RICOH EXTEND BRITISH WOMEN'S OPEN SPONSORSHIP

Paula Creamer and Shona Malcolm, the LGU Chief Executive, at the Hoylake Media Centre today for the sponsorship extension announcement. FROM COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com Ricoh announced at Hoylake today that they are to extend their sponsorship of the Women's British Open until "at least the 2016 championship." The Japanese global technology and document services giant first sponsored the event in 2007 when it was held over the Old Course, St Andrews which will also be the venue next year The Ladies Golf Union and IMG are committed to taking what is now a Major event on the women's pro golf calendar, to the links courses on the men's Open roster.                 CATRIONA MATTHEW at Hoylake Media Centre                                  Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH ... Most of the players are expecting the scoring to be high in the Ricoh Women's British Open championship which tees off tomorrow (Thursday) if the weather is as bad at the end of the week as it has been so far at Hoylake. Torrential showers continue to soften up the links but it is the wind factor that has smne of the players "running scared." Laura Davies is predicting that the winning aggregate could even be as high as eight-over-par. Catriona Matthew, winner of the title three years ago, said: "I would say that keeping your ball out of the rough will be one of the key factors. Keeping it out of the bunkers, also. The roough here is like every other course in Britain this summer, really thick, because we have had a lot of rain. "So staying out of the rough is essential and I think trying to avoid double bogeys. Everybody is doing to hit bac shots and it's how well you can get back into play, tryng to give yourself at least a putt for par of a bogey at worst. "All of the holes really ara challenge. I think a lot will depend on which play the wind blows. You've really got to take advantage of the downwind holes. Yesterday (at the pro-am) that was the 16th and 18th, they were par-5s reachable in two shots. "But, on the other hand, I could hit the 17th - which is a par-4 - in two shots in the pro-am. When it as windy as it has been, the par of the hole is sometimes irrelevant. You've just to to try to get it on the green in as few shots as you can.   "I've worked hard on my swing the last two or three years, just trying to get my ball-striking a little bit more consistent. If I hit a bad shot, hopefully I know why I did it and can correct it more quickly than I used to be able to. And I've been working on my short game and putting. You're not going to hit it perfectly every day, so it's just getting it up and down on the days you are maybe not hitting it as well, and grinding out a decent score. "My husband (Graeme) has caddied for me now for probably 16 years. Now our eldest daughter is starting school, he's probably not going to do it all the time, probably 60 per cent of the time and I will get a different caddie for the other tournaments. We'll just play it by ear and see how it works out. "Having Graeme as my caddie over the years has worked out well for us. It's not for everyone but it's had its moments and on the whole it's worked out pretty well."                   LAURA DAVIES at the Hoylake Media Centre BIG LAURA IS GOING TO BE AGGRESSIVE Big-hitting Laura Davies is prepared to "do-or-die" in her bid to the title. "Joe (her caddie) and I we have decided to take a bold approach to it, because with all of the caddies the chat is you have to lay up before the bunkers to be sensible," said Laura. "You're going to be in some rough because the fairways are so tight, so we are going to be finishing further down, still in the rough, but nearer the greens. We might go down in fames but we'll certainly have a go at it because this course will overpower you quickly if you're not careful. "If you start getting defensive on a hard course in hard conditions, you've got no chance. So we are going to try to be a bit more aggressive and stay ahead. All the holes are incredibly difficult. I mean, 16 downwind is easy but if the wind changes, it will be really difficult. Just depends on which direction the wind is coming from. "But certainly I would say No 3 is a monster. That's just one of the toughest holes you'll ever play. (Hole) 17 could be a par 5 for us if they really wanted to. (Hole) 18 is a very disappointing hole because we are playing it so long but every hole is potentially, you know, trouble. But all the holes are fantastic. There's not one bad hole out there.                      CARLY BOOTH at the Hoylake Media Centre  CARLY'S FORTUNES CHANGED  WHEN SHE DECIDED         TO GO OUT AND ENJOY THE GAME AGAIN Carly Booth, 20-year-old winner of three events this season - two on the Ladies European Tour and one on the LETAS development al circuit, admitted on her visit to the Media Centre that her first two years on the LET "were a little bit of a struggle." The Comrie lass said: "I think just finding my feet was difficult on my first year on tour. I was still in school so it was hard to try to do both. "Last year I was just purely focusing on the tour and, yes, I did struggle. I missed my first six cuts and I think my confidence went right down from there. "So then I started playing a little bit better towards the end of the year and then went back to Tour School and missed out in a play-off. But this year I changed my approach. My main focus has been to try and enjoy my golf again. I had been trying too hard but when I kind of relaxed at tournaments, it all started to come together for me. I won three events and now I'm leading the LET Order of Merit. "Turning pro after having some success as an amateur turned out to be a lot harder than I anticipated. My expectations - and maybe that of a lot of other people - were higher than they should have been. "Can I win the first Major I've ever played in this week? I am certainly going to try so my fingers are crossed." ELAINE IS A DAY-TRIPPER TO LIVERPOOL VENUE Elaine Farquharson-Black, the Aberdeen solicitor who has been appointed captain of the GB and I Under-16s team for next June's Junior Vagliano Trophy match against the Continent of Europe at Chantilly, France, was a day-tripper at Hoylake today. She had a planning meeting with Curtis Cup skipper Tegwen Matthews, team manager Anna Hubbard and LGU Chief Executive Shona Malcolm at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club. It was a sentimental return for Elaine to a venue that played a big part in her amateur golf career. In 1990 she was beaten by Helen Dobson in the British women's amateur championship final at Hoylake ... and in June 1992 (eight days before Carly Booth was born!) Elaine was a member of the winning GB and I team in the Curtis Cup match against the Americans at the same venue. "They've changed quite a few of the holes around in the way that they are going to play them this week, and there is a tented village in the middle of the course but the clubhouse is as I remembered it," said Elaine who flew down to Manchester in the morning and flew back to Aberdeen in the evening. Still a low handicap golfer, the past Scottish women's and girls' champion from the Deeside club had been invited by the LGU to play in one of Tuesday's two pro-ams but business meetings precluded her from accepting ... which probably was just as well for her. High winds and later torrential rain made the pro-ams an endurance test for the players, including the professionals!