LULU LEADS WAY AT ENGLISH SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

Middlesex golfer Lulu Housman conquered testing conditions to become top seed for the matchplay stages of the English senior women’s championship at Sherwood Forest Golf Club, Nottinghamshire. She leads the 16 qualifiers into the championship matchplay while the next 16 will contest the second flight. Winds, coupled with dry, running fairways and fast greens, set a tough challenge for the players but Lulu added a solid 78 to her first round 77 to top the qualifying leaderboard. “It’s a lovely course – but the wind is a real factor and you have to respect the greens!” she said. Lulu laid the foundations of today’s score with a level par outward half which included an eagle three on the fifth. She finished one shot ahead of Derbyshire’s Lindsay Shaw and overnight co-leader, Cath Rawthore of Cheshire (image © Leaderboard Photography). Just behind them are Karen Lobb of Northamptonshire, who also shared the first round lead, and past champion Sue Dye, who had the round of the day with a superb level par 72. Sue’s score transformed her fortunes after an opening 86: “I was very disappointed yesterday, it was a nightmare, but I learned fast,” she said. The difference, she explained, was her mental approach, coupled with better course management and putting – and an attacking approach. “You can’t afford to be defensive, you have to attack,” said Sue. “And I played well.” She reached the turn in one-under, helped by three birdies, and came home in one over par. The best nine-hole score of the day belonged to Lindsay Shaw who reached the turn in two-under par after an eagle on the long ninth. She eventually signed for 77 and remarked: “It was a tale of two halves, I played well and I played not so well.” Cath Rawthore also had her share of trouble. She had reached the turn in one-over par but dropped eight shots on the back nine, including two penalties. “It was just horrible, but if you go off line here you are in trouble,” she said. Karen Lobb, too, was disappointed with her back nine: “Not acceptable!” she joked. But, like Cath, she was amply compensated by reaching the championship matchplay stages for the first time and looking forward to tomorrow. Defending champion Chris Quinn of Hampshire battled her way into the championship flight, after starting with an uncharacteristic front nine which included three bogeys, a double, a triple - and an eagle. She responded with a truly fighting finish of five straight pars from the 14th and commented: “I was so pleased to come in with 82! “The wind is gusting today and it’s tough out there - the range of scores show that. If you are slightly offline it’s so hard to get up and down!” Former champion Caroline Berry of Cheshire played one of the most spectacular shots of the day when she holed a six-iron for an eagle two on the 370-yard sixth hole. The host club’s Janet Melville and Caron Harrison were also among the championship qualifiers while Sue Penfold made it into second flight. Qualifying scores Championship flight 155 Lulu Housman (Highgate) 77 78 156 Lindsay Shaw (Chevin) 79 77; Cath Rawthore (Sale) 75 81 158 Sue Dye (Delamere Forest) 86 72; Karen Lobb (Northamptonshire County) 75 83 159 Rozalyn Adams (Addington Court) 81 78; Felicity Christine (Woking) 80 79; Chris Quinn (Hockley)77 82; Ruth Lindley (Hartlepool) 77 82     160 Janet Melville (Sherwood Forest) 82 78 161 Gillian Mellor (Prestbury) 81 80 162 Caroline Berry (Bromborough) 83 79; Annie Gowing (Frilford Heath) 82 80; Amanda Mayne (Saltford) 81 81; Caron Harrison (Sherwood Forest) 81 81; Sandra Paul (Huddersfield) 80 82     Draw: Housman v Paul Quinn v Lindley Dye v Gowing Lobb v Berry Shaw v Harrison Christine v Melville Rawthore v Mayne Adams v Mellor Second flight 163 Barbara Laird (Sandiway) 87 76; Julie Wheeldon (Wakefield) 81 82; Carol Wild (Notts Ladies) 79 84; Sue Penfold (Sherwood Forest) 77 86 164 Christine Watson (Beaconsfield) 83 81; Jo Ashmore (Barnham Broom) 81 83; Jeannie O'Keeffe (Hankley Common) 81 83 165 Joan Pullen (Basingstoke) 84 81; Judith McCairns (Oxford Ladies) 82 83; Jackie Barraclough (East Bierley) 81 84 166 Julie Walter (St Ives, Hunts) 85 81;l  Sue Pidgeon (Wrekin) 84 82 167 Denise Goodacre (Lambourne) 83 84; Debbie Richards (Burhill) 81 86; Angela Jones (Belgium) 79 88 168 Katherine Russell (Royal Ashdown Forest) 84 84 Draw: Laird v Russell Pullen v McCairns Penfold v Goodacre Watson v Pidgeon Wheeldon v Jones O’Keeffe v Barraclough Wild v Richards Ashmore v Walter   Lyndsey Hewison Press Officer England Golf