ONLY TWO SCOTTISH WINNERS OF 'HELEN HOLM' SINCE 1992
ByCOLINFARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Seventeen of the first 20 winners of the Helen Holm Scottish women's open amateur stroke-play championship - always held at Troon but when it was started in 1973 it was the "Helen Holm Trophy" tournament, outwith the auspices of the SLGA - were Scottish.Now, does this suggest that Scottish women's amateur golf is not as good as it once was? Almost certainly not. More likely that the tournament has grown in stature to become one of the leading stroke-play events in Europe, and it is far more difficult for a Scot to win it now than it was in the 1970s and 1980s.
But if the Scots who won the Women's Home Internationals title at Cardiff last September after earning the bronze medals in the European team championships in Spain can summon up that patriotic inspiration as individuals, then there is nothing to stop one of them stepping up to receive the Helen Holm Trophy at the conclusion of the three-day, 54-hole Scottish women's open amateur stroke-play golf championship at Troon on Sunday.It's all about self-confidence.
As a team, the Scots had it in spades last year.
And individually there were great performances from Bothwell Castle's Pamela Pretswell, winner of the British women's stroke-play title, and Nairn Dunbar's Kelsey MacDonald, winner of the Scottish women's amateur championship and beaten finalist in the British match-play championship at Ganton.
As a team, the Scots had it in spades last year.
And individually there were great performances from Bothwell Castle's Pamela Pretswell, winner of the British women's stroke-play title, and Nairn Dunbar's Kelsey MacDonald, winner of the Scottish women's amateur championship and beaten finalist in the British match-play championship at Ganton.
Pretswell is ranked No 32 and MacDonald No 43 in the Women's World Amateur Rankings. The next Scot at No 190 in the ratings is Louise Kenney (Pitreavie), joint third at Troon last year when a last-round 80 torpedoed the challenge she had mounted with two good scores over the first two days.
Pamela Pretswell, not being a full-time amateur, has had more than golf on her mind over the past few months.
"I have been busy at Glasgow University completing my Business and Management degree," said 21-year-old from Hamilton, who hopes to graduate with honours this summer.
"But I have also managed to spend some time in Portugal preparing for the season. I have made some slight changes to my swing and my putting over the winter so it will be good to test them out at the Helen Holm."
Kelsey MacDonald, 20, underlined her early-season form by winning the British universities' women's stroke-play title by 17 strokes over four rounds at West Lancashire GC last week.
On paper, Pamela, Kelsey and Louise should be the host country's standard-bearers this weekend in an event which is rarely won by an "outsider."
Two rounds over Troon Portland and Sunday's final 18 holes over Royal Troon, contested by the leading 66 players and ties after two rounds, are guaranteed to sort out the wheat from the chaff although it has to be said there is very little "chaff" in this weekend's quality field of 99 players from a total of 11 countries, including Russia and the Czech Republic.
Four have +4 handicaps - the Maguire twins, Pamela Pretswell and Emma Brown, who won the title as Emma Duggleby in 2004 with a tournament record low total of 211, equalled only by Melissa Reid in 2007 when she won it for the second year in a row.
Unusually, there are no French entries because the French Federation rearranged their Under-21 open championship for this weekend! Which was hardly Entente Cordiale or words to that effect!
Ireland has a strong hand in defending champion Danielle McVeigh (Royal County Down Ladies), although astonishingly she is No 631 in the world rankings, and the 16-year-old Maguire twins from the Slieve Russell club.
There have been only two big events on the European women's amateur golf calendar this year and Leona won the "Portuguese" by the runaway margin of 15 shots over 72 holes while Lisa won the "Spanish," which has a match-play format.
Not surprisingly, Leona is world-ranked No 11 and Lisa No 17.
This is not a Curtis Cup year but the Ladies Golf Union selectors will be out in force over the Troon Links. Next month they will be selecting a GB&I team of nine for the Vagliano Trophy match against the Continent of Europe at Royal Porthcawl and a team of five for the Astor Trophy (formerly the Commonwealth Tournament) match-play round-robin team evebt against Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa at Fairhaven GC, Lancashire.
These matches are in successive weeks in mid-June.
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+Pictured above is Helen Holm who was born in Glasgow on March 14, 1907 as Helen Grey. She married a farmer, Andrew Holm.
Helen, a member of Ladies Golf Club, Troon, was five times Scottish amateur champion between 1930 and 1950.
She won the British championship in 1934 and 1938.
She played in the Curtis Cup matches of 1936-1938-1948 but declined further selection after the birth of her son Michael.
Helen Holm died on December 15, 1971 at the age of 64.
Two years later, the golf club decided to honour her memory by instigating the Helen Holm Trophy tournament.
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ALL THE WINNERS OF THE "HELEN HOLM" WITH THEIR TOTALS
+Pictured above is Helen Holm who was born in Glasgow on March 14, 1907 as Helen Grey. She married a farmer, Andrew Holm.
Helen, a member of Ladies Golf Club, Troon, was five times Scottish amateur champion between 1930 and 1950.
She won the British championship in 1934 and 1938.
She played in the Curtis Cup matches of 1936-1938-1948 but declined further selection after the birth of her son Michael.
Helen Holm died on December 15, 1971 at the age of 64.
Two years later, the golf club decided to honour her memory by instigating the Helen Holm Trophy tournament.
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ALL THE WINNERS OF THE "HELEN HOLM" WITH THEIR TOTALS
1973 Belle Robertson 238.
1974 Sandra Needham 236.
1975 Muriel Thomson 235.
1976 Muriel Thomson 233.
1977 Beverley Huke (England) 239.
1978 Wilma Aitken 230.
1978 Belle Robertson 234.
1980 Wilma Aitken 225.
1981 Gillian Stewart 231.
1982 Wilma Aitken 231.
1983 Jane Connachan 228.
1984 Gillian Stewart 217.
1985 Pamela Wright 244.
1986 Belle Robertson 227.
1987 Elaine Farquharson 227.
1988 Alison Gemmill 233.
1989 Sara Robinson (England) 225.
1990 Catriona Lambert 225.
1991 Julie Hall (England) 224.
1992 Mhairi McKay 227.
1993 Julie Hall (England) 224.
1994 Katie Tebbett (England) 223.
1995 Maria Hjorth (Sweden) 219.
1996 Joanne Hockley (England) 219.
1997 Kim Rostron (England) 219.
1998 Karen-Margrethe Juul (Denmark) 225.
1999 Lesley Nicholson 222.
2000 Rebecca Hudson (England) 213.
2001 Fiona Brown (England) 215.
2002 Heather Stirling 215.
2003 Nathalie David (France) 227.
2004 Emma Duggleby (England) 211.
2005 Martina Gillen (Ireland) 215.
2006 Melissa Reid (England) 212.
2007 Melissa Reid (England) 211.
2008 Barbara Genuini (France) 214.
2009 Leona Maguire (Ireland) 218.
2010 Danielle McVeigh (Ireland) 215.
Labels: Amateur Ladies
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