JANE, HEATHER, LAURA UNDER PRESSURE IN MOROCCO

KELSEY ONLY SCOT IN Q SCHOOL 

COMFORT ZONE AFTER ROUND 2

By COLIN FARQUHARSON Nairn's Kelsey MacDonald is the only one of the four Scots in the field of 119 who is on course to gain pass marks at the end of the
five-round Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying School at Marrakech, Morocco.

The former Scottish women's amateur champion, pictured, had a third-round 74 over the Jack Nicklaus-designed Samanah course for a 36-hole tally of level par 144. MacDonald is joint 21st and it will be the top 30 and ties at the end of the tournament on Sunday who will gain full playing rights on the 2015 LET.
Kelsey finished strongly with birdies at the 16th and 17th - she had earlier birdies at the second and eighth - to compensate for a double bogey 7 at the long 12th and four bogeys.
For Jane Turner from Penicuik and Gleneagles' Heather MacRae, currently joint 54th,  and Alford's Laura Murray, tied 92nd,  the first target is to be in the leading 60 and ties when the cut is made on Saturday after the fourth round.
The projected cut mark is four over par, which is how Turner and MacRae stand, both on 148, after rounds of 77 and 75 respectively on Day 2. Turner played reasonably well early on at Samanah with birdies at the fifth and seventh but she dropped five shots over seven holes between the eighth and 14th, including a double bogey 6 at the 11th.
MacRae, also in action at Samanah, had birdies at the second, 13th and 18th but she also had too many unforced errors - bogeys at the first, third, 10th, 11th, 15th and 16th.
Laura Murray improved by six shots in 24 hours with a 73 at Al Maaden. She birdied the 12th and 18th but had a bogey at the fifth and a double bogey 6 at the 17th - which she could ill-afford. The Paul Lawrie Golf Centre player still has to climb 32 places on the scoreboard over the third and fourth rounds to make it through to the final day.
Former British women's and girls' amateur champion Georgia Hall from Dorset is four strokes clear of the field after excellent rounds of 67 and 68 for nine-under-par 135.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERS
par 144 (2x72)
135 G Hall (Eng) 67 68
139 N Madsen (Den) (am) 69 70, E Goddard (Eng) (am) 69 70, A Vayson de Pradenne (Fra) 69 70
140 L Friberg (Swe) 73 67, L Stahle (Swe) 69 71.
141 M Smit (SAfr) 72 69, L Andre (Fra) 73 68.

SCOTS' SCORES
144 K MacDonald 70 74 (T20)
148 J Turner 71 77, H MacRae 73 75 (T54)
152 L Murray 79 73 (T92). 

GEORGIA HALL: Former winner of both the British women's and British girls' amateur championships. Picture by courtesy of the Ladies European Tour.

  
 CLASSY GEORGIA GOES FOUR CLEAR 

LET NEWS RELEASE

By BETHAN CUTLER, LET Media Manager

Dorset's Georgia Hall has extended her lead to four strokes in the second round of the Ladies European Tour’s Lalla Aicha Tour School Final Qualifying for the 2015 season.

The 18-year-old from Bournemouth fired a flawless four under par 68 at Al Maaden Golf Course on day two in Marrakech, Morocco.

At nine under par, she is four strokes clear of French professional Astrid Vayson de Pradenne and amateurs Nanna Madsen and Emma Goddard, from Denmark and England respectively.

Hall made the most of the calm and sunny weather conditions with 11 straight pars before picking up four birdies on the back nine.  She recorded her first birdie on the 12^th and then added three in a row from the 15^th.

“I’m very pleased because I think this is a harder course,” said Hall, who warmed up for the event with a tie for 38^th place in the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters last week.

“I played the back nine really well. The front nine was all pars so very steady. I putted better yesterday, just by a little bit, but my driving is better today.”

After carding a 70 on the same course, Vayson de Pradenne commented: “I’m very pleased, even if I had a bit of a struggle on 14 and 15, because I could have been even lower. I three-putted on those holes from three metres. 

"The long game was very good on the back nine but I only managed to be level par. On my front nine I only had four in regulation but was two under.”

While Hall considered Al Maaden to be the tougher course due to its length, Vayson de Pradenne was of the opposite opinion. She said: 

“I think the Samanah golf course is more challenging in terms of iron play. Here at Al Maaden you feel pretty free in your driving and even on the irons, you can aim for the flag but on Samanah you have to be more careful.”

Madsen and Goddard were the best placed players at Samanah. Madsen had six birdies on the front nine and made the turn in 30 before coming back in one over par.

The 20-year-old from Copenhagen said: “Me and my caddie, we agreed that, if we would just par on the first nine holes, then that would be a really good score and there would probably be some birdies on the front nine. 

"I made six birdies and I played really well and I was on the right side of the pin, then I think I got a little nervous on the back nine and choked too much.

“On 13, I was in the bunker and it rolled down in my footprint twice and I made a four metre putt for a double bogey. I think my mentality changed after the ninth hole because I had a really great par on 10 and then on 12 as well. My shots on the back nine were just too nervous.”

Meanwhile, Goddard, 18, from Liverpool, had a two under par 70 which featured two birdies on the front nine and a level par back nine. She said: “I had a good front nine and got off to a great start but then had a bit of a dip in the middle of the front nine. 

"Because we were a two-ball there was a bit of waiting and we caught up. I birdied 17 and should have birdied 18 as well but the ball lipped out of the hole.

“The greens were a lot faster than Al Maaden yesterday and took a bit of getting used to. There were more slopes as well to get used to, taking the break a bit more. I like the courses and I’m striking it well so that’s the main thing.”

Swedish duo Louise Friberg and Louise Stahle share fifth place on four under par, with South African Monique Smit and Frenchwoman Lucie Andre tied for seventh.

Morocco’s Maha Haddioui had a 70 and is among a large group in a tie for ninth place on two under par.

Play continues over both the Al Maaden and Samanah courses for the next two rounds before a cut to the leading 60 players and ties on Saturday. 

The top 30 players and those tied will earn LET Membership in Category 8a for 2015 after the final round at Samanah on Sunday.

COMPLETE SCOREBOARD

Par 144 (2x72)
1 Georgia Hall (ENG) 67 68 135
2 Emma Goddard (ENG) (am) 69 70 139
3 Astrid Vayson De Pradenne (FRA) 69 70 139
4 Nanna Madsen (DNK) (am) 69 70 139
5 Louise Friberg (SWE) 73 67 140
6 Louise Stahle (SWE) 69 71 140
7 Lucie Andre (FRA) 73 68 141
8 Monique Smit (RSA) 72 69 141
9 Maria Beautell (ESP)  72 70 142
10 Carmen Alonso (ESP)  72 70 142
11 Nina Muehl (AUT) 72 70 142
12 Maha Haddioui (MOR)  72 70 142
13 Alex Peters (ENG)  71 71 142
14 Sophia Popov (GER)  71 71 142
15 Marika Voss (FIN)  70 72 142
16 Virginia Espejo (ESP)  68 74 142
17 Johanna Bjork (SWE) 73 70 143
18 Lynn Carlsson (SWE) 70 73 143
19 Marta Sanz (ESP)  70 73 143
20 Melanie Maetzler (SWI) 75 69 144
21 Elina Nummenpaa (FIN) 72 72 144
22 Steffi Kirchmayr (GER) 72 72 144
23 Piti Martinez Bernal (am) (ESP)  71 73 144
24 Kelsey MacDonald (SCO) 70 74 144
25 Anne Van Dam (Am) (NLD) 70 74 144
26 Anais Maggetti (SWI) 69 75 144
27 Maria Palacios (ESP) 74 71 145
28 Emily Kristine Pedersen (DNK) (am) 74 71 145
29 Csilla Lajtai-Rozsa (HUN) (am) 74 71 145
30 Manon De Roey (BEL) (am) 73 72 145
31 Caroline Rominger (SWI) 72 73 145
32 Charlotte Wild (ENG) 71 74 145
33 Sharmila Nicollet (IND)  71 74 145

PROJECTED CUT MARK AFTER FIVE ROUNDS
 
34 Paula Hurtado (COL) 76 70 146
35 Bonita Bredenhann (NAM) 75 71 146
36 Laura Jansone (LVA) 75 71 146
37 Charlotte Ellis (ENG) 74 72 146
38 Viva Schlasberg (SWE) 74 72 146
39 Lucy Williams (ENG) 2 73 73 146
40 Portland Rosen (USA) 2 73 73 146
41 Anna Christina Kindgren (COL) (am) 2 72 74 146
42 Linda Henriksson (FIN) 72 74 146
43 Jienalin Zhang (Am) (CHN) 72 74 146
44 Elisabetta Bertini (ITA) 71 75 146
45 Kyle Roig (PUR) 70 76 146
46 Wei Wei Zhang  (CHN) (am) 76 71 147
47 Ashley Ona (AUS) 75 72 147
48 Olafia Kristinsdottir (ISL) 73 74 147
49 Nicole Garcia (RSA) 72 75 147
50 Olivia Cowan (GER) (am) 72 75 147
51 Elisa Serramia (ESP) 71 76 147
52 Sanna Nuutinen (FIN) 71 76 147
53 Lien Willems (BEL) 79 69 148
54 Ariane Provot (FRA) 76 72 148
55 Josephine Janson (SWE) 75 73 148
56 Rebecca Sorensen (SWE) 75 73 148
57 Lauren Taylor (ENG) 75 73 148
58 Alison Whitaker (AUS) 75 73 148
59 Julia Davidsson (SWE) 74 74 148
60 Heather MacRae (SCO) 73 75 148
61 Sarah Schober (AUT) (am) 72 76 148
62 Amanda Strang (SWE) 72 76 148
63 Jane Turner (SCO) 71 77 148

PROJECTED CUT MARK AFTER ROUND 4 
 
64 Jamila Jaxaliyeva (KAZ) 77 72 149
65 Sarah-Jane Boyd (ENG) 77 72 149
66 Thanuttra Boonraksasat (THA) 77 72 149
67 Anna Svenstrup (SWE) 76 73 149
68 Jessica Karlsson (SWE) 76 73 149
69 Amber Ratcliffe (ENG) 75 74 149
70 Rachel Raastad (NOR) 74 75 149
71 Blair O\'Neil (USA) 73 76 149
72 Daisy Brierley (ENG) 73 76 149
73 Laure Sibille (FRA) 71 78 149
74 Kym Larratt (ENG) 70 79 149
75 Adriana Brent (AUS) 78 72 150
76 Smriti Mehra (IND) 76 74 150
77 Anjelika Hammar (SWE) 75 75 150
78 Charlotte Thompson (ENG) 75 75 150
79 Isabell Gabsa (GER) 75 75 150
80 Alessandra Braida (ITA) (am) 75 75 150
81 Natalia Escuriola Martinez (ESP) (am) 74 76 150
82 Ainil Bakar (MYS) 74 76 150
83 Lucie Hinnerova (CZE) 73 77 150
84 Vittoria Valvassori (ITA) 78 73 151
85 Victoria Lovelady (BRA) 77 74 151
86 Johanna Gustavsson (SWE) 76 75 151
87 Francesca Cuturi (RSA) 76 75 151
88 Jiayi Zhou (Am) (CHN) 76 75 151
89 Laura Sedda (ITA) 75 76 151
90 Karolin Lampert (GER) 73 78 151
91 Nobuhle Dlamini (SWZ) 80 72 152
92 Laura Murray (SCO) 79 73 152
93 Valdis Jonsdottir (ISL) 76 76 152
94 Melissa Eaton (RSA) 76 76 152
95 Natalie Wille (SWE) 76 76 152
96 Kristen Park (USA) 75 77 152
97 Krista Bakker (FIN) 72 80 152
98 Abbey Gittings (ENG) 80 73 153
99 Sofia Bjorkman (SWE) 77 76 153
100 Lauren Blease (ENG) 78 76 154
101 Therese Nerpin (SWE) 77 77 154
102 Oona Vartiainen (FIN) 76 78 154
103 Alessandra Averna (ITA) 75 79 154
104 Marie Fourquier (Am) (FRA) 75 79 154
105 Stefania Avanzo (ITA) 81 74 155
106 Kiran Matharu (ENG) 79 76 155
107 Tara Lyons (USA) 77 78 155
108 Anna Rossi (ITA) 76 79 155
109 Sheree Hasson (AUS) (am) 81 75 156
110 Kate Scarpetta (USA)  81 75 156
111 Leena Makkonen  (FIN) (am) 78 78 156
112 Annabel Dimmock (ENG) (am) 78 78 156
113 Rebecca Green (AUS) 76 80 156
114 Laura Sanchez (Am) (COL) 72 84 156
115 Cai Danting (Am) (CHN) 81 76 157
116 Melodie Bourdy (FRA) 75 82 157
117 Patricia Lobato (ESP) 82 76 158
118 Emma Nilsson (SWE) 80 78 158
119 Gemma Fuster Anglada (ESP)  78 80 158