VIKKI FAILS TO REGAIN LET STATUS

By COLIN FARQUHARSON   Colin@scottishgolfview.com Vikki Laing, the only Scot to make it through to the last day of the Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying School at Marrakech, Morocco, failed to make the top 30 and ties who earned full playing rights for next year's  circuit. The Musselburgh player signed off with a 74 for a four-under-par 90-hole total of 356, three shots too many but an aggregate that would normally have seen her make the grade with something to spare. But the standard, for whatever reason, has been unbelievably high at this year's Q School, played in Morocco for the first time. Not that the Amelkis and Al Maaden courses are easy - the latter has staged several men's pro tournaments in the past. The 30 players who earned their cards have to shoot seven-under-par 353 and better - a higher standard in depth than is usually the case at a Ladies European Tour regular season event. Vikki bogeyd the short third and the fifth and then had a double bogey at the sixth. That left her needing to birdie about every second hole after the turn. She did manage sub-par figures at the 11th and long 13th but could "only" par the last five holes. Also on the 356 total was Curtis Cup star, 16-year-old Charley Hull (Woburn) who is hell-bent on turning professional despite not winning an LET card. She finished with a 76, by far her worst round of the five. Leading the hit parade with a phenomenal total of 24-under-par 336 was 17 year old Thai Ariya Jutanugarn who finished five shots clear of a very strong field. Her 18-year-old sister Moriya recently finished joint fifth in the LPGA Tour Qualifying School. So a great family double. Leading British player was Royal Lytham amateur Emily Taylor who finished joint second on 341 with Australia's Nikki Campbell. Emily wlll now turn pro. Only two other British players made the top 30:  England's Charlotte Ellis on 349 - four shots inside the limit - and compatriot Curtis Cupper Holly Clyburn from Cleethorpes. Rookie pro Holly showed her class under pressure by roaring home in four-under-par 32 with birdies at the 12th, 13th, 14th and 16th for a 68 to win her LET card on the limit mark of 353. Even Tiger Woods' niece Cheyenne Woods missed out. She totalled 356, the same score as Vikki Laing and Charley Hull. LEADING FINAL TOTALS +The top 30 players with totals of 353 and better gained playing rights on the 2013 LET Par 360 (5x72) 336 Ariya Jutanugarn (Thai) (am) 68 70 64 65 69 341 Nikki Campbell (Aus) 66 71 69  69 66, Emily Taylor (Eng) (am) 69 66 68 67 71 343 Louise Larsson (Swe) 70 74 67 67 65 344 Xi Yu Lin (China) 70 67 71 68 68 345 Camilla Lennarth (Swe) 70 65 73 66 71 347 Malene Jorgenson (Den) 71 67 72 67 70 348 Mallory Fraiche (US) 68 72 66 71 71 349 Charlotte Ellis (Eng) 73 67 70 71  68, Katie Burnett (US) 71 65 72 72 69, Maria Salinas (Peru) (am) 66 74 70 69 70, Julia Davidsson (Swe) 70 69 69 71 70, Alexandra Vilatte (Fra) 68 68 72 69 72, Bonita Bredenhann (Nam) (am) 71 70 64 67 67. OTHER QUALIFIERS INCLUDED 353 Holly Clyburn (Eng) 70 70 70 75 68 FAILED TO QUALIFY 356 Vikki Laing (Sco) 69 73  67 73 74, Charley Hull (Eng) (am) 69 70 70 71 76, Cheyenne Woods (US) 71 68 74 73 70 358 Eleanor Givens (Eng) 73 67 71 75 72 362 Eleanor Pilgrim (Wal) 74 73 69 71 75 363 Danielle McVeigh (Ire) 74 66 76 70 77. TO VIEW ALL THE LAST-DAY TOTALS CLICK HERE   IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE PLAYERS WHO FAILS TO GAIN L E T PLAYING RIGHTS, WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO PLAY NEXT YEAR? YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN THE FOLLOWING:  IS THERE A NEED FOR LADY PRO ONE OR TWO-DAY COMPETITIONS OUTWITH THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR SET-UP?     THE EDITOR is conducting market research to find out if there is a need for lady pro competitions outwith the Ladies European Tour and LETAS circuits. These unsponsored competitions - unless we can find some sponsors - would also be open to low-handicap female amateurs who want to measure their ability against professionals. My feeling is that while male pros have several layers of tours below the European and Challenge Tours, for the ladies, it is either the LET or the LETAS .. or you are out in the cold for most of the year. Grateful if any interested parties would E-mail their answers to Colin@scottishgolfview.com to the following questions: 1 Would you play in an event with a £100 entry fee and one in which all the entry fees go into the prize fund, i.e. 20 entries @ £100 would have a £2,000 prize fund (winner would always be guaranteed half the total); 30 entries at £100 would have a £3,000 prize fund (winner £1,500) and so on? 2 Would a one-round, one-day event, which would cut overnight accommodation costs, be more popular than a two-day, two-rounder? 3 To cut costs, the competitions, certainly at the outset, would be in Scotland and perhaps only one a month, one a week if there was a demand for them. Would the travelling involved put you off entering if you are based in the south of England or Ireland. 4 Would you be prepared to pay a higher entry fee, say £200 a competition, to make the prize fund twice as big? +Your replies will not be made public. Only an overall view will be taken at the end of the research. Your answers could help to shape the form of a third tier of lady pro competitions. Please find the time to send your comments to Colin@scottishgolfview.com