Julie Yang (left) and Nikki Foster with their trophies at Southerndown GC yesterday (image from the Welsh Golf Union website).

Loretto pupil Julie Yang (only 14!) wins

Welsh open stroke-play title after play-off

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Julie Yang, a 14-year-old South Korean girl and a pupil at Loretto School's Golf Academy, Musselburgh, was the surprise winner of the Welsh women's open amateur 54-hole stroke-play championship at Southerndown Golf Club's links course in South Wales today.
Julie, who led by four strokes with 18 holes to go, won a play-off at the 19th hole against England 18-year-old international Nikki Foster (Pleasington, Blackburn) who was runner-up to Danielle McVeigh in last weekend's "Helen Holm."

They had tied on six-under-par 216 after three rounds at Southerndown.
Foster had fought her way into contention with a superb, five-under-par round of 69 over the classic Welsh links. The Lancashire lass birdied five of the last six holes to get into the play-off, both finishing with 54-hole aggregates of 216 – six under par.
Yang, who slipped to a 77 in her final round, won at the first extra hole.
Third on 218 came Llandudno youngster Amy Boulden named as a reserve for the Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cup team to face the Americans next month and Dunfermline's Louise Kenney, who led or shared the lead in the recent "Helen Holm" tournament at Troon until the closing holes, finished a creditable fourth.

On the first play-off hole, the chargining Nikki Foster ran out of luck just when she needed it most. She saw her second shot land on the bank just short of the green and roll down the slope away from the hole. Julie responded with a confident iron to the heeart of the green and had no difficulty in securing her par 4 and a memorable victory.

So who is Julie Yang? If she remains in this country, the 14 going on 15 year old may be about to make quite an impact on open tournaments.
Of South Korean extraction, Julie was based at Phoenix when she became the youngest ever winner of an American Junior Golf Association tournament in August 2007 - when she was only 12 years, 1 month and 8 days old!
In fact, in 2004, her CV credits her with winning the World Junior Masters in 2004. That would make her only eight years of age, so it must have been a Wee Wonders type of event.
If, like me, you might ask: "Why didn't Julie play in the Scottish Under-16 girls' open championship in early April because she enrolled at Loretto last September?" The answer to that one, very kindly supplied to me by Lesley Atkins' mother, is that Julie was in Thailand at that time.
The next question is: "Why didn't Miss Yang play in the Helen Holm Scottish women's open amateur championship at Troon last weekend?"
Again, Mrs Atkins provides me with the answer: " Julie couldn't play at Troon because she was down at Oulton Hall, near Leeds helping Loretto finished second to Millfield in the Grand Finals of the Independent Schools Golf Assocation championship on April 25 and 26."

So, now you know more than most people about Julie Yang the 14-year-old who is the new Welsh women's open amateur stroke-play champion. If she doesn't go home - wherever home is - for the summer mnths, Julie could make quite an impact on the European women's amateur golf scene. She is among the entries for next month's British women's open amateur championship at Ganton Golf Club, Yorkshire.

Could Julie play for Scotland during her time at Loretto? Short answer: No. She would have to live in the country for 10 years to qualify on residential grounds.

+The trio of Hannah Barwood (Knowle), Holly Clyburn (Woodhall Spa) and Charlie Douglass (Brocket Hall) won the team award for England

FINAL TOTALS
Par 222 (3x74) CSS 74 74 76.
216 Nikki Foster (Eng) 73 74 69, Julie Yang (SKor) 71 68 77 (Yang won sudden-death play-off at the first extra hole).
218 Amy Boulden (Wal) 72 74 72.
220 Louise Kenney (Sco) 73 70 77.
223 Holly Clyburn (Eng) 77 72 74.
224 Charlie Douglass (Eng) 82 68 74.
225 Hayley Davis (Eng) 77 76 72, Charlotte Ellis (Eng) 74 77 74, Raphaela Dywer (Eng) 73 76 76, Lauren Taylor (Eng) 73 76 76, Tara Davies (Wal) 73 73 78.
226 Alexandra Peters (Eng) 75 75 76.
227 Jane Turner (Sco) 76 78 73.
228 Aedin Murphy (Ire) 77 75 76.
229 Emma Sheffield (England) 79 77 73, Becky Harries (Wales) 79 72 78, Hannah Barwood (England) 71 77 81.
230 Kelly Tidy (Eng) 73 69 78, Gemma Bradbury (Wal) 78 73 79.
232 Natalie Lowe (Eng) 76 75 81.
233 Charlotte Wild (Eng) 80 75 78.
234 Charley Hull (Eng) 81 75 78, Rachael Watton (Sco) 80 75 79, Emma Goddard (Eng) 76 76 82, Jerry Lawrence (Eng) 77 74 83.
235 Laura Murray (Sco) 81 75 79, Tilly Magill (Eng) 79 77 79.
237 Kate Whitmore (Eng) 78 77 82.
238 Laura Collin (Eng) 83 76 79.
239 Charlotte Austwick (Eng) 75 83 81, Victoria Bradshaw (Ire) 78 76 85.
240 Melissa McMahon (Ire) 79 80 81, Elizabeth Haycock (Eng) 82 75 83.
241 Chloe Williams (Eng) 78 82 81, Hannah Turland (Eng) 77 81 83, Samantha Birks (Wal) 79 79 83.
242 Lauren Blease (Eng) 83 76 83.
243 Lauren Diggle (Wal) 78 80 85.
244 Katherine O'Connor (Wal) 82 80 82.
245 Gillian Monteith (Sco) 81 85 79, Bronwyn Davies (Wal) 82 79 84.
246 Georgia Thomas (Wal) 82 81 83, Myriam Hassan (Wal) 77 84 85.
247 Jenna Birch (Eng) 79 81 87.
248 Lisa Ball (Eng) 83 80 85.
250 Daisy Dyer (Eng) 84 78 88.
251 Karen O'Neill (Ire) 84 80 87.
253 Elizaveta Nikulina 88 85 80.
254 Natasha Gobey (Wal) 89 79 86, Rachel Lewis (Wal) 85 76 93.
255 Laura Watkins (Wal) 84 84 87, Franziska Knies 83 83 89.
259 Chelsea Masters (Eng) 88 89 81.
267 Alice Barnes (Eng) 83 90 94.