CHARLEY HULL WINS HARDER HALL INVITATIONAL BY TWO SHOTS

Charley Hull, Tournament Chairman Carol Semple Thompson, and runner-up Airya Jutunugarn after the prizegiving at Harder Hall Country Club.


By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Kettering-based Charley Hull, No 10 in the Women's World Amateur Rankings, is off and running for what promises to be another wonderful season for the 15-year-old Woburn GC member.
Starting the final round of the Harder Hall Women's Invitational two shots behind 16-year-old, World No 8 Ariya Jutanugarn from Bangkok), Charley, as we have come to expect, rose to the occasion with a closing round of three-under-par 69 which took her past Ariya down the home straight and on to a two-shot victory with a six-under-par total of 282 - and that over a Sebring, Florida course which had been toughened up since last year with the addition of quite a few bunkers.
The "Harder Hall" was started in 1956 and the winners' roll is studded with names of girls who have gone on to win fame and fortune - but it is believed that Charley Hull is the youngest ever winner. She will have her 16th birthday on March 20. She is certainly the first winner to hail from Europe.
Charley's earlier rounds were 70, 74 and 69.
Ariya Jutanugarn had rounds of 72, 72, 67 and 73 for 284.
The only other player to finish under the four-round par of 288 was Ariya's older sister, Moriya, 17, who came third on 285 with scores of 75, 71, 68 and 71.
Perrine Delacour, the Parisienne who finished second in the Junior Orange Bowl girls' championship, also in Florida, at the start of the year and won the British girls' open amateur title at West Lancs GC in 2010, finished third on 289 with rounds of 76, 74, 70 and 69.
Hull, winner of the last match-play event on the 2011 Orange Blossom Tour before she went on to win the Welsh and English women's amateur stroke-play titles and be beaten in the English women's match-play final, can be considered a certainty to be chosen for the GB and I team of eight for the Curtis Cup match against the Americans at Nairn GC from June 8-10.
She played for GB and I in the Junior Vagliano Trophy match at Royal Porthcawl last June but this will be her first full GB and I cap.
A Curtis Cup preliminary squad - to be named after the Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying School this month - will gather at Nairn from March 23-25 to work out under observation from the LGU selectors who will sit down to chose the team of eight on March 26.
One of the "perks" of Charley Hull's Harder Hall victory is a place in the field for the LPGA Futures (now Symetra) Tour event, the Florida National Charity Classic during the week of March 19-25. Charley obviously cannot be in two places at once and a Curtis Cup squad selection trial is rather more important in terms of her immediate future than a competition on the LPGA's No 2 circuit in Florida.
Woodhall Spa's Holly Clyburn, who played in the 2010 Curtis Cup match and finished fourth in last week's Dixie Women's Amateur, is another whose name will be top of the list when the LGU selectors meet at Nairn in March to name the eight players who will be given the task of trying to end GB and I's run of Curtis Cup defeats since Killarney in 1996.
Holly tied for fifth place in the "Harder Hall" wi9th scores of 73, 76, 74 and 72 for seven-over 295.
Kelsey MacDonald fared worst of the three GB and I Curtis Cup team contenders in the Harder Hall Invitational.
The 21-year-old Stirling student and Nairn Dunbar GC member finished a disappointing 31st on 23-over-par 311 - 29 shots behind Charley Hull and 16 behind Holly Clyburn.
Kelsey had started brightly enough to be in joint seventh place with a first-round 75 but she gradually slipped down the field with subsequent rounds of 81, 75 and 80.
The tournament probably came just a bit early for MacDonald. Hull had been warming up in Majorca while Clyburn finished fourth in last week's Dixie Women's Amateur elsewhere in Florida.
Kelsey usually steps up the pace in the second event of the Florida circuit, the South Atlantic Ladies championship (known as the "Sally") over four rounds, starting at Oceanside Country Club on Tuesday (January 10).
MacDonald still outshone the rest of her Stirling team-mates at Harder Hall.
Rebecca Wilson (Grange, Monfieith) finished on 327 (84-81-79-83), Scottish girls' match-play champion Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm) 328 (82-82-83-81), Harriet Beasley (Woburn) 335 (81-86-83-85), Jordana Graham (Southerness) 335 (89-80-83-83) and Mhairi McKay (West Kilbride) 371 (97-89-92-83).

+SCROLL DOWN PAST THE FINAL TOTALS TO READ ON-THE-SPOT GOLFWEEK STAFF WRITER JULIE WILLIAMS' REPORT

HARDER HALL COUNTRY CLUB, SEBRING, FLORIDA
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72). Yardage 6151

1 Hull, Charley ENGLAND 70 74 69 69 282
2 Jutanugarn, Ariya THAILAND 72 72 67 73 284
3 Jutanugarn, Moriya THAILAND 75 71 68 71 285
4 Delacour, Perrine FRANCE 76 74 70 69 289
T5 Clyburn, Holly ENGLAND 73 76 74 72 295
T5 Roig, Kyle PEMBROKE PINES, FL 72 72 75 76 295
T7 Boineau, Isabelle TUCSON, AZ 75 73 69 80 297
T7 Stasi, Meghan OAKLAND PARK, FL 76 72 78 71 297
T9 Boutier, Celine FRANCE 79 73 75 71 298
T9 Merkle, Kristina HONOLULU, HI 76 78 74 70 298
11 Lucas, Nora CHICAGO, IL 78 76 77 68 299
T12 Albrecht, Ashleigh MURRIETA, CA 78 74 76 72 300
T12 Savich, Milena CARMEL, IN 76 76 74 74 300
14 Johnson, Betsie NICHOLASVILLE, KY 76 77 76 72 301
15 Swanson, Meredith ROANOKE, VA 74 81 72 75 302
16 Rosen, Portland SUGAR LAND, TX 74 77 75 78 304
T17 Hancock, Anna LAKELAND, FL 78 75 79 73 305
T17 Plasencia, Regina MEXICO 77 74 79 75 305
T19 Bonetti, Alexandra FRANCE 80 75 79 72 306
T19 Feng, Simin ORLANDO, FL 77 76 74 79 306
T19 Smith, Rachel MANSFIELD, TX 78 76 76 76 306
22 Gotcher, Samantha CLARKSVILLE, TN 77 79 77 75 308
T23 Audette, Melanie LAKELAND, FL 79 74 75 81 309
T23 Scarpetta, Kate MOOSIC, PA 76 79 80 74 309
T23 Dulman, Annie PALM BEACH GARDENS 76 78 78 77 309
T23 McPherson, Lindsey FLUSHING, MI 75 79 81 74 309
T27 Mitchell, Katie FERNANDINA BEACH, 77 80 78 75 310
T27 Rengifo, Ana Maria COLUMBIA 77 82 76 75 310
T27 Steinhagen, Amanda OAK HILL, VA 79 76 79 76 310
T27 Stewart, Alex CARSON CITY, NV 76 81 74 79 310
31 Macdonald, Kelsey SCOTLAND 75 81 75 80 311

SELECTED TOTALS
Hally Leadbetter ENGLAND 76 86 74 85 321
India Clyburn ENGLAND 78 82 81 81 322
Rebecca Wilson SCOTLAND 84 81 79 83 327
Eilidh Briggs SCOTLAND 82 82 83 81 328
Jordana Graham SCOTLAND 89 80 83 83 335
Harriet Beasley ENGLAND 81 86 83 85 335
Carol Semple Thompson US 83 84 88 83 338
Mhairi McKay SCOTLAND 97 89 92 93 371

I'm a different player this year, says Charley Hull

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By Julie Williams
SEBRING, Florida - Charley Hull is a mess of wavy, white-blond hair when she hits a golf ball. The swing is surprisingly aggressive in tempo for a 15-year-old who could pass for 12. Hull won the Harder Hall Women's Invitational on Saturday for her second career title on the Florida Orange Blossom Circuit.
She shot a final-round 69 at Harder Hall Country Club and finished at 6-under 282. Hull, who plays out of Woburn Golf Club in England, didn’t come with quite the shock factor at this year’s winter amateur circuit. She was runner-up at last year’s South Atlantic Amateur, then won the next event, the Ione D. Jones/Doherty Amateur.
This year, the affable blonde seemed more comfortable in front of a crowd, making fun of her own English accent and flubbed pronunciation of the course superintendent’s surname during her post-round speech. She calls herself a different player than a year ago.
“I concentrate more,” she said. “I’ve gained more experience. I understand the game more.”
The Harder Hall is known for its somewhat unpredictable weather, and it’s not uncommon for temperatures to dip into the 30s and 40s throughout the tournament’s four rounds. Even though Saturday’s final round couldn’t have been more pleasant, Hull’s competitors seemed to lose steam down the stretch.
She began the day trailing Ariya Jutanugarn by two shots, but ended up winning by two as Jutanugarn followed a third-round 67 with a final-round 73 to finish at 4 under.
“I kind of like (coming from behind) because I sort of play more, not aggressive, but on the back nine I play better,” Hull said. “I think I was three behind when I won the English (Amateur Stroke Play), and I won it by four. It proves a pretty good point.”
Hull turned in even-par 36 and was tied with Jutanugarn heading to the back nine. Hull dropped a 25-footer at No. 12 for an improbable par after being plugged in a bunker.
“I was happy I got it out,” Hull said. Hull nearly made birdie at 13, and birdies at the next two holes gave her a two-shot lead on Jutanugarn.
Hull joins an impressive list of past champions at the Harder Hall.
“I’m just honoured," she said.
After last year’s Orange Blossom Circuit, Hull didn’t appear Stateside again until the Spirit International Amateur in November, an international team competition played at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas. She and compatriot Lauren Taylor tied for fifth in the women’s division.
This year, Hull hopes to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open and the U.S. Women’s Amateur. It’s a Curtis Cup year, and Hull is keeping her fingers crossed for a spot on that team. The Great Britain and Ireland squad would be lucky to have her.
Hull is home-schooled, but says she is in her senior year. She quickly turns up her nose when asked about college, so it seems there’s lots of golf in her immediate future.
The same can be said for Ariya, 16, and her older sister Moriya, 17, though their plans for the future - college or the pros - remain a mystery. The sisters from Bangkok, Thailand, are playing the Orange Blossom Circuit for the first time this year after older half-brother Sussmon Jutanukal, who helps them assemble their summer tournament schedule, found the tournaments online. Moriya finished runner-up at the Dixie Women’s Amateur last weekend, and they’ll both play this coming week’s South Atlantic Amateur in Ormond Beach. Playing together in the final group, the Jutanugarns were nearly identical in talent and appearance.
Note that Ariya is a little taller, Moriya is a little longer off the tee. Moriya could have been a factor at the end of the round but for a double bogey at the par-3 16th. She eagled No. 17 and birdied No. 18 to finish third, one shot behind her sister.
“I finished strong today. I’m really happy with the last two holes,” she said. “I just found my swing.”
The Jutanugarns barely spent any time at home over the holidays, returning to Bangkok after the AJGA’s Polo Golf Junior Classic for just a bit of rest before starting the new year in Florida.
Both hope to play in the LPGA Thailand this spring and also hope for another sponsor exemption into the LPGA’s first major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
So when do the Jutanugarns find a permanent landing spot in the U.S.? That question is met only with sheepish grins. Thailand still is their home.