ENGLISH PLAYERS 1-2 AFTER FIRST ROUND AT TROON PORTLAND

                           ANNABEL DIMMOCK ...   FIRST-ROUND LEADER

FAVOURITE ANNABEL DIMMOCK SETS 

PACE WITH  FIVE-UNDER-PAR 70

CORRECTION: THE FIRST-ROUND CSS, ORIGINALLY RELEASED AS 80 (reductions only) , HAS BEEN AMENDED TO 77.

ANNABEL Dimmock, 17-year-old Wentworth player rated favourite to win the Helen Holm Trophy Scottish women's open amateur stroke-play at Troon this weekend - by some pundits, 

opened her bid to clinch a place in the GB and I Curtis Cup team for St Louis, Missouri in early June by setting a cracking pace over the Troon Portland links - the venue for the first two rounds of this 54-hole championship.

On an overcast but dry, breezy day, Annabel returned a five-under-par 70 which, before the end of play for the day, gave her a two-stroke lead over former US college circuit player Rosie Davies (Coombe Hill), past Scottish U18 girls champion from St Andrews, Lauren Whyte (St Regulus), Alyson McKechin (Elderslie) who will be defending the Scottish women's closed championship at Prestwick next month, and an "unkown" French challenger, Anaelle Carnet. All four are on 72.

Late in the day Gemma Clews (Delamere Forest) cut Dimmock's lead to one with a 71, made up of birdies at the fifth, long ninth, short 10th, short 14th and long 15th in halves of 36-35. Gemma dropped one shot, at the 12th.

On 73 came Meghan MacLaren (Wellingborough, Cambridge), who made a penultimate day dash from Alabama - where she finished a college tournament on Wednesday - to get to Ayrshire on Thursday night.

So no time for a practice round but that did not seem to make any difference to the Florida International University student who highlighted her card with an eagle 3 at sixth on top of five birdies. But five bogeys meant she finished up three shots off the pace with two rounds to go.

France's Anaelle Carnet had much the same kind of round for a 72. She had an eagle at the sixth and five birdies but dropped four shots.

On the same mark, McKechin had a bogey-free round, studded with birdies at the the long sixth, the long 15th and the 17th. 

Whyte started with a birdie and finished with an eagle for her 72. She had three birdies on the outward journey: at the first, second and sixth, dropping shots at the fifth and short 16th in halves of 36.

Rosie Davies birdies the second, fourth, sixth, 15th and 17th. She bogeyed the seventh, ninth and 12th in halves of 36. 

Irish champion Paula Grant joined those on the 73 mark, having been four under par after only six holes. Out in 33, Paula could land no more birdies after the sixth. She bogeyed the eighth and 13th in halves of 35-38.

Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm) needed to par the last three holes for a 73 but she bogeyed the 16th and 17th and finished with a disappointing 75 (36-39). She had birdied the first, fifth, sixth and 15th but dropped earlier shots at the third and 14th.

Many of the par-5s on the Troon Portland course are two-shotters to girl golfers of the class that enter the "Helen Holm." There is a case

for classifying them as par-4s but it won't happen soon!

And so it proved for Annabel Dimmock. She birdied the long second, the long sixth, the short 10th, long 11th, the long 12th and the long 15th in halves of 37 and 33. She had one bogey,  at the long ninth.

Dimmock was recently beaten finalist in the Spanish women's open amateur championship. On the Florida Orange Blossom Tour in January, she won the Jones Doherty match-play tournament. 

Her most recent victory was in the Sunningdale foursomes in partnership with Wentworth-attached professional Steven Brown, a former Walker Cup player.

Not all of the big names played well. Alex Peters (Notts Ladies) had to settle for a three-over 78, the same score as former Scottish champion Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm), and Welsh international Chloe Williams (Wrexham) had a 84, the same score as Chloe Rogers (Braintree) who gained Olympic Games medal as a member of the GB women's hockey team at the London Olympics

The leading 66 players and ties after Saturday's Round 2 over Portland will go forward to the decisive final round on Sunday over the testing Royal Troon championship links.

McKECHIN, WHYTE HEAD HOME CHALLENGE
 

SLGA NEWS RELEASE
England’s fast rising star Annabel Dimmock led the way with a first- round, five-under-par 70 while Scot Alyson MccKechin again showed her liking for the Helen Holm Scottish open amateur stroke-play championship at Troon Portland.
Elderslie’s McKechin, the Scottish women's amateur champion, finished second last year and a flawless opening three-under-par 72 put her in a four-way share of third place that also included another Scot, Lauren Whyte.
Connie Jaffrey, the reigning Scottish girls' champion and Troon Ladies' club member, was the third Scot under par on 74.
Renfrewshire’s McKechin birdied the long sixth and 15th and then completed the hat-trick with a 3 at the 17th.
Whyte, the 2012 Scottish girls’ champion from St Regulus, had three birdies and then saved her best for last with an eagle 3 at the closing hole.
Dimmock made her move with three birdies in a row from the turn. Winner of the Jones Doherty Challenge Cup in Florida earlier this year – Scot Kelsey MacDonald was her caddie – the Wentworth teenager had seven birdies to take a one-shot lead over Delamere Forest’s Gemma Clews.
Dimmock was a member of last year’s England girls' and women's Home International teams and if she can continue the form over the next two days she must have pushed herself into the sights of the Curtuis Cup selectors.
After another round over Troon Portland, the top 66 players and ties qualify for Sunday’s final round over the Old Course, Troon.

HELEN HOLM SCOTTISH WOMEN'S OPEN AMATEUR STROKE PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

FIRST-ROUND SCORES

Troon Portland GC, Ayrshire

Par 75. CSS 77

70 Annabel Dimmock (Wentworth)

71 Gemma Clews (Delamere Forest)

72 Rosie Davies (Coombe Hill), Lauren Whyte (St Regulus). Alyson McKechin (Elderslie), Anaelle Carnet (France).

73 Maria Dunne (Skerries, Ireland), Ellie Goodall (Selby), Olivia Mehaffey (Royal Co Down Ladies, N Ireland), Meghan MacLaren (Wellingborough), Paula Grant (Lisburn, Ireland).

74 Connie Jaffrey (Troon Ladies), Sinead Sexton (Lahinch, Ireland), Marion Veysseyre (France), Chloe Ryan (Castletroy, Ireland), Lou Vrain (France), Becky Harries (Haverfordwest).

75 Anais Meyssonmer (France), Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm), Hannah McCook (Grantown on Spey), Bethan Popel (Long Ashton).

76 Emma Broze (France), Sophie Lamb (Clitheroe), Aedin Murphy (Carlow, Ireland), Emily Slater (Woodhall Spa), India Clyburn (Woodhall Spa), Samantha Giles (St Mellion), Michaela Gasplmayr (Austria), Gabriella Cowley (Hanbury Manor), Lianna Bailey (Notts Ladies), Emma O'Driscoll (Ballybunion, Ireland).

77 Chloe Caron (France), Sammy Fuller (Roehampton), Gee-won Park (Hampton Court Palace), Sophie Madden (West Essex), Sarah-Jane Boyd (Truro), Albane Valenzuela (Switzerland), Carla Reynolds (Seapoint, Ireland)

78 Emma Hale (Troon Ladies), Kate McIntosh (Broomieknowe), Charlotte Austwick (Fulford), Victoria Bradshaw (Bangor, N Ireland), Jenna Maihaniema (Finland), Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm), Hollie Muse (West Lancs), Lisa Ferrie (Matfen Hall), Inci Mehmet (Wentworth), Alex Peters (Notts Ladies), Billie-Jo Smith (Woodhall Spa), Emma Harris (Peel, Isle of Man), Olivia Jackson (Pannal), Gabrielle MacDonald (Craigielaw).

79 Sophie Powell (Manchester), Bethany Garton (Royal Lytham), Emily-Mae Hall (Notts Ladies), Ailsa Summers (Carnoustie Ladies), Rochelle Morris (Woodsome Hall), Megan Lockett (Huddersfield), Amy Farrell (Moate, Ireland), Hollie Vizard (Pleasington).

80 Mary Doyle (The Heath, Ireland), Nicholas Ferguson (Milngavie), Shelby Smart (Knowle), Julie McCarthy (Forrest Little, Ireland), Noni Stephen (Wentworth), Elise Genoux (France), Clara Young (North Berwick), Heather Munro (Monifieth), Hana-Rae Siefert (NZ), Emily Coleman (Trentham), Poppy Finlay (Vicars Cross), Gemma Batty (Fairhaven).

=71 players at 80 or better; Saturday cut to leading 66 and ties

81 Kerry Smith (Waterlooville), Ivane Hellas (France), Jordana Graham (Southerness), Lara Plachetka-Pohl (France), Tara Mactaggart (Minto).

82 Emily Dalgetty (Glencorse0, Kimberley Beveridge (Aboyne), Hannah Scott (Broomieknowe), Annabel Bailey (Notts Ladies), Jessica Ross (Donaghdee, N Ireland).

83 Lauren Horsford (Wimbledon Park), Elisabeth Codet (France), Charlotte de Corte (Belgium), Gillian O'Leary (The Island, Ireland), Cloe Frankish (Chart Hills), Jessica Schiele (Lincoln Park), Lucy Goddard (Hanbury Manor)

84 Luan Skeates (Bucks), Chloe Williams (Wrexham), Chloe Rogers (Braintree)

85 Eloise Healey (West Lancs), Louise Macgregor (Glenbervie)

86 Nastja Banovec (Slovenia)

88 Gemma Bradbury (Cottrell Park)

89 Melissa Nicol (Moor Hall), Alice Barnes (West Sussex)

92 Anne Laing (Vale of Leven)

LEADING SATURDAY TEE TIMES

 AT TROON PORTLAND

8.00 G MacDonald, A Carnet, J Ross

8.20 H McCook, G Clews, L Goddard

8.50 L Plachetka, A Valenzuela, B Harries.

9.20 G O'Leary, A McKechin, I Mehmet

10.20 E O'Driscoll, P Grant, E Briggs

10.40 C Ryan, S Giles, O Mehaffey

10.50 M MacLaren, S Smart, M Dunne.

11.00 K McIntosh, E Goodall, L Whyte

11.40 S Sextion, A Laing, M Lockett

13.00 A Dimmock, L Macgregor, A Summers

13.10 G Cowley, C De Corte, A Murphy

13.20 I Hellas, R Davies, M Dogle.

13.30 L Horsford, N Ferguson, C Jaffrey. 

THE LEADING 66 PLAYERS AND TIES AFTER

36 HOLES GO FORWARD TO SUNDAY'S FINAL

ROUND OVER THE ROYAL TROON LINKS