LET FINAL Q SCHOOL IN MOROCCO

KELSEY, JANE START WELL BUT LAURA

HAS IT ALL TO DO TO SURVIVE  

Kelsey MacDonald and Jane Turner are in the top 20 of a field of 119 after the first round of the Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying School at Marrakesh, Morocco.
But Laura Murray, whose victory in the Paul Lawrie Ladies Tartan Tour Order of Merit paid her flights and accommodation at the five-round tournament, is fighting against an early return home. She had a nightmare inward half of 42 on her way to a seven-over round of 79 over the Jack Nicklaus-designed Samanah course
The Alford player, attached to the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, is lying in joint 110th position, and has a fight on her hands to survive the cut after 72 holes in this five-round tournament, projected to fall at two-over-par.
Murray had a double bogey 7 at the 12th and then bogeyed the 13th, 15th, 17th and 18th as she cascaded six shots to par over her last seven holes.
In contrast, MacDonald, Turner and, to a lesser extent, Heather MacRae, had plenty of reasons to cheerful at the end of the first day.
Nairn-born MacDonald shot a two-under 70 at the Al Maaden course and is joint eighth overall, three shots behind former British women's and girls' amateur champion Georgia Hall from Dorset.
MacDonald was four under par by the eighth tee, thanks to birdies at the second, fourth, sixth and 11th. She turned in three-under 33, after a bogey at the ninth and gained two more birdies on the inward half, at the 10th and 16th. 
A double bogey 6 at the 18th was a disappointing way to finish but she is is good form and "up" for this tournament.
Turner, from Penicuik, is joint 15th with a 71 at Al Maaden, which
included birdies at the first, fourth, 13th and 15th as well as a
double bogey 6 at the fifth in halves of 37 and 34.
Gleneagles staff pro MacRae had a steady one-over 73 at Al Maaden. A purple patch of birdies at the 11th, 12th and 13th gave her prospects of shooting close to a 70 but a double bogey 6 at the 17th knocked her back.


LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR FINAL QUALIFYING SCHOOL
Marrakesh, Morocco.
LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72
67 G Hall (Eng)
68 V Espejo (Spa]
69 A Vayson de Pradenne (Fra), L Stahle (Swe), N Madsen (Den) (am), A Maggett (Swi), E Goddard (Eng). 

SCOTS' SCORES
70 K MacDonald (T8)
71 J Turner (T15)
73 H MacRae (T42)
79 L Murray (T110). 

TO VIEW ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES

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GEORGIA HALL SETS WITH WITH A 67

LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR NEWS RELEASE 

By BETHAN CUTLER, LET Media Manager

 England’s Georgia Hall fired a five under par 67 in warm and sunny conditions at Samanah Golf Club to take the first round lead in the Ladies European Tour’s 90-hole Lalla Aicha Tour School Final Qualifier in Marrakesh, Morocco.

The 18-year-old professional golfer from Bournemouth in Dorset ended the day one stroke ahead of Spain’s Virginia Espejo, who was playing on the nearby Al Maaden course.

English amateur Emma Goddard, who played the back nine at Al Maaden in 30 strokes, was one of five players on three under par along with Danish amateur Nanna Madsen and Swiss professional Anais Maggetti, who also played their first round at Al Maaden and Sweden’s Louise Stahle and Frenchwoman Astrid Vayson de Pradenne, who both played on the Samanah course.

“I played really well today. The front nine, I didn’t play a shot wrong and the putting was really, really good. The back nine I played the long game about the same, just didn’t hole as many,” said Hall, who birdied the second, third, fifth, seventh and ninth holes to turn in 31. 

She picked up her sixth birdie of the day on the 15^th hole, but then dropped a shot on the long par-4 18^th for a back nine of level par 36.

Hall has been gaining experience this year since turning professional in July, just after finishing 29^th at the Ricoh Women’s British Open and she has lofty goals. 

She added: “Obviously to get the card is the main thing, but to finish as low as I can, I want to try and win it. I think if I can keep my mentality to try and win it, then I don’t have to think about top 30. It’s a marathon this week.”

Espejo feels she has a strong chance of success in Marrakech, where she finished tied seventh at last year’s Lalla Aicha Tour School, as the courses are ideally set up for her game, with her prodigious length off the tee. After hitting six birdies against two bogeys on day one, the 25-year-old from Madrid said: “Because of distance I am able to hit all of the par five greens in two apart from 16, where I hit a really good 3-wood and I was still 20 metres from the green. The rest I could reach so I took advantage of that and the clubs that I was hitting in were very short.

“I normally hit around 260-270 yards. The longest shot into a green I had was a 6-iron, everything else was a nine-iron, wedge or sand wedge. I’m not going to miss the green from 80 yards.

“I’m very long but what I struggle with the most is like in tennis: serving, the first shot. This course sets up well that I am able to miss the fairway without getting into big trouble. When I am able to miss, I am more fluid with it and hit it way straighter. I’m loose, because I know I can hit it.

“I’m going to hit it as hard as I can and as far as I can. If I’m going to lose it, I’m going to lose it so far I don’t have to look for it. I just tee it up really high and kill it every time and then have a really short club.”

While Espejo was smashing her drives at Al Maaden, Goddard was using her iron-play strength to hit close to the pins. The 23-year-old amateur from Liverpool was four over par after six holes, but birdied the seventh before carding six more birdies coming home for a back nine total of 30 strokes.

“I realised what someone had said to me: ‘play hole by hole and shot by shot,’ and from there I holed a few putts,” said the 2007 Faldo Series champion from Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

“This will be the best I’ve played in a special event. The back nine was probably the best all round golf I’ve ever played.

“My main objective was just to make the cut and then see how high I could finish. From there I’ll decide whether or not to turn pro.”

There are 120 players competing for Ladies European Tour membership for the 2015 season. Competitors will play two rounds on each course, before the cut to the leading 60 players and ties after 72 holes.

 The final round will be played on the Samanah Golf Course on December 21. 

After the final round the top 30 players and ties will be eligible for Membership in Category 8a while those who have made the cut in positions 31 and below will be eligible for Membership in Category 9b. Players who fail to make the 72-hole cut will be eligible for Membership in Category 12a.