CHARLEY HULL'S PAR START PUTS HER SECOND IN "THE SALLY"

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
It would take an Act of Parliament - Scotland's or the UK one - to keep 15-year-old Charley Hull out of the GB and I Curtis Cup team for Nairn, considering the way she is playing on the Orange Blossom Tour in Florida.
Last week she finished like a thoroughbred to take a winnng lead over the last round of the Harder Hall Invitational (having won the match-play championship in her closing event of the 2011 Florida Tour).
On now to the second event - "The Sally" (short for South Atlantic Ladies Amateur Championship) - at Oceanside Country Club, Ormond Beach and the Kettering kid, who is a member of the posh Woburn Golf Club, is lying second after the first 18 holes.
OK, so Charley, who finished second behind Jaye Marie Green in this event last year, is five shots behind Ariya Juntanugarn, pictured above, the Bangkok 16-year-old she pushed down into second place in the "Harder Hall" but I bet Miss Hull is full of confidence that she can rein her in before the finish of this 72-hole tournament.
Juntanugarn has set a cracking pace with a five-under-par 67, the only player in the big field to get under par, thanks to birdies at the long sixth, short ninth, the 10th, with an eagle 3 squeezed in at the 12th, before reverting to birdies at the 13th and short 16th.
After a par at the 17th, Ariya stood on the 18th tee standing seven under par.
Where a double bogey 6 came from, goodness knowd - but there were several players who did the same at the closing hole, including Stirling students Rebecca Wilson (Grange, Monifieth) and Harriet Beasley (Woburn) - but dropped her back to a five-under-par first round score of 67.
Charley Hull matched the par of 72 with a flawless first half and a birdie-less second half. She birdied the long sixth, the long seventh and the eighth to turn in three-under 33. That was as good as it got for her. She bogeyed the 13th, 15th and short 16th for three-over 39 on the homeward journey.
Former US mid-amateur champion more than once, Florida-based Meghan Stasi, a past Curtis Cup player when her maiden name was Bolger and beaten semi-finalist by Kelsey MacDonald in the British women's open amateur championship at Ganton a couple of years ago, is in third place on 73 but, like leader Ariya, she will be rueing her finish.
Meghan was three under par after 12 holes with birdies at the second, long sixth and long 12th. Then came four bogeys in five holes - at the short 14th, 15th, 16th and 18th for 39 home.
Scottish girls match-play champion and Stirling student Eilidh Briggs had an encouraging 75 for joint seventh overnight. But she too fell victim to the testing Oceanside finishing holes. She birdied the long seventh and 12th but dropped shots at the eighth, 10th, long 12th, short 14th and 18th for 39 home.
Also on 75 is Holly Clyburn (Woodhall Spa), a Curtis Cupper in 2010 and pretty certain to get the nod again from the GB and I selectors for the June 8-10 encounter with the Americans. Holly had an uncharacteristic two double bogey 6s - at the third and 13th - on her card and she too dropped a late shot at the short par 16th.
But birdies at the second, long sixth and long seventh kept her in the top 10.
Rebecca Wilson is sharing 20th place after a birdie-less 79 which included that double bogey 6 at the 18th.
Harriet Beasley had an 80, also with a 6 at the last after shots dropped at the short 14th and long 17th. One birdie on the Stirling student's card - at the 13th.
Jordana Graham from Southerness also marked up an 80 with a double bogey 7 at the long 12th, seven bogeys and one birdie, at the third.
GB and I cap Kelsey MacDonald has not yet got up a full head of steam on this year's Orange Blossom Tour. The first round cost her 82 blows after a demoralising start with a double bogey 6 at the first. After a partial recovery with birdies at the long sixth and long 12th, Kelsey fell foul on the hazardous closing holes - bogey at short 14th, triple bogey 7 at the short 16th, double bogey  7 at the long 17th and a bogey at the 18th.
The Nairn Dunbar player dropped seven shots in all to par over the last three holes, taking 38 to reach the turn and 44 to get back to the clubhouse. What you might call the tourist route?
Roehampton Gold Cup holder Rachel Drummond (Beaconsfield) had a birdie-less 83 with a double bogey 7 at the long sixth in halves of 43-40.
Mhairi McKay (West Kilbride) had halves of 44-46 for a 90 which included a quadruple bogey 9 at the 12th after double bogeys at the short fourth, long sixth, 10th and 11th.

+Thanks for all the offers of help after Kirkwoodgolf couldn't get access to The Sally website for the scores. Turns out it was a browser problem. Internet 7 couldn't get past first base with the club website. It took a switch to Mozilla Firefox for normal service to be resumed.