Alma Robertson's picture of Laura Murray on the Swilken Bridge with the St Rule Trophy.

St Rule Trophy Sunday stamina test:

Time to make it a three-day event?

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
By comment consent, Sunday's was one of the best St Rule Trophy finishes - albeit well after 8pm - on record in a tournament which continues to grow in stature since its inauguration in 1984 after much groundwork by Marigold Speir, the 1974 Scottish women's amateur champion (pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency)..
Here's how the drama built up this past weekend.
END OF FIRST ROUND (New Course)
70 Pamela Pretswell
71 Tara Davies, Justine Lee.
73 Jacqueline Sneddon, Laura Murray, Martine Pow.
74 Emma Sheffield, Julie Yang, Sally Shayler, Roseanne Niven, Stacey Keating, Charlotte Wild.
END OF SECOND ROUND (Old Course).
147 Stacey Keating 74 73, Laura Murray 73 74, Tara Davies 71 76, Pamela Pretswell 70 77.
149 Justine Lee 71 78.
150 Jess Wilcox 149.
151 Ashley Ona 77 74, Charlotte Wild 74 77.
AFTER NINE HOLES OF THIRD ROUND (Old Course)
181 Stacey Keating Out in 34.
183 Laura Murray Out in 36.
183 Tara Davies Out in 36.
184 Pamela Pretswell Out in 37.
185 Justine Lee Out in 36.
185 Amy Boulden Out in 33
186 Jess Wilcox Out in 36.
186 Ashley Ona Out in 35.
186 Kelsey MacDonald Out in 33.
AT END OF THIRD AND FINAL ROUND (Old Course)
221 Stacey Keating Home in 40.
221 Laura Murray Home in 38.

221 Amy Boulden Home in 36.

222 Pamela Pretswell Home in 38.

222 Justine Lee Home in 37

222 Tara Davies Home in 39.

223 Ashley Ona Home in 37.

225 Jess Wilcox Home in 39.
PLAY-OFF

1st hole. Par 4.
Amy Boulden 4, Laura Murray 4, Stacey Keating 5.
2nd hole (18th) Par 4.
Laura Murray 3, Amy Boulden 4.

Thirty-six holes without a break is a punishing exercise
As many as six players were in contention for the title on the final inward half.
From the middle of the field on, players had to go from the 18th green almost straight over to the first tee because they had taken more than 4 1/2 hr for the second round and their third-round tee time was due any minute. Playing 36 holes of competitive golf with hardly a break is a punishing exercise
Very difficult to get a field of 60 round twice over the Old Course in one day, particularly when the weather, until the evening sunshine came out, was cold, wet and windy.
Is it time to follow the "Helen Holm" pattern and have only one round on the Sunday, allowing the players who have travelled long distances to get to the venue, to make an early start home?
Not an option, chief organiser Alison White told me .... "We couldn't get the use of the Old Course on a Saturday."
More and more big stroke-play events are starting on a Friday. So why not do the same with the St Rule Trophy? Friday's round could be over the highly-rated and relatively new Castle Course. Saturday's over the New Course and Sunday's over the Old Course. And all would be done and dusted by 5 pm at the latest.
What do the players think about the St Rule Trophy?
Are they quite happy with the present format and feel it should be left well alone. I know some particularly like playing two rounds over the Old Course in an Open championship year when, as they were on Sunday, the grandstands and other Open trappings are in place already, making the players aware they are walking the same fairways as the Open championship field will be doing come mid-July.
If you have a view on where the St Rule Trophy should go from here - or think that it should be left well alone - E-mail your opinion to Colin@scottishgolfview.com
There were various views - some of them way off the mark - on how many play-offs there have been in the St Rule Trophy's short history. Here is the correct list:
1990 Annika Sorenstam bt Jennifer Allmark at first extra hole.
2000 Vikki Lang bt Kirsty Fisher at second extra hole.
2005 Naomi Edwards bt Heather Nolan and Felicity Johnson at second extra hole.
2010 Laura Murray bt Amy Boulden and Stacey Keating at second extra hole.