By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
It's crunch time for Kelsey MacDonald in Friday morning's quarter-finals of the 98th Scottish women's amateur golf championship over the Tain links in Ross-shire.
Twelve months ago, the Nairn Dunbar player was defending champion when she lost to Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm) in the same round at Machrihanish.
Kelsey's next opponent this week is ... Eilidh Briggs.
It's the pick of the quarter-finals after another cold and wet, sunless day at Tain and both Eilidh and Kelsey played well to win their opening ties in the match-play stages.
The 19-year-old Briggs girl, whose older sister Megan is making headway in the other half of the draw, beat Nichola Ferguson (Milngavie) 6 and 4 and then KOd the 2005 champion, Martine Pow (Selkirk) by 3 and 2.
MacDonald won by 6 and 5 against Royal Dornoch's Scotland senior international Alison Bartlett and then marked up a 4 and 3 win over Samantha Munro (Aberdour) who had earlier beaten Aberdeenshire champion Sheena Wood (Aberdeen Ladies) by 6 and 5.
"I'm playing well, quite steady," said Stirling student Eilidh who is the reigning Scottish Under-18 girls match play champion, a title she won after losing in the final of the Scottish women's championship to Louise Kenney (Pitreavie) who couldnt get time off from her teaching duties to defend the title.
"It was a different direction of wind today. It made the outward half tougher but I still managed to get five up on Martine after 10 holes. I'm looking forward to playing Kelsey again. It should be a great match."
In the other match in the lower half of the draw it's local hope Sammy Vass against the No 2 seed Laura Murray from Alford.
Sammy, home for the summer from college in Florida, won through at the 22nd at around 6.45pm in her match against the rising East Lothian star, 16-year-old Clara Young (North Berwick), a Junior Vagliano Trophy player for GBand I at Royal Porthcawl last June.
Vass could so easily have three-putted to lose on the 18th green because she was some 22 strides away from the hole on the back left of the green in two. But here was a case of where local knowledge is such a big help.
Sammy knew precisely the line and the pace needed for her putt as she rolled it quite close for a half in 4s to take the match into extra holes.
Laura Murray was taken to the 18th green in both her ties, holing a 15ft putt to see off the challenge of Dumfries youngster Rachel Walker and reach the last eight.
"Rachel is quite a prospect. It was a really tight match all the way even though I had four birdies along the way. That's how good a player young Rachel is"
In the top half of the draw it will be top seed Jane Turner (Craigielaw) versus Drumpellier's Susan Wood (a repeat of last year's Machrihanish quarter-final which Jane won), and 2009 champion Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm) against Muckhart's Eilidh Watson.
Wood beat Linsey Stevenson (Elie and Earlsferry Ladies) by one hole in a match between two players who had won 5 and 4 in the morning.
Eilidh Watson, the only P and K county player to make it through to the match-play stages, beat Monifieth's Jemma Chalmers 3 and 1 after being two down at the turn.
Chalmers, the 28th qualifier, had pulled off the shock result of the first-round ties when she beat the No 6 seed Ailsa Summers (Carnoustie Ladies) by one hole. Never easy to play someone from the same county, in this case Angus, in a national tournament and that was possibly part of the problem for Ailsa.
Megan Briggs had some of the best figures of the day with an eagle (at the 11th) and three or four birdies as she won by 5 and 4 against new Northern Counties champion Hannah McCook (Grantown on Spey).
Four down after seven, Hannah had a tiger by the tail - "She holed a lot of good putts and there wasn't much I could do about that," said McCook ruefully.
Last year Megan Briggs lost to sister Eilidh in the semi-finals. This year they are in opposite halves of the draw and might well meet in Saturday morning's final. Its a possibility but they will have to beat some in-form players for that to happen.
At the moment, there is no clearcut title favourite although I would expect one to emerge after Friday's matches which would pull out big galleries - if only the weather would improve to something like you would expect in mid-May, not mid-March.
Jane Turner is getting away with playing poorly - by her standards - in the opening holes before she gets into her stride. The Robert Gordon University student was three down after five holes to Claire Hargan (Cardross), a former international who organised this championship as an SLGA staff member over the last two or three years.
But Turner turns the heat on her opponents after the turn. She won the 10th, 12th, 13th, halved the 14th and 15th in birdies and then birdied the 17th for a 2 and 1 win.
The short 17th - which the ladies play as a par-4 - is supposed to be one of course designer Old Tom Morris's best short holes on any of his lay-outs.
Jane Turner wishes she could wrap it up and take it around with her because she has had one eagle 2 there and the rest birdie 3s.
Jane did pay credit to her opponent Hargan who did not have much time off to play competitive golf while she worked for the SLGA.
"There were a lot of birdies between us in the match and I think we were both under par at the finish," said Jane.
+Although Sammy Vass of Tain got through at the fourth extra hole in the championship, her two golfing aunts - both Scotland senior caps - Anne Ryan and Mary Smith lost their Clark Rosebowl quarter-final ties in "extra time." Anne lost at the 20th to Carole Whyte, Mary lost at the 20th to Lauren Whyte (no relation).
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FLASHBACK TO LAST YEAR'S QUARTER-FINALS AT MACHRIHANISH
Eilidh Briggs bt Kelsey MacDonald
Megan Briggs bt Alyson McKechin
Jane Turner bt Susan Wood
Louise Kenney bt Rachel Watton
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