Kelsey McDonald (left) with the championship trophy for the third year in a row and (right0 Eilidh Briggs with the Menzies Cup as the leading Under-18 years competitor. Images by courtesy of Claire Hargan of the SLGA.

THREE UNDER-21 TITLES IN A ROW FOR KELSEY

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Stirling University student Kelsey MacDonald finished top of the class for the third year in a row in the Scottish Under-21 girls open amateur stroke-play golf championship at Dunfermline Golf Club today.
The 19-year-old Scottish women’s champion from the Nairn Dunbar club signed off in champion style with a two-under-par 70, the joint lowest round of the tournament, for a one-over-par total of 217.
That gave her a four-stroke winning margin from last year’s Scottish women’s champion, Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm) (72-271) with Gillian Monteith (Portpatrick Dunskey) giving her best performance in a national tournament to finish third on 272, also closing with a 72.
Macdonald is the first player since Kathryn Imrie in 1985-86-87 to complete a hat-trick of wins in this event and she is still young enough to have a tilt at Suzanne Cadden’s four-time record, set between 1974 and 1977.
The older she gets the easier it gets for Kelsey. She was Under-21 champion for the first time by a single shot from Pamela Pretswell in 2008. Last year, over her home Nairn Dunbar course, she had to beat England’s Lucy Williams in a play-off to make it two in a row.
This week, front-running Kelsey made every post a winning one  to follow up her victories in the Scottish women’s championship  at Craigielaw in May and the RandA Bursars' Tournament at St Andrews before reaching the final of the British women’s open amateur championship at Ganton in June.
If the 2010 Curtis Cup match was later this year and the team had to be picked this weekend, there is no question that MacDonald would be in it. I think she has more than made her point about not being selected in April for the match in June.
Kelsey achieved her closing two-under-par 70, despite a double bogey 6 at the 14th and another shot droped at the 16th. She birdied the long third, the sixth and the long seventh in reaching the turn in three-under-par 33 and got to four under the card with a birdie at the 12th. After her three shots scattered over three holes, she birdied the long 17th.
Megan Briggs had a little bit of everything in her round - an eagle 3 at the long 15th, birdies at the long seventh, 11th, long 17th and long 18th and then, on the downside, a double bogey 5 at the short 16th and other bogeys at the fourth, eighth, 10th and 14th in halves of 36.
Gillian Monteith's 72 had birdies at the long seventh and long eighth cancelling out bogeys at the 123th and 14th in halves of 34 and 38.
Eilidh Briggs, the Renfrewshire champion and the younger of the talented sisters, finished fourth with a 77 for 225 and won the Menzies Cup for the best performance over the three rounds by an Under-18 year old.
Rachael Watton (Mortonhall) recovered from a bad start to finish fifth on 226, a shot ahead of the leading English challenger, Charlotte Austwick from the York club, Pike Hills.
Charlotte and Kelsey shared the honour of producing the lowest rounds of the three days - two-under-par 70s - at the last time of asking.
The Yorkshire girl finished 10 shots behind winner MacDonald, not a bad performance when you realise she had two triple bogeys and three double bogeys over the 54 holes. After her last double bogey, a 6 at the fourth today, Charlotte birdied the short fifth, the long seventh, the short ninth, the 13th and the short 16th.
Lauren Whyte (St Regulus) won the award for the best total by an Under-15 years player and Sophie Alexander (Deeside) had the best net aggregate.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72). CSS 74 74
217 Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar) 72 75 70.
221 Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm) 77 72 72.
222 Gillian Monteith (Portpatrick Dunskey) 78 72 72.
225 Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm) 76 72 77.
226 Rachael Watton (Mortonhall) 82 71 73.
227 Charlotte Austwick (Pike Hills) 79 78 70.
230 Alyson McKechin (Elderslie) 80 74 76.
231 Rachael Taylor (Hartl Golf Resort, Germany) 79 76 76, Nicola Rawlinson (Royal Birkdale) 78 77 76.
232 Rebecca Wilson (Grange) 76 78 78.
233 Ailsa Bain (Peebles) 76 76 81.
234 Hannah McCook (Abernethy) 78 73 83, Rachael Goodall (Heswall) 79 76 79, Emma Clegg (Clitheroe) 74 84 76.
235 Lucie Walker (Ormskirk) 75 78 82.
236 Jill Meldrum (Dullatur) 76 81 79.
237 Natasha Qayum (Ranfurly Castle) 78 84 75, Lauren Whyte (St Regulus) 79 80 78, Sammy Leslie (Westhill) 78 80 79, Sophie Alexander (Deeside) 78 79 80.
238 Rachel Hanlon (St Regulus) 81 79 78, Jacqueline Sneddon (Alyth) 76 83 79.
239 Alison Goodwin (Glenbervie) 86 78 75, Lesley Atkins (Gullane Ladies) 76 83 80.
241 Clara Young (North Berwick) 79 86 76, Louise Macgregor (Falkirk) 79 84 78, Gillian Scanlan (Hamilton) 77 82 82, Rachel Polson (Peterculter) 82 77 82, Gabrielle MacDonald (Craigielaw) 79 78 84.
242 Eve Muirhead (Pitlochry) 84 80 78, Connie Jaffrey (Troon Ladies) 82 81 79, Nicola Taylor (Walton Heath) 86 76 80.
243 Keren Ward (Glen) 82 80 81.
244 Jordana Graham (Southerness) 80 79 85.
245 Nicola Ferguson (Clober) 79 87 79.
246 Eilidh Watson (Muckhart) 87 80 79, Tara MacTaggart (Minto) 80 84 82, Sammy Vass (Tain) 84 79 83.
247 Rachael McQueen (Troon Ladies) 85 80 82.
248 Linsey Stevenson (Elie and Earlsferry) 85 82 81, Linzi Allan (West Kilbride) 83 83 82, Eilidh Mackay (Nairn Dunbar) 82 83 83.
249 Jenna Birch (Royal Lytham) 85 87 87, Hannah Scott (Broomieknowe) 81 78 90.
251 Gillian Simpson (Murrayfield) 92 81 78, Shannen McGuire (Canmore) 82 86 83.
252 Alice Boothroyd (Rudding Park) 79 94 79, Louise McGillivray (Banchory 88 84 80, Katie Reid (Monifieth) 83 82 87.
253 Nicola Taylor (Dunnikier Park) 86 83 84, Heather Munro (Monifieth) 84 83 8i6, Samantha Munro (Aberdour) 78 89 86.
254 Mhairi McKay (West Kilbride) 88 80 86.
255 Megan Clyne (Deeside) 86 90 79, Gail Wilson (Grange) 87 88 80, Jorden Ferrie (Kirkintilloch) 89 85 81, Emily Aird (Blairgowrie) 82 88 85, Kimberley Beveridge (Aboyne) 88 82 85.
256 Eleanor Tunn (Reay) 88 83 85.
257 Amelia Taylor (St Annes Old Links) 80 89 88.
258 Kate McIntosh (Broomieknowe) 78 92 88.
260 Tegan Seivwright (Deeside) 80 95 85, Kelly McNulty (Whitley Bay) 89 85 86.
263 Nicola Robertson (Dunblane New) 93 89 81.
264 Hannah Robb (Strathmore) 87 93 84, Alexis Hutton (Falkirk Tryst) 89 87 88.
265 Ashley Ann Alston (Royal Montrose) 87 95 83, Gillian Arnott (Kilbirnie Place) 85 92 88.
266 Kirstin Scott (Milngavie) 94 88 84.
268 Jemma Chalmers (Monifieth) 94 91 84.
276 Catherine Small (Craigielaw) 98 90 88.
277 Julie Vass (Tain) 92 100 85.
285 Megan Brown ( Dunfermline) 94 100 91.
287 Annabel Niven (Crieff) 92 95 100.
302 Alexandra Qayum (Ranfurly Castle) 100 101 101.