Helen Holm Day 2

Another warm, dry day for the girls playing in the Helen Holm over Troon Portland.

Louise and Hazel both had rounds under par to end the day tied for 6th place on 6 under par. Louise had a very steady one under par on both the front and back 9 to card a 70, Hazel was one over at the turn but 6 birdies and one bogey on the back 9 led to a round of 69. Both girls are safely through to the 3rd round.

Luisa followed her level par first round with a 2 over par round of 74 today, having reached the turn in 5 over she recovered well to come back in 3 under par. Luisa also made the cut finishing tied 17th in a field of 92 players.

Unfortunately Freya missed out on a place in tomorrow's 3rd round, an excellent 5 over par for her last 27 holes wasn't quite enough to make up for her disappointing front 9 in round one.

Round 3, which is usually played over the Old Course, will this year be played over Portland and tees off at 0730 tomorrow morning. Louise and Hazel are drawn together and they will tee off at 1030. Luisa starts at 1000.

Play well girls.

Louise continues her good form

Louise Duncan has a share of second place after the opening round of this year's Helen Holm. Louise shot a 4 under par round of 68 today which included a 5 under par back 9.

One shot further back is Hazel MacGarvie in a tie for 6th.

Luisa Gibson had a level par round of 72 and Freya Russell shot a one over par back 9 after a disappointing front 9 of 46.

Holders beaten in winter foursomes

Minnie Hamilton and Liz Fitzpatrick (Barassie) winners of the winter foursomes the last 2 years lost out by 1 hole to Irene Papworth and Gillian Pollock (Skelmorlie).  Revenge for the Skelmorlie girls after losing out in the final last year!

They now have a semi final match against  Ann Wallace (St Nicholas) and Susan McKenzie (Balfron)

The second semi final is between Elspeth Howie and Janet Harkness (Skelmorlie) and Angela Hughes and Pauline Patrick (Irvine)

Helen Holm

Good luck to the following who are all taking part in the Helen Holm which starts at Troon Portland tomorrow -

Luisa Gibson, Louise Duncan, Hazel MacGarvie and Freya Russell, 

This is a 3 round stroke play event, traditionally played in April, now known as Scottish Women's Open Championship. There will be a cut on Wednesday evening with the top qualifiers progressing to the final round on Thursday.

Good luck to all

Scottish Seniors

It was a tough draw in the championship for Liz Keohone who lost out to the eventual winner, Karen Ferguson-Snedden.

In the nett match play Joanne Sharp and Angela Hughes won their first round ties but both lost their afternoon matches.

Well done ladies for making it through

Mixed Fortunes for the Seniors

After a tough 36 holes stroke play at the Scottish Seniors in Aberdour, Liz Keohone (Loudoun) has successfully qualified for the match play stages. Tomorrow morning she will play Karen Ferguson-Sneddon (Mortonhall) in the first round.

Just missing out on a place by 2 strokes was Joanne Sharp (Barassie) however she has qualified for the nett match play and faces Letty MacKinnon (Kingsknowe) in the morning. She is joined in the draw by Angela Hughes (Irvine) who will take on Barbara Biggart (North Berwick)

Scottish Seniors

Good luck to Linda Grieve, Angela Hughes, Liz Keohone and Joanne Sharp who are all playing in the Scottish senior women's amateur at Aberdour this week.

Two rounds of stroke play (Tuesday/Wednesday) will be followed by the top 16 qualifiers going into match play on Thursday and Friday.

Winter Foursomes

We now have a quarter final line up for the Covid delayed Winter Foursomes!!

At the top of the draw we have Sandra Carruthers and Linda Nairn (both St Nicholas) against Ann Wallace (St Nicholas) and Susan McKenzie (Balfron)

We then have Marion Hamilton and Liz Fitzpatrick, the holders, (both Barassie) against the Skelmorlie pairing of Irene Papworth and Gillian Pollock

In the bottom have we have Kilbirnie pairing Nancy Shedden and Anne Gilbert taking on another Skelmorlie pairing Elspeth Howie and Janet Harkness.

Last, but not least, we have Angela Hughes and Pauline Patrick (both Irvine) against Maureen Shimmons (Belleisle) and Carol Robertson (St Nicholas)

Jamboree round up

A better day on the weather front and the golf front today at Cardross! 

With all to play for Ayrshire were up against the undefeated D&A team and it was a very close match going down to the last match on the last green, a great effort from Ayrshire but they lost out by 3.5 to 4.5. There were wins for Freya Russell, Audrey Thompson and Jenny Linklater with Lorna Ronnie coming from behind in her match to secure a half.

Our result meant that D&A were anxiously awaiting the result of the second flight of matches between Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire. A win for Renfrewshire would mean they lifted the title but a win for Lanarkshire would hand it to D&A. 

A number of their matches also went down to the last green with Lanarkshire finally winning by 5 points to 3 much to the delight of the D&A team waiting at the clubhouse.

D&A won the last time they hosted the event, back at Douglas Park in 2016, and it was a nail biting finish that year too, they now go to the Scottish Finals at Forres in August to represent the West. 

Well done to them and good luck at the finals. Well done also to the Ayrshire girls who did their very best to retain the title and a big thank you to those of you who made it up to Cardross to support the team.

Captain Joanne with the ALCG mascot

Day 3 team

Lunch on the terrace apres golf, awaiting the final matches

Day Two

Another tough day at the office for the girls against a young, strong Lanarkshire team. Luisa Gibson led the team out today and had an excellent win against their champion Susan Wood. Sadly we had to wait until the last game for our other success when Catherine Garrett had a great half against Katie Graham.

Renfrewshire and D&A had a halved match which makes for an interesting final day with the title up for grabs! Current scores - D&A 3 points, Renfrewshire 3 points, Lanarkshire 2 points, Ayrshire 0

Warming up

Ready for Action

First Tee

Heading for home

Post match debate

Day one at Cardross

Ayrshire started the defense of their title today at Cardross against a very experienced Renfrewshire team. There were some very close games but Renfrewshire were on form and won the match 6 games to 2.

Freya Russell, in her first senior county match, had a great win against the new West of Scotland Champion, Julie Wilson. Our other point came from Luisa Gibson who was making her second appearance in the team after her debut at the County Finals in 2019.

In the other match Dunbartonshire & Argyll beat Lanarkshire by 4.5 to 3.5. Ayrshire will play lanarkshire tomorrow, where a win will keep our hopes alive going into the final day.

Jamboree

The annual West of Scotland Inter County Matches begin tomorrow at Cardross Golf Club. This year we are having a different format to ensure that we are being "covid" safe and friendly!

There will be no foursomes matches only 8 singles each day with the first flight teeing off at 1000 and the second at 12 noon.

Ayrshire will begin the defense of the title they won at Prestwick in 2019 by playing Renfrewshire in the second flight at 12 noon tomorrow.

They will play Lanarkshire on Tuesday, again at 12 noon, then Dunbartonshire & Argyll on Wednesday at 1000. 

Good luck to the Ayrshire team!

Match details will be posted on here daily.

Champion Louise

What a joy to be at Kilmarnock Barassie Golf Club this afternoon to see our own County Champion, Louise Duncan, finish off a terrific week by becoming the British Women's Amateur Champion.

After a close front 9 in the morning round Louise hit some great form on the back 9 to take a 5 hole advantage into the afternoon. A holed bunker shot for a birdie at the 1st hole extended her lead and she never really looked back.

The last Ayrshire player to hold this title was Helen Holm back in 1938 so it's been a long wait!

Louise now automatically gets a place at this years AIG Women's Open at Carnoustie, the US Women's Open, the Evian Championship and the Augusta National Women's Amateur Championship. A fantastic opportunity.

Hopefully Louise will also have done enough to be selected for this year's Curtis Cup which is due to be held at Conwy Golf Club in August.

Barassie update

After a fantastic back 9 Louise finished the first round of the final 5 up against her Icelandic opponent.

Afternoon round starts at 1pm

Louise through to the final

After a nail biting semi final against Hannah Darling, Louise Duncan has won through to the final of the British Amateur Womens Golf Championship at Barassie Golf Club.

There was never more than one hole between them through the whole match, Louise won the 4th with a birdie 2 but then lost the 5th. She was one hole down at the turn but squared it at the 10th and it remained that way until she went one up at the 16th. After a half at 17 Hannah then managed to square the match at the 18th but Louise won through with a birdie on the first extra hole.

In the final Louise will play the Icelandic girl Johanna Lea Ludviksdottir who earlier in the week put out Hazel MacGarvie, Royal Troon. She also had a very close semi final against another Scot, Shannon McWilliam from Aboyne. The Scot was 3 holes up at one point but sadly lost out at the 19th.

Louise is the first Scottish finalist in the event since Kelsey MacDonald, who was runner up back in 2010, and previously it was the all Scottish affair of 1997 when Alison (Rose) Davidson beat Mhairi McKay at Cruden Bay.

Since 2007 no less than 6 Solheim Cup players have won this prestigious event and with this being a Curtis Cup year a slot in the GB&I team could well be up for grabs for the winner.

Sadly, due to Covid restrictions, spectators are not allowed to watch the golf which is very frustrating considering that Ayrshire is hosting the event. However the 36 hole final will be aired live by the R&A's You Tube and Facebook channels as well as RandA.org

Good luck to Louise from everyone at ALCGA

Third time lucky for Ayrshire?

 Louise booked her place in this afternoon's semi final of the British amateur with a one hole victory this morning.

The only thing standing between Louise and a place in the final is Broomieknowes Hannah Darling. The teenager, who is in the top 50 of the world amateur golf rankings, has beaten 2 of our Ayrshire players on her way to the semi final. 

Let's hope Louise can go one step further.

Louise marches on

Current county champion, Louise Duncan, continued her great form and has played her way into the quarter finals of the British Women's amateur championship at Barassie golf club. 

In the morning she beat Englands Lottie Woad by 3&2 followed by an impressive 6&4 win in the afternoon against Sara Byrne from Ireland.

Unfortunately our other Ayrshire girls, Hazel and Rachel, both lost very close matches in the morning.

Louise plays Jessica Baker from England for a place in the semi finals

British Amateur update

After the first match play round at Barassie today Ayrshire still have 3 players left in the event, Louise Duncan, Hazel MacGarvie and Rachel Foster will all be in action again tomorrow morning.

After a tough draw Luisa Gibson unfortunately lost to Hannah Darling 3&2 today

St Cuthbert results

Great turn out at St Cuthbert yesterday for our June competition and some great scores!!

Best scratch, and winner of the Eleanor Taylor memorial trophy, Roz Purdom (St Nicholas) with a 79

1st Silver Katie Hodge (St Nicholas) 84 - 19 = 65

2nd Silver June Dempster (St Nicholas) 86 - 19 - 67 bih

1st Bronze Sandra Johnson (Kilbirnie) 86 - 26 = 60

2nd Bronze Sheena Spence (St Nicholas) 94 - 30 = 64 bih

The winner of the quaich finalists for Bronze division was Sandra Johnson

Well done to all the winners and enjoy all these handicap reductions!  Qualifiers for the McCall Salver (Bronze match play) will be notified in due course once the draw has been completed.

British Amateur

Very well done to all our Ayrshire players in this weeks British Amateur Championship being played at Kilmarnock Barassie Golf Club, especially have coming straight to the event after a busy weekend playing at Gullane in the Scottish.

After 2 rounds of stroke play the top 64 players in the field go through to the match play stages. The best Ayrshire qualifier is Louise Duncan, West Kilbride, who finished in 7th place on level par. Also qualifying are Hazel MacGarvie, Royal Troon, 21st, Rachel Foster, St Nicholas, 35th and Luisa Gibson, Irvine, 62nd

Missing out on the match play is Freya Russell, Royal Troon, who scored an excellent 2 over par 75 today but had a difficult first round

More information and a copy of the draw is available on the R&A website

Disappointment at Gullane this afternoon

Sadly our Ayrshire girls didn't progress to the semi final stages of the Scottish Championship. Luisa lost out to Tara MacTaggart by 4&3 then Rachel lost by one hole to Chloe Goadby.

In the Clark Rosebowl Freya had a very close match with Katy Alexander losing out at the 19th.

Well done to all the Ayrshire players who took part at Gullane and good luck to those of you going on to play in the British at Barassie next week.

Match play update

Top qualifier Louise Duncan was up against tough opposition this morning in Clara Young the 2015 Scottish Champion from North Berwick. It was a very close match with Louise missing out on the first extra hole.

Luisa Gibson won her match 3&2 and will now face Tara Mactaggart from Minto in this afternoons quarter finals. Tara was a semi finalist at Barassie in 2019.

In the all Ayrshire match Rachel Foster came out top with a 4&3 win against Hazel MacGarvie. Rachel will now face Chloe Goadby, beaten finalist in 2019, who had to go to the 23rd hole before securing her place in the next round.

In the Clark Rosebowl, Freya Russell had a close match against Lanarkshire's Taylor White before winning by 2 holes. She will now play Katy Alexander from Blairgowrie this afternoon.

Ayrshire Success at Gullane

It was a great day for Ayrshire players in the Stroke play stages of the Scottish Womens Amateur Championship at Gullane.

Louise Duncan (West Kilbride), runner up at the same stage when the event was last played at Barassie in 2019, went one step further with an impressive 9 under par total to top the leaderboard. After dropping 2 shots in her opening 2 holes she completed a level par round in the morning. In the afternoon she had 2 eagles in the space of her first 5 holes and a further 2 eagles on the back 9 on her way to a fantastic 9 under par round of 65.

Three players are one shot behind including Luisa Gibson (Irvine) who was the leader after her first round of 69. Luisa narrowly missed out on qualifying for the match play at Barassie but is safely though this time.

A further shot behind is Rachel Foster (St Nicholas) who improved on her 10th place at Barassie by qualifying tied 5th on 7 under par.

Ayrshire has a 4th qualifier for the match play stages with Hazel MacGarvie (Royal Troon) finishing tied 10th. Hazel had an albatross and 2 eagles on her way to an afternoon round of 3 under par.

Commiserations to Freya Russell (Royal Troon) who missed out on qualification by one stroke however she has qualified for the Clark rosebowl.

Unfortunately 2 of our Ayrshire players (Rachel and Hazel) are drawn against each other in tomorrow mornings matches but good luck to all the girls. Play well and enjoy.

Scottish Amateur

Good luck to the following Ayrshire members who are playing in the Scottish Womens Amateur Championship at Gullane Golf Club.  

Caitlyn Bilham (Irvine) Louise Duncan (West Kilbride) Rachel Foster (St Nicholas) Luisa Gibson (Irvine) Hazel MacGarvie (Royal Troon) Emma Ritchie (Troon Ladies) Freya Russell (Royal Troon)

There will be 36 holes stroke play on Friday 6 June before the top 16 progress to match play on Saturday morning.

Foursomes Results

Well done to the Ayrshire pairing of Janet Harkness and Elspeth Howie (Skelmorlie) who finished 3rd today in the handicap section of the Inter County Foursomes final at East Kilbride.

Full results can be found on the Lanarkshire Ladies website - https://llcga.blogspot.com

Inter County Foursomes

Good luck to all the Ayrshire ladies playing in the Inter County 4s final at East Kilbride today.