MEGHAN MACLAREN WINS IRISH STROKE-PLAY AFTER EILIDH FADES

England's Meghan MacLaren, just home at the end of her freshman year at Florida International University, won the Irish women's open amateur stroke-play championship by one shot over 54 holes at Castle Golf Club, Rathfarnham, Co Dublin today.
The 19-year-old from Wellingborough Golf Club, Northants, led by three strokes at the start of the final round from Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm).
But Eilidh slumped to a closing round of 80 and it was Ireland's Paula Grant who pushed MacLaren over the closing holes, returning a fine round of two-under-par 72 for a total of 219.
Meghan, in fact, lost the lead at one stage and had to come from behind with a stirring finish  - she has won three times on the US women's college circuit - to win by a single stroke with a 74 for two-over 218.


NEWS RELEASE FROM IRISH LADIES GOLF UNION

England’s Megan MacLaren survived a final day onslaught from 

Lisburn’s Paula Grant to win the Irish women’s open amateur 

stroke play championship by one stroke at Castle Golf Club in 

Rathfarnham, Dublin.

Leading the field by three strokes, overnight leader MacLaren 

opened her final round with four straight bogeys to give hope to the 

challenging field. Grant seized her opportunity and after birdies at 

the fourth, seventh and eight, the pair were locked in the lead at 

four  over par in breezy conditions heading into the back nine.

MacLaren lost the lead for the first time in the tournament when 

Grant birdied the 12th and 14th. On the 16th, however, the tide 

turned dramatically. MacLaren’s fairway wood clattered into the 

trees left of the fairway, prompting her to play a provisional ball. 

Relieved to find her ball and still in bounds, she recovered well to 

end up just short of the green and then pitched in for a 

birdie 4. 

Grant meanwhile held her nerve to match par. Level on the 17th 

tee, MacLaren once again seized the lead when she holed a 

nerve-racking eight-footer down the slope for birdie, to Grant’s 

regulation par. 

They both rounded off a marvellous duel with  two-putt pars on the 

home green, which saw Grant cover the back nine in one under the 

card and the new champion MacLaren an impressive one stroke 

better.
 
“I’ve won a few times in the States since I went there last August  

and that probably helped me. America and all the tournaments we 

play has taught me how to score better,” said Meghan, the Sun Belt 

Conference champion.
 
“I started badly on Sunday, with a couple of bad swings and a 

couple of lip-outs. It’s a tricky course where it’s easy to get stuck 

on a bogey run,” said Meghan. “Thankfully I started making some 

pars, but that wasn’t enough for a long time.

“Paula played really, really well and made lots of birdies and at one 

stage I thought I might not catch her.

“I was two behind with four to play, but made a good up and down 

on 15, where she dropped a shot, then I chipped in for birdie on the 

16, which was a big turning point. That got us to level with two to 

play and I birdied 17 as well – it was probably the hardest eight-

footer I’ll ever have, downhill and slippery but thankfully I got it in.

“It really was a battle. At one point I thought maybe it had gone, 

but I hung in there, kept making pars and getting birdies when I 

needed to.”

Meghan, who is a past winner of the French Under-18 girls' open 

title and a runner-up in the English girls' championship,  also 

combined with English champion Sarah-Jane Boyd and Surrey’s 

Sammy Fuller to win the Nations Cup.
 Sammy, from Roehampton, tied fifth in the individual event while 

Sarah-Jane (Truro) shared 11th place. 
 

A member of Wellingborough Golf Club, Northamptonshire 

 

MacLaren has just  complete her first year at Florida International 

 

University, and now adds the Irish women's open amateur 

 

stroke-play championship to her three maiden wins as a freshman

Already an England Girls International, she is now surely well on 

her way in women's international status. As Irish amateur open 

champion, a strong showing at next month’s British Amateur at 

Machynys Penninsula will strengthen the  19-year-old’s case 

for a place on the GB and I team for the Valgiano Trophy match 

against the Continent of Europe at Chantilly, near Paris in late 

June – much to the delight of her father David, a European Tour 

Director.

Next best at Castle after the first pair were Scotland’s Eilidh 

Briggs,  and  Ballybunion’s Emma O’Driscoll on 227 

England won the Nations Cup from Ireland with Scotland in third 

and Brazil fourth.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72) CSS 76 75 75
218 Meghan MacLaren (ENG) 71 73 74
219 Paula Grant (Lisburn) 76 73 70
227 Eilidh Briggs (SCO) 76 71 80, Emma O'Driscoll (Ballybunion) 74 76 77.
228 Maria Dunne (Skerries) 79 75 74, Lesley Atkins (SCO) 74 77 77, Samantha Fuller (ENG) 73 82 73
229 Jessica Wilcox (ENG) 79 76 74, Jessica Carty (Holywood) 79 77 73, Róisín Brady (Co. Louth) 73 82 74
230 Chloe Ryan (Castletroy) 78 72 80, Amy Boulden (WAL) 77 76 77, Sarah Jane Boyd (ENG) 74 77 79
231 Olivia Mehaffey (RCD Ladies) 78 76 77
232 Samantha Giles (ENG) 79 76 77
233 Chloe Weir (Shandon Park) 83 73 77, Deirdre Smith (Co. Louth) 77 78 78
234 Amy Farrell (Moate) 78 80 76, Ariana Coyle Diez (Elm Park) 77 82 75
235 Sinead Sexton (Lahinch) 76 81 78
236 Jessica Meek (SCO) 73 78 85
237 Patrice Delaney (Birr) 81 80 76, Nathalie Rodrigues da Silva (BRA) 80 75 82
238 Victoria Bradshaw (Bangor) 79 78 81, Mary Doyle (The Heath) 77 79 82
240 Gillian O'Leary (The Island) 79 79 82, Lisa O'Shea (Shannon) 76 79 85, Niamh McSherry (Lurgan) 76 81 83
241 Louise Mernagh (Woodenbridge) 81 74 86
242 Clara Teixeira (BRA) 78 81 83
245 Aoife Lowry (Tipperary) 85 78 82, Sarah Cunningham (Ennis) 80 83 82
246 Meadhbh Doyle (Portarlington) 82 84 80
249 Áedín Murphy (Carlow) 80 82 87
250 Jessica Ross (Donaghadee) 80 82 88
252 Gemma McCarthy (Clonmel) 87 80 85, Carla Reynolds (Seapoint) 85 83 84
253 Daisy-May Kenny (ENG) 83 85 85
WD Hannah McCook (SCO) 82 85 WD
RTD Rachel Walker (SCO) 82 85 RTD

Non-Qualifiers
169 Gertie McMullen (The Island) 80 89
170 Karen Delaney (Carlow) 87 83
171 Shannon Burke (Ballinrobe) 88 83 Niamh Ward (Lurgan) 84 87
172 Jenny Maguire (Foxrock) 90 82 Holly Robinson (Co. Sligo) 88 84 Sarah Boden (Kilkeel) 86 86
172 Victoria Craig (Clandeboye) 83 89
173 Laura Doherty (Howth) 87 86
174 Maria Beaton (Castle) 88 86 Daisy Macve (ENG) 83 91
175 Kirsty Beckwith (ENG) 87 88
176 Louise Hanratty (Mannan Castle) 93 83 Claire Keating (Killarney) 84 92
177 Clíodhna McCarthy (Stackstown) 89 88
177 Sophie Harrison (Sutton) 87 90
181 Rachel Taylor (Laytown & Bettystown) 92 89
182 Hayley Mackay (ENG) 92 90
190 Ruth Maguire (Corrstown) 100 90
WD Louise Coffey (Malone) 86 WD
NATIONS CUP
441 ENGLAND Sarah Jane Boyd [74] 77 [79] Samantha Fuller 73 [82] 73 Meghan Maclaren 71 73 74
446 IRELAND Paula Grant 76 73 70 Olivia Mehaffey 78 [76] 77 Chloe Ryan [78] 72 [80]
464 SCOTLAND Lesley Atkins 74 77 77 Hannah McCook [82] [85] WD Jessica Meek 73 78 85
473 BRAZIL Nathalie Rodrigues da Silva 80 75 82 Clara Teixeira 78 75 83