KATY McNICOLL WINS £1,000 FIRST PRIZE AT TRUMP INTERNATIONAL

                                         AND THE WINNER IS .....  KATY McNICOLL!
     

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Katy McNicoll from Carnoustie continued the good form that saw her finish joint third in Spain in a LETAS event at the end of last week by scooping the first prize of £1,000 in today's Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Scottish Ladies Open Tour event, the Saltire Energy Classic 1, over the Trump International Links at the Menie Estate, Balmedie today.
Katy came the closest to "taming" the "Green Monster" - Donald Trump also owns the Doral Course in Florida, nicknamed the "Blue Monster" - with a two-over-par round of 74.
Because preferred lies were in operation - some of the fairways have not come through the winter well - Katy's fine round cannot be recognised as a lady professional record in this the first ever pro tournament over what every competitor, whether they scored high or low, agreed is an awesome creation out of the high sand dunes that are a feature of this North-east coastlined.
Most players lost more golf balls in this one round than they would do so in a week's golf.
Even Katy McNicoll lost two over the first four holes alone. In fact with a double bogey at the second and bogeys at the fourth and fifth she was four over par standing on the sixth tee.
But she came storming back to cover the remaining holes in two under par - great golf over a links she had never seen, let along practised over, and with quite a stiff breeze from the direction of Aberdeen on a bright but chilly day.
Katy chipped in to birdie the 17th and pitched and putted to save par at the last hole ... which most players related saw them play four shots into the wind to get on the putting surface at this long and testing par-5.
So McNicoll took the honours with halves of 39 and 35. 
"I think I've got more self-belief in myself these days and you need that when playing a course as big as this one. I loved it. It's a new course and will get better and better as it matures. But it is already an awesome lay-out," said Katy.
So how many balls did she lose in all?
"I didn't lose another one after the early holes. After I lost the second one, I took out an old ball and I was still playing it at the finish," she said with a laugh. 
Runner up, two shots behind with a 76, was another Carnoustie player, 18-year-old amateur Jess Meek who is simply playing out of her skin metaphorically on the Paul Lawre Ladies Tour.
Joint second at Dalmahoy AND Ratho Park in the first two events, young Meek filled the runner-up spot on her own this time with halves of 40 and 36.
Had she been a pro, Jess would have earned £700 for second place. But the Rules of Amateur Status limit her to a voucher to a maximum value of £500, which meant also that, although having the tee shot nearest the pin at the 16th - where the Atholl Hotel were sponsoring a £10,000 award for a hole in one and £100 for the closest tee shot if no one got an ace - Jess could not collect that.
The £100 voucher went to 17-year-old Kimberley Beveride (Aboyne) whose tee shot was the second closest to the pin at the 16th.
Former Scottish amateur champion and past Curtis Cup player Heather Stirling, now a professional but more a professional caddie than a pro golfer, at St Andrews in Scotland's spring-summer-autumn and in Florida during our winter months, finished third with a 78 to win a £480 prize.
Two of Aberdeenshire's brightest young prospects, 13-year-old Shannon McWilliam (Aboyne) and Deeside teenager Teagan Seivwright, tied on the 79 mark with Gleneagles professional Heather MacRae, who is sponsored by Stewart Spence, owner of The Marcliffe at Pitfodels.         
There were far more spectators than appeared at Dalmahoy and Ratho Park put together, including former Ryder Cup player Harry Bannerman and his wife Hazel from Banchory   

ALL THE SCORES AND PRIZES DISTRIBUTION
 
SALTIRE ENERGY GROUP CLASSIC 1 TRUMP INTERNATIONAL LINKS
Par 72  
74 Katy McNicoll (Carnoustie) 39-35 (£1,000).
76 Jess Meek (Carnoustie Ladies) (am) 40-36 (limited to a voucher worth £500).
78 Heather Stirling (Dairsie) 40-38 (£480).
79 Shannon McWilliam (Aboyne) (am) 40-39 (voucher value £300), Tegan Seivwright (Deeside) (am) 39-40 (voucher value £300), Heather MacRae (Gleneagles) 39-40 (£300).
80 Lisa Shervill (West Kilbride) 41-39 (£150).
81 Laura Murray (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) 42-39 (£100).
82 Sheena Wood (Aberdeen Ladies) (am) 40-42 (voucher value £90).
83 Pamela Feggans (Doon Valley) 38-45 (£80).
84 Lisa Ball (Matfen Hall) (am)  39-45 (voucher value £75).
85 Gemma Webster (Elie SC) 41-44 (£65)
86 Suzanne Robertson (Fraserburgh) (am) 45-41 (voucher value £60). 
87 Michele Thomson (Ellon) 43-44 (£50), Martine Pow (Selkirk) 42-45 (£50). Daisy Dyer (Chigwell) 41-46 (£50).
88 Linda Urquhart (Banchory) (am) 43-45, Nichola Ferguson Milngavie) (am) 43-45, Sammy Leslie (Banchory)
89 Laura Harvey (Yorkshire) 47-42 
90 Fiona Hay (Deeside) (am) 42-48
91 Cara Thompson (Royal Dornoch) (am) 49-42
92 Kimberley Beveridge (Aboyne) (am) 49-43
93 Karyn Burns (Glasgow Golf Centre) 45-48, Karen Stalker (Cruden Bay) (am) 46-47
94 Kirstin Scott (Gleneagles) 49-45 
95 Lauren Whyte (Aberdeen Ladies) (am) 49-46.
97 Laura McLardy (Duff House Royal) 46-51, Meg Seivwright (Keith) (am) 55-42, Vikki Riddell (Kemnay) (am) 49-48, Megan Clyne (Deeside) (am) 50-47,
98 Carol Wilson (Murcar Links) (am) 51-47 
103 Lynne Tough (Newmachar) (am) 54-49
107 Kelly Guthrie (Oldmeldrum) (am) 52-55
NRs Julie Forbes (Aboyne), Gail Christie (Banchory) (am)

NEAREST PIN PRIZE AT 16th
Kimberley Beveridge (Aboyne) voucher value £100.
+Jess Meek (Carnoustie) actually had the closest tee shot to the pin but she cannot win more than a voucher to the value of £500 from the one round (which she did in finishing second over 18 holes).