MEGHAN MacLAREN TO JOIN FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL NEXT AUGUST

            MEGHAN MacLAREN ... great season in 2010. Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency.

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY STEWART BURKE, United Sports USA
Following the success of the Ladies European Solheim Cup team last week, a young English girl hopes to keep the European golfing flag flying high.

Meghan MacLaren, 17, has been awarded a golf scholarship which will involve moving to Miami and studying at Florida International University.

There, Meghan will combine representing the women’s golf team with studying towards a four-year Honours Degree course.

Meghan started playing golf at the age of four and was spotted on the driving range at Wexham Park by a county junior organiser from Bucks who took her on board, aged 7. She played in her first English Girls U13 championship aged 10 and 2012 will be her last participation in the English Girls U18 event, giving her nine consecutive years of playing in this event.

In 2010 Meghan, a member of Wellingborough Golf Club, became the English Schools Champion and this seemed to have a spring board affect for the 2011 season. This year Meghan has had top ten finishes in – Scottish women's open amateur stroke-play (9th), English Girls U18 championship (8th), British Ladies open amateur stroke-play championship (3rd). She was also the leading amateur (second place overall) in the pre-qualifying for the Ricoh British Open.

Meghan also represented England in the Girls Home Internationals at Gullane and captained the England Girls Schools Team in their international match vs. Wales.

Together with swing coach Anders Mankert from Cosby Golf Club and her England coach Andy Dunbar from Stratford Oakes, Meghan has established herself as an excellent player on the domestic front and hopes to continue this success when she touches down in the US in August 2012.

“I have known for a long time that I really wanted to move to America to play college golf, but I never dreamed it would actually happen. After speaking with United Sports USA I wanted to go even more,” she said.
“I’ll be living in Miami which has year-round great weather, top-class facilities and superb golf courses, so it should be a very exciting place to live – not to mention being able to play and practise at places like Doral and The Biltmore.
“I will miss some things about home obviously; being away from my family and friends and my beloved Newcastle United will be difficult at times. But despite having offers to go elsewhere, I chose Florida International University because it offered the best fit with my academic ambitions, and I liked the fact the coach really believes in me and is willing to support me in my golfing endeavours and as a person.”
Stewart Burke, Director of Recruitment from United Sports USA, said: “Having completed a golf scholarship and coached in America myself I could tell very early on Meghan had the athletic ability to play at the highest level of college golf in the States.
“We had a tremendous amount of interest in Meghan, which was no surprise as she is one of the hardest working, determined and pleasant young ladies I have had the opportunity to work with. The most important thing from my perspective, however, was making sure that we placed Meghan in the right environment.
"I am satisfied we have achieved that. Florida International is an outstanding university, both athletically and academically, and Miami is a beautiful area in which to live.
“Meghan will play National Collegiate Athletic Association Division One Women’s Collegiate Golf, which is the highest level possible, and we are very confident she will make an immediate impact.”
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If you would be interested in combining your studies at degree level with playing collegiate golf in America, please visit www.unitedsportsusa.com or contact Stewart Burke via stewart@unitedsportsusa.com for more information on the selection process.