ONLY SCOT TO SURVIVE EUROPEAN QUALIFIER AT THE BUCKS
Kelsey MacDonald, third right, and the other qualifiers for the US Women's Open. Picture by courtesy of Tristan Jones of LET.
OPEN FIELD AT PINEHURST IN JUNE
Kelsey MacDonald today finished second in a field of over 70 at The Buckinghamshire Golf Club to win herself one of eight places up for grabs in the United States Women's Open sectional qualifying for Europe.
After an opening round of par 72, Kelsey shot eight birdies - at the first, eighth, 10th, 11th,14th and 15th - in a second-round 71 for an aggregate of one-under 143.
Only Welsh rookie Amy Boulden with a pair of 71s for 142 had a better total than the Nairn-born Scot.
MacDonald was the only player from North of the Border to win a place at the US Women's Open over the No 2 course at Pinehurst, North Carolina from June 19-22.
This is the first time the USGA, who run the major, have staged a qualifying event for it in Britain.
Scots who failed to make the 144 cut-off total were Kylie Walker (73-72 for 145), Sally Watson (74-73 for 147), Carly Booth (75-72 for 147), Vikki Laing (79-73 for 152) and Katy McNicoll (72-81 for 153)
TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES
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Boulden tops the eight European Qualifiers for US Women’s Open
Qualifiers
Name Score
Amy Boulden 142 (-2)
Kelsey MacDonald 143 (-1)
Nicole Garcia 143 (-1)
Holly Clyburn 144 (E)
Nikki Campbell 144 (E)
Lucy Williams 144 (E)
Stephanie Na 144 (E)
Rebecca Hudson 144 (E)
Alternates*
1st Camilla Lennarth 145 (+1)
2nd Beth Allen 145 (+1)
*determined in play-off
REPORT FROM BETHAN CUTLER
LET MEDIA MANAGER
Ladies
European Tour rookie Amy Boulden of Wales earned medallist honours at
the inaugural U.S. Women’s Open sectional qualifier (Europe) at
Buckinghamshire
Golf Club in England.
The 20-year-old from Llandudno posted successive
rounds of 71 to finish with a 36-hole total of two-under-par 142 and
automatically qualified for her first appearance in the major
championship.
The
other seven Ladies European Tour professionals who earned spots by
finishing in the top eight of the qualifier were Kelsey MacDonald of
Scotland and
Nicole Garcia from South Africa, who tied on one-under-par 143, with
Australians Nikki Campbell and Stephanie Na and English trio Holly
Clyburn, Lucy Williams and Rebecca Hudson all on 144, level par.
Boulden,
who earned her maiden professional title on the LET Access Series in
Switzerland two weeks earlier, was thrilled to have earned a place in
the
field for the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open, taking place on June 19-22 at
Pinehurst Resort & Country Club (Course No. 2) in the Village of
Pinehurst, N.C.
The
first year professional said: “I’m very happy. I played very well today
so I’m very pleased. I knew there were a lot of good players but I
still felt
quite confident. I’ve grown up playing with a lot of the girls playing
so I just tried to play my own game and I knew that if you were under
par you were probably going to qualify here. It’s one of the biggest
majors so I’m looking forward to going to the
States and playing against the best players in the world.”
Nicole
Garcia, a 23-year-old Ladies European Tour rookie professional from
Kempton Park, will also be making her first trip to the US Women’s Open
and
commented: “It is my first year on tour so I didn’t expect to make it.
It’s quite exciting. I’ve been so nervous playing in the LET tournaments
so I think I’m going to be incredibly nervous when I go there and I’ll
have no expectations. Hopefully that works
and I’ll play well.”
Kelsey
MacDonald, 23, from Nairn, is another rookie on her way to
Pinehurst.
She said: “This is the first time I’ve played the
Buckinghamshire Golf
Club. It’s amazing. I went out in a tough field and there were a lot of
spots which was great but you know you’re competing against the best of
Europe so it’s just a fantastic feeling.
"I was a couple under and I
tried to play more conservatively, which went
against me, so then I decided to just go back to playing aggressively.
It’s great that me and Amy both qualified because we’re
good friends and both from the Robert Rock Academy so he’ll be really
proud of us.”
Five
players tied for ninth on one-over-par and played off to determine the
two alternate positions.
After Beth Allen and Camilla Lennarth made par
on
the first play-off hole, the par-three ninth, they progressed to the
par-5 first where Lennarth made birdie to become the first alternate.
Maria Balikoeva, Melissa Reid and Kylie Walker were eliminated on the
first play-off hole.
To see complete final results
click here
Labels: Pro Ladies
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