The happy Scotland team, coach Kevin Craggs and officials at Fairhaven (image by Cal Carson Golf Agency; click on it to enlarge).

The Catriona Factor inspires Scots girls

to come-from-behind win over Ireland

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

“The Catriona Matthew inspiration is working already,” said a cock-a-hoop captain Margaret MacNaughtan after Scotland toppled European champions Ireland on the opening day of the Under-18 gitrls’ home international matches at Fairhaven Golf Club, Lancashire today

Very much the underdogs against an Irish team that won the Euro girls team title only four weeks ago and includes two Vagliano Trophy team players in the 14-year-old Maguire twins, Scotland rallied from 3-1 down to win 5-4.
That sets the scene for a Day 2 summit meeting – Scotland versus defending champions England.
The English walloped Wales 8-1 in their opening tie.
“I’ve never seen a Scotland girls team so animated since they went to Royal Lytham to see Catriona winning the Women’s British Open and meeting her afterwards. And I’m quite certain that some of Catriona’s magic rubbed off on our girls,” said Mrs MacNaughtan, who played for Scotland … at hockey.
“To beat Ireland was a simply fantastic performance. I don’t want to single any players out for special mention because I’ve been stressing since we got here that this is a team championship – and everybody has a role to play in the team effort.
“And that was some team effort against Ireland.”
The Scots, 2-1 down from the morning foursomes, saw that deficit stretchto two points when Lisa Maguire produced some brilliant golf to beat Alyson McKechin (Eldereslie) 7 and 6. Lisa was six up at the turn and birdied the first, fourth, sixth and 10th She was roughly four under par for the holes played.
Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm) started the afternoon ball rolling for Scotland when she put a second team point on the board by beating Sara Helly 4 and 3. Helly was one up at the turn but the initiative in what had been a tight match was seized by Briggs who won three holes in a row, the 13th, 14th and 15th , for victory
Rachael Watton put Scotland on level terms at 3-3 overall with a tremendous 2 and 1 win over Leona Maguire. The tone for a quality match was set when the first hole was halved in birdie 4s. Watton took the lead at the second and was never in arrears after that.
Maguire won the third but the Scot then won the fourth, fifth and eighth to take a three-hole lead. Briggs lost the 10th but went back to three up with a birdie 3 at the 12th. In a ding-dong finish Maguire birdied the 15th and 16th to cut her deficit to one but Briggs won the 17th and the match with a par.
Scotland moved into a 4-3 lead when their new champion, Ailsa Bain (Peebles) beat her Irish counterpart Emma O’Driscoll by one hole after being two down at the turn. Bain won the 10th, the 11th with a birdie and then the 12th to lead for the first time.
O’Driscoll squared the contest again at the 14th but Bain’s par 3 at the 17th put her back in the lead and the last hole was halved.
Ireland drew level at 4-4 when Carla Reynolds, who had been three up after three holes, bt Lesley Atkins (Minto) by 3 and 2 after the Scot had cut her deficit to one hole with a birdie at the 11th. Reynolds won the 12th, 13th and 14th to go four up. Atkins won the 15th but a half at the 16th ended the match in Ireland’s favour.
And so everything hinged on the last of the six singles – Sammy Lesie for Scotland and Patrice Delaney for Ireland.
After losing the first hole, Leslie, from Westhill, Aberdeen, won the next four in a row for a three-hole advantage which was cut to one when Delaney won the seventh and eighth.
A birdie by the Scot at the ninth put her two up again and a par at the 13th was good enough to re-establish Leslie’s three-hole lead and a half in bogey 6s at the 15th meant that neither Sammy nor Scotland could be beaten. But she won the 16th for a great 4 and 2 win under pressure to give Scotland the 5-4 victory they could hardly have hoped for at the start of the week.

HOW ENGLAND BEAT WALES 8-1

England, after making a 3-0 clean sweep of the morning foursomes, won five of the afternoon’s singles against Wales for whom Chloe Williams was their only winner.
Although it was a lopsided team scoreline in the end, the top two singles both went to the last green.
England’s girls champion Holly Clyburn beat Natasha Gobey by two holes after being one up at the turn but was pulled back to square by a birdie from her Welsh opponent at the 14th. Clyburn won the 16th with a par at the 18th with a birdie 4 to clinch victory.
Kelly Tidy was two down after five holes against Amy Boulden of Wales and did not take the lead until the 14th . Like Clyburn, Tidy birdied the last for a two-hole win.
Young newcomer Lauren Taylor had a good 4 and 3 win over Gemma Bradbury, surging into a four-hole lead by the sixth tee. Gemma could not make significant inroads on that lead.
Nikki Foster beat Katie Bradbury by 2 and 1 after the Welsh girl had the better of the outward nine holes. Nikki never looked back after squaring the match at the 11th hole. She went ahead for the first time with a birdie 3 at the 13th and also won the 14th and 15th with pars before losing the 16th to a 5.
Chloe Williams chalked up Wales’ solitary victory by beating Hayley Davis 4 and 3. Davis won the first hole with a birdie 4 but was three down by the turn, with the Welsh player’s successes including birdies at the fourth and ninth. There was nothing to choose between the players after the turn until Williams won the 15th for victory.
England’s biggest winner was young Alexandra Peters who won by 8 and 7 against Emma Davies. Alexandra, with the help of birdies at the second and ninth, was seven up at the turn. the Scot could not lose but she made sure by winning the 16th for a 4 and 2 victory which gave Scotland a famous 5-4 victory.

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