LIZZIE PRIOR LEADS ENGLISH U15 GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP
NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH WOMEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION
Surrey’s Lizzie Prior shot a sparkling two-under par 70 to head a packed leaderboard after the first round of the English girls’ U15 championship at Mentmore, Buckinghamshire.
She’s being chased by five players who are all on one-under par: Sana Tufail of Surrey, Gabriella Cowley of Essex, Lianna Bailey of Nottinghamshire, Emily Royer of Kent and Holly Morgan of Yorkshire.
Buckinghamshire girls’ champion Annabel Dimmock and Hampshire’s Emma Allen are one stroke behind and another trio are poised just a shot further back. They are Kyra Horlock and Sophie Keech, who both belong to Dorset clubs, and Bethany Acey of Yorkshire.
Lizzie, 13, had much to celebrate with her two-under score. “It’s my best-ever score and my first round under par,” she said as she calculated that her six handicap will drop to four.
Thanks to good driving and accurate putting she put together an excellent card with four birdies, 13 pars and just one double bogey where she went out of bounds. Earlier this season Lizzie won her age group at the US Kids Golf European Championship in Scotland.
Sana Tufail, 14, who lives in Abu Dhabi and spends her summers in England, also shot the low score of her career with her one-under 71 – bettering a level par round earlier this season in which she scored 18 consecutive pars. “It was an up and down round because I had two bogeys and a double – but I had five birdies as well so that was all right.”
She was quickly followed in by Gabriella Cowley of Essex who is on red-hot form. The 15-year-old was fresh from the Porters Park Centenary Cup which she won, helped by a score of six-under par which equalled the course record. Today she dipped below par again with her 71. She matched birdies and bogeys throughout the early part of her round but sealed her score with a fourth birdie on the 17th.
Nottinghamshire girls’ champion Lianna Bailey, 14, played a superb inward half of four-under par 32, which included five of her seven birdies. She found it took time to get used to the greens and three-putted four times before her round sprang to life on the 10th.
“On the back nine I was hitting it closer and had shorter putts!” she said. Lianna is also the Midlands schools champion and has been selected for the annual schools’ international against Scotland. Emily Royer, 15, of Kent has been busy with GCSEs and has played little golf outside her club recently – but her game was tip-top. She was out in one-under par, home in level and had only three bogeys. “I was hoping to play well but I wasn’t expecting anything like this.”
Holly Morgan, 14, produced her best score with her 71, which included five birdies. She said: “I made some good recovery putts to keep my score going and I chipped well.”
Buckinghamshire girls’ champion Annabel Dimmock, 14, enjoyed the local support as she played her way to a level par 72. “I’m pleased, I had some birdies and some mistakes but overall it was a good round,” she said. Annabel has been playing in these events since she was 11.
Yorkshire’s Bethany Acey set the early pace with a one-over par 73 which delighted the 14-year-old. “My aim was to try to play level to my handicap, which is seven. I’m over the moon – but there’s still tomorrow.” Bethany, has been in great form coming into this event and recently set a course record.
The shot of the day was played by Hannah Stradling of Upavon, Wiltshire, who scored her first hole-in-one on the 135-yard 12th, where she used a seven iron. “I thought it was a nice shot but I couldn’t see it finish and I looked all round the green before I found it in the cup,” she said. Hannah has been playing for two years and is down to 12 handicap.
After tomorrow’s round the field will be cut to the top 36 qualifiers and tied who will go forward to the final 36 holes on Thursday.
Click here for full scores
Lyndsey Hewison
EWGA
Press and PR Officer
Surrey’s Lizzie Prior shot a sparkling two-under par 70 to head a packed leaderboard after the first round of the English girls’ U15 championship at Mentmore, Buckinghamshire.
She’s being chased by five players who are all on one-under par: Sana Tufail of Surrey, Gabriella Cowley of Essex, Lianna Bailey of Nottinghamshire, Emily Royer of Kent and Holly Morgan of Yorkshire.
Buckinghamshire girls’ champion Annabel Dimmock and Hampshire’s Emma Allen are one stroke behind and another trio are poised just a shot further back. They are Kyra Horlock and Sophie Keech, who both belong to Dorset clubs, and Bethany Acey of Yorkshire.
Lizzie, 13, had much to celebrate with her two-under score. “It’s my best-ever score and my first round under par,” she said as she calculated that her six handicap will drop to four.
Thanks to good driving and accurate putting she put together an excellent card with four birdies, 13 pars and just one double bogey where she went out of bounds. Earlier this season Lizzie won her age group at the US Kids Golf European Championship in Scotland.
Sana Tufail, 14, who lives in Abu Dhabi and spends her summers in England, also shot the low score of her career with her one-under 71 – bettering a level par round earlier this season in which she scored 18 consecutive pars. “It was an up and down round because I had two bogeys and a double – but I had five birdies as well so that was all right.”
She was quickly followed in by Gabriella Cowley of Essex who is on red-hot form. The 15-year-old was fresh from the Porters Park Centenary Cup which she won, helped by a score of six-under par which equalled the course record. Today she dipped below par again with her 71. She matched birdies and bogeys throughout the early part of her round but sealed her score with a fourth birdie on the 17th.
Nottinghamshire girls’ champion Lianna Bailey, 14, played a superb inward half of four-under par 32, which included five of her seven birdies. She found it took time to get used to the greens and three-putted four times before her round sprang to life on the 10th.
“On the back nine I was hitting it closer and had shorter putts!” she said. Lianna is also the Midlands schools champion and has been selected for the annual schools’ international against Scotland. Emily Royer, 15, of Kent has been busy with GCSEs and has played little golf outside her club recently – but her game was tip-top. She was out in one-under par, home in level and had only three bogeys. “I was hoping to play well but I wasn’t expecting anything like this.”
Holly Morgan, 14, produced her best score with her 71, which included five birdies. She said: “I made some good recovery putts to keep my score going and I chipped well.”
Buckinghamshire girls’ champion Annabel Dimmock, 14, enjoyed the local support as she played her way to a level par 72. “I’m pleased, I had some birdies and some mistakes but overall it was a good round,” she said. Annabel has been playing in these events since she was 11.
Yorkshire’s Bethany Acey set the early pace with a one-over par 73 which delighted the 14-year-old. “My aim was to try to play level to my handicap, which is seven. I’m over the moon – but there’s still tomorrow.” Bethany, has been in great form coming into this event and recently set a course record.
The shot of the day was played by Hannah Stradling of Upavon, Wiltshire, who scored her first hole-in-one on the 135-yard 12th, where she used a seven iron. “I thought it was a nice shot but I couldn’t see it finish and I looked all round the green before I found it in the cup,” she said. Hannah has been playing for two years and is down to 12 handicap.
After tomorrow’s round the field will be cut to the top 36 qualifiers and tied who will go forward to the final 36 holes on Thursday.
Click here for full scores
Lyndsey Hewison
EWGA
Press and PR Officer
Labels: Girls
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