor (Edzell) 78 (better inward half).
HANDICAP
1st - H McIntosh (Murcar Links) & M Robinson (Murcar Links) (14.8) 69.2.
2nd -V Kelly (Deeside ) & J Mair (Deeside) (17.8) 70.2
3rd - C Bishop (Murcar Links ) & S Fyffe (Murcar Links ) (25.4 ) 70.6 (better inward half).

MIDLOTHIAN WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP

CLAIRE HARGAN ON TRAIL OF TITLE
NO. 6 AT MURRAYFIELD ON SUNDAY

Mortonhall's Claire Hargan is on the trail of a record six title wins in a row in the Midlothian women's county golf championship at Murrayfield Golf Club this weekend.

The No 2 seed this year, Claire, picture left by Cal Carson Golf Agency, all rights reserved, had two comfortable wins on Friday to reach Sunday's semi-finals.

She will play the No 3 seed, St Andrews hotelier Fiona De Vries (St Rule) for a place in the afternoon final.

The other semi-final features the leading qualifier, Rachael Livingstone (Musselburgh Old) and the No 5 seed, Wendy Nicholson (Broomieknowe).

Rachael was given a testing quarter-final by Kirsten Blackwood (Craigmillar Park), now recovered from a wrist injury. It went to the 17th green before Livingstone prevailed by 2 and 1.

Wendy Nicholson (Broomieknowe) achieved the only seeding "upset" of the day when, as No 5 qualifier, she beat the No 4 seed, Karen Marshall (Baberton) 3 and 2 in the quarter-finals.

Today's results (seeding in brackets):

FIRST ROUND

R Livingstone (Musselburgh Old) (1) bt R Lynch (Murrayfield) (16) 9 and 7.

K Blackwood (Craigmillar Park) (8) bt N Fenton (Merchants of Edinburgh) (9) 4 and 3.

W Nicholson (Broomieknowe) (5) bt T Laughland (Mortonhall) (12) 6 and 5.

K Marshall (Baberton) (4) bt S Lyon (Kingsknowe) (13) 7 and 6.

F De Vries (St Rule) (3) bt P Walkingshaw (Ravelston) (14) 4 and 3.

K Rorke (Kingsknowe) (6) bt L Caine (Merchants of Edinburgh) (11) at 19th.
R Brown (Lothianburn) (7) bt F Hunter (Baberton) (10) at 19th.
C Hargan (Mortonhall) (2) bt C Steedman (Baberton) (15) 9 and 7.

QUARTER-FINALS

Livingstone (1) bt Blackwood (8) 2 and 1.

Nicholson (5) bt Marshall (4) 3 and 2.

De Vries (3) bt Rorke (6) 2 and 1.

Hargan (2) bt Brown (7) 6 and 4.

County championship at Deeside Golf Club

SHEENA WOOD HEADS SHIRE QUALIFIERS WITH A 74

Aberdeen Ladies’ stalwart Sheena Wood led the 16 qualifiers for this weekend’s match-play stages with a competent round of two-over-par 74 in the Aberdeenshire women’s county golf championship at Deeside Golf Club this evening (Friday).
Sheena, picture right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, all rights reserved, four times champion and eight times finalist in all, birdied the fourth and sixth but three-putted both the third and eighth to be out in level par 37.
The only shots she dropped after the turn were at the 11th and 12th where she missed the green and failed to get up and down.
Donna Pocock (Murcar Links) claimed the No 2 seed berth with a 77, coming home in level par 35 after taking 42 to reach the turn.
Title-holder Michele Thomson (McDonald Ellon) is absent from the field because of a clash of dates with a Curtis Cup team practice session at St Andrews.
Laura Murray (Alford), last year’s beaten finalist, is playing in the Welsh women’s open stroke-play championship this weekend.

QUALIFIERS FOR MATCH-PLAY
Par 72
74 S Wood (Aberdeen Ladies) 37-37.
77 D Pocock (Murcar Links) 42-35.
79 L Terry (Cruden Bay) 40-39.

81 L McLardy (Murcar Links) 43-38, L McPherson (Deeside) 39-42.
82 J Harrison (Cruden Bay) 40-42, E Brown (Aboyne) 42-40.
83 S Leslie (Murcar Links) 43-40.
85 R Dunsmuir (Cruden Bay) 45-40, S Thomson (Murcar Links) 43-42, C Wilson (Murcar Links) 45-40, G Murray(Cruden Bay) 45-40.
86 M Millership (Deeside) 43-43, P Wilson (Murcar Links) 44-42.
87 K Stalker (Fraserburgh) 45-42, L McGillivray (Banchory) 46-41.
NON-QUALIFIERS
88 G Melvin (Hazlehead).
89 M Johnstone (Northern).
90 K Teow (Deeside).
92 LWhyte (Aberdeen Ladies).
93 L Wilson (Westhill)
96 C Ross (Northern), S C Smith (Peterhead).
100 N McLeod (Northern).
Automatic draw:
Saturday: First round - 10.0 (7min intervals)
S Wood v K Stalker, R Dunsmuir v S Leslie, L McPherson v S Thomson, P Wilson v L McLardy, L Terry, M Millership, G Murray v E Brown, J Harrison v C Wilson, L McGillivray v D Pocock.
Quarter-finals in afternoon.

Semi-finals and final on Sunday.

France's Nocera leads by one at The Carrick

Kathryn, Clare up with leaders
in Ladies' Scottish Open

FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Gwladys Nocera from France shot a one-under-par 70 to take a stroke lead into the final day of the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open.
Having tied for the lead with Maria Boden after an opening 69, the 32-year-old made the best of a sunny day at The Carrick at Cameron House, Loch Lomond to finish on a three-under-par total, ahead of South Korean teenager Amy Yang, who had a 70.
Sweden’s Boden slipped back into a share of third with Spaniard Tania Elosegui, while five players shared fifth on level par, including the leading Scot Kathryn Imrie, who had a 69.
Clare Queen, playing on her "home" course, is another Scot in the top 10.
The defending champion Sophie Gustafson fired a tournament low round of four-under-par 67 to move into contention along with South Africans Lee-Ann Pace and Stacy Bregman, all on level par. Nocera, aiming for her sixth Ladies European Tour title, had a mixed front nine with two birdies and two bogeys and picked up a crucial shot at the par-four 13th.
“I started really well with a birdie on one and then I kind of fell asleep on my game,” said Nocera, who moved from her native Biarritz to Lausanne in Switzerland last year.
“After that I had a bad chip on six so I made a bogey and then a three-putt on seven. I kind of fell asleep on my game but then I had to wake up. I was like, “Do something now!” After that I played really well.”
Nocera, who describes herself as an attacking player, thought that she played too safely on the front nine.
“If I try to be too safe then I fall asleep so I have to play offensively,” she said. “I talk with my caddie and if I can play offensively then I choose to do it.”
Yang, the LET’S youngest ever winner at the 2006 ANZ Ladies Masters in Australia, used the opposite strategy to maintain her position on the leader board.
“I was trying to play safe all day today and not too aggressive,” said the 18-year-old, who moved from the Australian Golf Coast to Orlando, Florida, in February.
Yang won unexpectedly as a 16-year-old amateur, and is aiming for her first pro win in three seasons on Tour.
"I want to win again but I’m trying not to think about it because otherwise I will get nervous. Tomorrow I will try to play the same as today and try my best,” Yang said.
Just three strokes off the lead entering the last round, Gustafson was feeling more positive about her chances of retaining the title.
“The forecast for tomorrow isn’t supposed to be very good so pretty much anything can happen,” she said. Gustafson will tee off at 10.50am in the final round, two groups ahead of the last match at 11.10am.
SECOND-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 142 (2 x 71)
139 Gwladys Nocera (Fra) 69 70.
140 Amy Yang (Kor) 70 70
141 Tania Elosegui (Spa) 70 71, Maria Boden (Swe) 69 72
142 Lee-Anne Pace (Rsa) 75 67, Stacy Lee Bregman (Rsa) 75 67, Nicole Gergely (Aut) 70 72, Kathryn Imrie (Sco) 73 69, Sophie Gustafson (Swe) 75 67
143 Clare Queen (Sco) 72 71, Rebecca Hudson (Eng) 72 71
144 Melodie Bourdy (Fra) 71 73, Sofia Renell (Swe) 76 68, Emma Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 72 72, Becky Brewerton (Wal) 74 70, Lotta Wahlin (Swe) 73 71, Johanna Westerberg (Swe) 71 73
145 Sophie Walker (Eng) 73 72, Nikki Garrett (Aus) 70 75, Felicity Johnson (Eng) 71 74
146 Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 74 72, Ursula Wikstrom (Fin) 73 73, Lara Tadiotto (Bel) 75 71, Marjet van der Graaff (Ned) 76 70, Cecilia Ekelundh (Swe) 75 71, Martina Eberl (Ger) 74 72
147 Caroline Afonso (Fra) 77 70, Fame More (Eng) 74 73, Anna Knutsson (Swe) 74 73, Marina Arruti (Spa) 77 70, Nathalie David-Mila (Fra) 73 74, Ellen Smets (Bel) 75 72, Zuzana Kamasova (Svk) 72 75, Karen-Margrethe Juul (Den) 74 73
148 Mhairi McKay (Sco) 74 74, Melissa Reid (Eng) 77 71, Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 78 70, Lill Kristin Saether (Nor) 77 71, Samantha Head (Eng) 73 75, Karen Lunn (Aus) 73 75
149 Stephanie Arricau (Fra) 74 75, Danielle Masters (Eng) 78 71, Katharina Schallenberg (Ger) 79 70, Margherita Rigon (Ita) 78 71, Stefanie Michl (Aut) 76 73
150 Beatriz Recari (Spa) 76 74, Ludivine Kreutz (Fra) 77 73, Kylie Walker (Sco) (am) 78 72, Florence Luscher (Swi) 75 75, Olof Maria Jonsdottir (Ice) 73 77, Lisa Hall (Eng) 74 76, Lynn Kenny (Sco) 75 75, Trish Johnson (Eng) 77 73, Laurette Maritz (Rsa) 73 77, Isabella Maconi (Ita) 76 74
151 Eva Steinberger (Aut) 77 74, Anne-Lise Caudal (Fra) 81 70, Jenna Wilson (Sco) 80 71, Kiran Matharu (Eng) 77 74, Georgina Simpson (Eng) 80 71, Diana Luna (Ita) 79 72, Vittoria Valvassori (Ita) 77 74, Janice Olivencia (Pue) 73 78, Natalie Claire Booth (Eng) 76 75, Yuki Sakurai (Jpn) 76 75
MISSED THE CUT
152 Federica Piovano (Ita) 83 69, Eleanor Pilgrim (Wal) 79 73, Anja Monke (Ger) 77 75, Dana Lacey (Aus) 80 72, Lisa Holm Sorensen (Den) 80 72, Bronwyn Mullins-Lane (Aus) 80 72, Martina Gillen (Irl) 77 75, Joanne Mills (Aus) 73 79, Natascha Fink (Aut) 77 75, Julie Tvede (Den) 73 79
153 Camille Fallay (Fra) 77 76, Frances Bondad (Aus) 77 76, Anna Tybring (Swe) 81 72, Rachel Bell (Eng) 83 70, Christine Hallstrom (Swe) 80 73, Mette Buus (Den) 76 77, Joanne Morley (Eng) 72 81
154 Cassandra Kirkland (Fra) 78 76, Kate Combes (Aus) 79 75, Lora Fairclough (Eng) 75 79, Frederique Seeholzer (Swi) 76 78, Ana Larraneta (Spa) 76 78.
155 Jehanne Jail (Fra) 74 81, Elizabeth McKinnon (Nzl) 83 72, Jo Clingan (Eng) 79 76, Lydia Hall (Wal) 79 76, Kirsty S Taylor (Eng) 82 73, Megan Briggs (Sco) (am) 79 76.
156 Kerry Smith (Eng) 82 74, Anna Rossi (Ita) 78 78, Laura Terebey (USA) 78 78, Cherie Byrnes (Aus) 82 74, Dale Reid (Sco) 80 76, Sarah Heath (Eng) 79 77, Denise-Charlotte Becker (Ger) 74 82.
157 Elisabeth Esterl (Ger) 79 78, Amanda Moltke-Leth (Den) 81 76
158 Emma Zackrisson (Swe) 79 79
159 Anne Norman Hansen (Den) 82 77, Rebecca Coakley (Irl) 79 80, Kaisa Ruuttila (Fin) 74 85
160 Asa Gottmo (Swe) 79 81
161 Rui Yokomine (Jpn) 82 79
162 Corinne Dibnah (Aus) 85 77, Patricia Beliard (Fra) 83 79, Kelsey Macdonald (Sco) (am) 85 77
163 Gillian O'Leary (Irl) (am) 80 83
165 Emma Lyons (Eng) 85 80
172 Emma Goddard (Eng) (am) 89 83

Wind blows scores up in LPGA Tour event

Catriona on same 73 mark

as Lorena at Broken Arrow

North Berwick's Catriona Matthew ended a very windy first day on the same two-over-par mark as title favourie Lorena Ochoa in the SemGroup Championship at Cedar Ridge Country Club, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
Over a 6602yd course that seemed much longer, Catriona (pictured right) and Lorena both had to settle for 73s on a day when South Korean Hee Young Park led with 69, one shot ahead of compatriots Ji Young Oh and Mi Hyun Kim.

Paula Creamer, also on 70, was the only American in the leading four.

Teenager Vicky Hurst, set to graduate from a Florida high school next week and a winner on the Futures Tour last week, is in joint fifth place on 71. Vicky is tipped as the next rising star.

LEADERBOARD

Par 71

69 Hee Young Park.

70 Ji Young Oh, Mi Hyun Kim, Paula Creamer.

71 V Hurst, A Miyazato, L Lindley.

Other scores:

73 C Matthew, L Ochoa (jt 14th).

74 J Head, L Davies (jt 23rd).

78 K Stupples (jt 81st)

Changed days for Falling Star of LPGA Tour

Michelle Wie back to qualifying

for U S Women's Open

Falling star Michelle Wie is one of 1,236 players who have entered the 2008 United States. Women's Open at Interlachen Golf Club, Minneapolis from June 26 to 29.
It will be the first time she will has had to endure open qualifying for a major tournament since she was in the eighth grade at high school on Hawaii.
Wie, a first-year student at Tiger Woods' alma mater, Stanford University, is exempt from the first stage of local qualifying because she played in the US Women's Open last year, withdrawing during the second round.
Wie's career has been in free fall since she tried to play through injuries to both wrists last year. She missed the cut or withdrew from five LPGA Tour events, and finished just about last at two other events.
In her only LPGA appearance this season, Michelle finished joint 72nd in the Fields open on Hawaii.

She was 13 when she won a play-off in sectional qualifying to earn a spot in the 2003 U.S. Women's Open at Pumpkin Ridge, where she tied for 39th. The USGA awarded her a special exemption the following year, primarily because the money she would have earned on the LPGA Tour had she not been an amateur would have been enough to qualify.
Wie tied for 13th to earn an exemption to the 2005 U.S. Open, and her popularity was such that the LPGA Championship changed its criteria in 2005 to allow for one amateur - Wie - to compete.

The Honolulu native continued to play well enough to earn invitations and exemptions to the four majors in 2006 and 2007.
Now, the U.S. Women's Open might be the only major she is eligible to play - provided she qualifies.
Wie has chosen the Woodmont Country Club in Maryland as her sectional qualifying site on June 9. That's where most LPGA Tour players will try to qualify, and it will offer the most spots to the Women's Open.

The youngest person to enter this year's US Women's Open is Samantha Wagner, an 11-year-old from Easton, Pennsylvania.
Sixty players, including title-holder Cristie Kerr, are exempt from qualifying. Anyone finishing among the top 35 on the LPGA Tour money list after the Ginn Tribute on June 1 will also go straight into the championship field.

Perthshire teenager a star at two sports

P&K COUNTY PLAYER EVE

MUIRHEAD NAMED IN

BRITISH CURLING TEAM

FOR WINTER OLYMPICS

FROM THE PERTH & KINROSS COUNTY WEBSITE

By DAWN BUTCHART (County Captain)

I am very pleased to announce that junior member and county squad member Eve Muirhead has been named in the six-strong ladies' curling squad for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games at Vancouver.

The squad named along with Eve are Karen Addison, Lynn Cameron, Jackie Lockhart, Lorna Vevers and Kelly Wood.

Eve, although she has only recently turned 18, is a very experienced curler. She was captain of the women's team who beat hosts Sweden 12-3 in the final match at the 2008 world championships in Ostersund, Sweden on Sunday, March 9.

She also won gold at the 2007 world junior curling championships in Minnesota ... was part of the young futures curling squad in 2006 ... won the 2005 Silver League ... and was third in the Scottish junior championships of 2004 and 2005.

On top of her curling achievements Eve is also an excellent golfer who has represented P&K at county level on numerous occasions. What a talent indeed!

We are very proud of Eve and send her our warmest congratulations. Well done, Eve! We will be supporting you all the way.

Picture above of Eve Muirhead as a golfer is by courtesy of Cal Carson Golf Agency, all rights reserved.

Some more info about Eve from the girl herself:

I won the Pitlochry Ladies' Highland Open in 2005 and 2007. I also got to the semi-final in 2006. I was selected to be part of the Perth and Kinross County team in 2007 and went on to play in Northern inter-county team championship.

I finished 12th in the SLGA girl's rankings for 2007. Also selected to represent Scotland in the schoolgirls' international match against England; won both my matches.

In last Scottish Under-18 girls' match-play championship at Peterhead, I reached the quarter-finals, losing out 4 and 2 to Pamela Pretswell. In the Scottish Under-21 girls' open stroke-play at Auchterarder, I came 13th with scores of 78, 72 and 80. With my second round I won best nett in the Under-18 category.

I had scholarships at Gleneagles through Perth and Kinross County in 2004, 2006 and now in 2008.

My home golf club is Pitlochry and my handicap just now is 4.5.

I live in Blair Atholl, just seven miles north of Pitlochry. At the moment I am not at university but looking to become a full-time or part-time curler.

The Muirheads are a famous curling family with my dad having many Scottish titles and European titles and also two world silver medals. He was also a member of the Great Britain Olympic team in 1992.

My brother also won the Scottish junior curling championship in 2007 and is also as skip this year.

Thanks, Eve, for such a comprehensive rundown on your achievements. Good luck in curling and golf from Kirkwoodgolf.co.uk