Merry Christmas to all our members from the Captain and Committee, stay safe and enjoy!
Winter Foursomes reach quarter final stages
We now have the full line up for this years Winter Foursomes -
At the top of the draw Kim Murdoch and Jane Belford (St Nicholas) take on last years runners up Ann Wallace (St Nicholas) and Susan McKenzie (Balfron)
We then have Lesley Barker (Barassie) and Vicky Cameron (Troon Ladies) taking on the holders Elspeth Howie and Janet Harkness (Skelmorlie)
In the bottom half 2020 runners up Irene Papworth and Gillian Pollock (Skelmorlie) will play 2019 runners up Liz Keohone and Audrey Thompson (Loudoun)
The final match is an all St Nicholas line up with Ros Purdom and Eleanor Noble taking on Katie Hodge and June Dempster
All matches to be played by December 19th, good luck ladies
Betty Fulton
It is with great sadness that I have to report the death of ALCGA member Mrs Betty Fulton.
Betty was a member of Irvine Golf Club and also a very loyal and long standing member of Ayrshire Ladies.
There are very few Honorary members of the County but Betty was awarded this honour in 2012 in recognition of her 20 years service as Treasurer.
Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this sad time.
Ann
McCall Salver Result
On a bright but very blustery day the final was contested by Sandra Johnson (Kilbirnie) and Lorna Spencer (Largs) over West Kilbride.
Sandra got off to a good start winning the 1st with a par to go 1 up. They halved the 2nd with Lorna finding lots of bunkers in the front 9 but managed to keep it to 2 down at the turn. The back 9 was more evenly matched with lots of halved holes and Sandra started to find the bunkers. Lorna had a good run and managed to get the match back to all square on the 14th, they halved the next 2 with Sandra sinking a long putt to win the 17th. Lorna played the 18th very well but Sandra managed to sink another longish putt to half the hole and finish the match 1 up.
Well played, ladies, it was a very close game.
Thanks go to Helen Craig, Competition Secretary, for the report
McCall Salver
Good luck to Sandra Johnson (Kilbirnie) and Lorna Spencer (Largs) who are playing in the final of the McCall Salver at West Kilbride tomorrow morning.
Royal Troon
Ninety members managed to take advantage of the opportunity to play the Old Course, Troon on Monday afternoon.
The weather was a bit overcast and breezy but it was dry. Unfortunately it was getting dark when the later games finished but the day seemed to be a success.
1st Yvonne Park, Carol Robertson, Ann Gilbert, Sheila McDougall 64pts
2nd Katie Hodge, Liz Keohone, Helen McGibbon, Irene Smith 63pts
3rd Alison Jarvie, Lesley Barker, Julie Macke, Pauline Patrick 61pts
Well done ladies, great scoring.
Thanks to Sheila Shedden for all her hard work arranging the draw and getting everybody on to the 1st tee on time!
Championship Final
Today's finalists, Jenny and Freya, ready for action
Jane Gillen (WK) referee, Nancy Chisholm ALCGA Hon President and Joanne Sharp ALCGA Captain with the 2 finalists
The Championship final was played today in, what's fair to say, pretty miserable conditions. Despite the weather the 2 finalists put on a great display of golf for the spectators who came to brave the elements.
Freya got off to a flying start winning the first with a birdie at the first and the match remained 1 up, thanks to some fantastic putting by both players, until the 8th when Jenny found bunker trouble off the tee and Freya doubled her lead.
The next 2 holes were halved before Freya then had a run of winning holes to finish the match on the 14th to become the youngest winner of the ALCGA championship at the age of just 15.
Well done to both girls, a great achievement getting to the final and battling the elements today.
Top qualifier, Sarah Ramsay, receiving her trophy
Runner up Jenny, still smiling
Champion Freya
Freya with her very proud Mum!
Ayrshire will have a new Champion
Neither of tomorrow's finalists have won the Ayrshire County Championship before so there will be a new name on the trophy this year.
In the first match this afternoon top qualifier, Sarah Ramsay, lost out to Jenny Linklater, finalist at West Kilbride back in 2008.
Jenny will now face Freya Russell who beat 2018 Champion Lorna Ronnie, this will be Freya's first County Championship final.
The final will tee off at 1205 tomorrow at West Kilbride Golf Club, spectators welcome.
Match play update
Top qualifier Sarah Ramsay won through this morning against Catherine Garrett and will play Jenny Linklater this afternoon who beat Joanne Sharp.
Catherine and Sarah
Jenny and Joanne
In the bottom half of the draw Lorna Ronnie beat Jocelyn Faris and will play Freya Russell who won against Audrey Thompson
Lorna and Jocelyn
Freya and Audrey
County Championship
Sixty seven ladies played today at West Kilbride in our delayed 2021 Coumty Championship.
Top qualifier for the match play was Sarah Ramsay (West Kilbride) with an excellent score of 78.
Sarah will now play fellow club mate Catherine Garrett in the first round on Thursday morning.
Full match play draw -
0931 Sarah v Catherine
0938 Joanne Sharp (Barassie) v Jenny Linklater (Largs)
0945 Lorna Ronnie (Barassie) v Jocelyn Faris (West Kilbride)
0952 Freya Russell (Royal Troon) v Audrey Thompson (Loudoun)
Prize winners from today are -
1st Scratch Sarah Ramsay (Trophy winner)
2nd Scratch Freya Russell
1st Silver Lorna Ronnie 79-8=71
2nd Silver Katie Ronnie (Barassie) 86-14=72
1st Bronze Margaret White (St Nicholas) 95-22=73
2nd Bronze Christine MacLeod (St Nicholas) 99-25=74 bih
Full list of scores are available on HowdidIdo
Commonwealth Spoons
Good luck to the following Ayrshire ladies who are competing in the Commonwealth Spoons tomorrow at Dullatur Golf Club
Arlene Sinclair and Angela Hughes (Irvine)
Jennifer Mutter and Carolyn Christie (Troon Ladies)
Mara Lindsay and Christine MacLeod (St Nicholas)
Vicky Cameron (Troon Ladies) and Lesley Barker (Barassie)
No rest for Louise
After a very busy and successful trip to the Women's British Open at Carnoustie Louise is now in Wales representing GB&I at the Curtis Cup! This is one of the top accolades in amateur golf and a great achievement for the West Kilbride player. Along with her is Hazel MacGarvie from Royal Troon who is a travelling reserve.
GB&I were successful on the 2 previous "home" ties at Dun Laoghaire in 2016 and Nairn in 2012, let's hope they can make it 3 in a row
Day 4 at Carnoustie
Louise tees off at the 1st hole on her final round of the Women's British Open
Good luck from all at ALCGA
Carnoustie
Good luck to Louise Duncan who is playing in the AIG Women's British Open which starts tomorrow at Carnoustie.
Louise qualified for the event thanks to her great win at the British Amateur earlier this year.
She tees up tomorrow at 1154 and on Friday at 0714 alongside playing partners Georgia Hall and Megan Khang.
Competition Results
Sixty seven ladies played today at Ballochmyle in the Coronation Medals competition, the temperature was a bit lower than it has been recently which made it very pleasant for golf plus there was little or no wind and only a little light rain.
Some ladies obviously took advantage of the good conditions and the silver division was won with a great score of nett 64 by Janet Harkness (Skelmorlie)
As always, full results are on Howdidido but today's winners were -
Silver
Janet Harkness (Skelmorlie) 79-15=64
Sheila Shedden (St Nicholas) 85-17=68
Bronze
Lisa Neilson (Barassie) 02-22=70
Yvonne Park (Barassie) 95-23=72
Scratch
Liz Keohone (Loudoun) 78
Well done ladies
Congratulations Louise
Congratulations are in order again for our reigning County Champion Louise Duncan (West Kilbride) who has been selected to represent GB&I against the USA at the Curtis Cup later this month. One of the highest honours in Ladies Amateur Golf.
Congratulations also to Hazel MacGarvie (Royal Troon) who has been selected as a travelling reserve.
Scottish Caps
Congratulations to the following Ayrshire players who have been selected to represent Scotland at next weeks Home Internationals.
Ladies
Louise Duncan (West Kilbride)
Hazel MacGarvie (Royal Troon)
Girls
Rachel Foster (St Nicholas)
The Event is being held at Woodhall Spa, the home of England Golf, from 4-6 August and alongside the Girls' and Ladies' matches there will also be the Boys', Senior Women and Senior Men.
Good luck to all the Scottish teams
Winter Foursomes Final
The final of the 2020/21 winter foursomes was finally played on a glorious summer day at Largs Golf Club.
The finalists were the sister pairing of Ann Wallace (St Nicholas) and Susan McKenzie (Balfron) against the Skelmorlie pairing of Janet Harkness and Elspeth Howie.
L to R Susan, Janet, Elspeth and Ann
As often is the case, it was a game of 2 halves with the Skelmorlie girls playing steady golf and taking a 3 hole lead at the turn. They then won the 10th hole to go 4 ahead but the sisters came onto their game and took 3 of the next 5 holes to only be one down standing on the 16th.
A poor second shot followed by a 3 putt handed the hole to the Skelmorlie girls who were then 2 up with 2 holes to play. They then got the half they needed on 17 to win the match by 2&1
Hugs all round
Worthy Winners
Thanks go to Largs Golf Club for courtesy of the course, Sheila Shedden for refereeing, Gillian Pollock for supporting and photographs and to Joanne Sharp and Helen Craig for also coming along.
Summer Meeting
Seventy five ladies enjoyed a lovely day at Whitecraigs yesterday for our Summer Meeting.
Quite a tricky course but some good scores recorded
1st silver Jocelyn Faris, West Kilbride, 83-11=72
1st bronze Lorna Spencer, Large, 92-22=70 (trophy winner)
Best scratch Joanne Sharp, Barassie, 79
All scores available on howdido
Scotland finish 4th
In the final day of the European team championships the Scottish Ladies team lost to a very strong Italian team to finish the event in a very respectable 4th place. The highlight, I am sure, will be the team finishing top of the leaderboard and going into the match play stages in number one position.
The eventual winners of the event were England who defeated Scotland in Friday's semi final match.
Well done Captain Susan and her team.
Back L to R - Lorna McClymont (Milngavie), Louise Duncan (West Kilbride), Susan Wood (non playing Captain), Shannon McWilliam (Aboyne), Hannah Darling (Broomieknowe)
Kneeling L - Chloe Goadby (St Regulus) R - Hazel MacGarvie (Royal Troon)
Scots pipped at the post by the English
Scotland got off to a great start in their semi final match against England by winning both of the opening foursomes matches.
They headed into the 5 singles needing 2 further points to reach the final.
Louise Duncan got one of the points with a 4&3 win but 2 wins by the English and the 2 remaining matches sitting all square set up a nail biting finish.
Hazel MacGarvie had to go to extra holes with her opponent winning at the 19th and the final match also went England's way to take them into the final.
Scotland now face a play off against Italy to determine 3rd and 4th place.
Scottish team through to semi finals
It was a nail biting day in Ireland as the Scottish team took on the Spanish.
Having lost both the morning foursomes and the first singles match they needed to win their remaining 4 games to progress.
All games were close but Chloe Goadby, Hazel MacGarvie, Shannon Mcwilliam and Hannah Darling all won to book the team a place in the semi final tomorrow.
Their opponents are England after their win by 5 points to 2 over the Czech Republic.
Winter foursomes final
This year's, covid delayed, final of the winter foursomes will take place at Largs Golf Club next Friday, July 16th
The finalists are Ann Wallace (St Nicholas) and Susan McKenzie (Balfron) against Elspeth Howie and Janet Harkness (Skelmorlie)
Scotland qualify top at the Europeans
The Scottish ladies team are currently playing in the European championships being held at Royal County Down, Ireland.
Ayrshire players Louise Duncan and Hazel MacGarvie are part of the team of 6 who were top qualifiers after 2 rounds of stroke play.
They now go into group stages where the format changes to match play. This morning they play Spain for a place in the semi finals
Overseas winner of Helen Holm
Despite a number of Scottish players in contention after the 2nd round of the Helen Holm, Australian Kirsten Rudgeley shot a final round 66 to take the title. She won by one stroke from Emily Toy (England) and Hannah Darling (Scotland)
Hazel MacGarvie was the best placed Ayrshire player finishing 5th with an 8 under par total. Next was Louise Duncan who finished 10th on 3 under then Luisa Gibson was tied 28th on 6 over par.
Good luck to Hazel and Louise who are off to Ireland on Saturday as part of the Scottish team competing in the European Ladies Team Championship at Royal County Down.
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.
Good Luck
Good luck to Louise Duncan (West Kilbride) and Hazel MacGarvie (Royal Troon) who are taking part in the St Role Trophy in St Andrews this weekend. Hazel is the holder of this title winning back in 2019 with an impressive 18 under par total in this prestigious hole event.
Good luck also to those girls playing in the Barry Douglas Foundation Junior Masters at Strathmore - Rachael Foster (St Nicholas), Freya Russell (Royal Troon) and Caitlyn Bilham (Irvine)
After the first 2 rounds, played today, Rachael is lying in 3rd place and Freya 7th
Ayrshire Team Announced
Due to the Covid 19 situation it was decided that this years Jamboree would be reduced to singles only. It is unfortunate but it's good that the event is able to proceed and the winning team will represent the West at the Scottish County Finals at Forres Golf Club from August 28-30
The following have been selected to represent Ayrshire at Cardross Golf Club on Monday 14 to Wednesday 16 June -
Rachael Foster (St Nicholas)
Catherine Garrett (West Kilbride)
Luisa Gibson (Irvine)
Jenny Linklater (Largs)
Pauline Patrick (Irvine)
Roz Purdom (St Nicholas)
Emma Ritchie (Troon Ladies)
Lorna Ronnie (Kilmarnock Barassie)
Freya Russell (Royal Troon)
Audrey Thompson (Loudoun)
There will be 8 singles matches each day and the order of play is as follows -
Renfrewshire Day 1, 12 noon first tee time
Lanarkshire Day 2, 12 noon first tee time
Dunbartonshire & Argyll Day 3, 10am first tee time
It has been decided that there will be NO CADDIES this year but spectators who wish to come along and support the team will be very welcome - especially wearing county colours.
Congratulations to all those who have been selected for the team this year and we all wish you the best of luck defending the title that Ayrshire won at Prestwick when the matches were last played in 2019.
Runner up spot for Joanne
After a great week at Renfrew Joanne was beaten in the final this afternoon by Lesley Lloyd (Lanarkshire)
This was Lesley's 4th West Vets title so she was up against some tough opposition.
Well done on a great week.
Joanne marches on
Captain Joanne has booked her place in this afternoons West Vets final at Renfrew Golf Club after a marathon match against Donna Jackson, winning at the 20th.
She will now play Lesley Lloyd (lanarkshire) in this afternoons final
Captain on form
Captain Joanne is playing in the West of Scotland Vets championship this week at Renfrew Golf Club. Having qualified at Cathkin Braes last week for the matchplay stages she was unfortunately drawn against fellow Ayrshire member Roz Purdom in the first round. They had a very close game with Joanne winning on the 18th hole.
In the afternoon quarter finals she was drawn against the top qualifier, Gillian Kyle (Renfrewshire), and she again won on the 18th hole to progress to her second semi-final in the event having last won through to the last 4 back in 2018.
Joanne will play Donna Jackson (Renfrewshire) in the semi-final which tees off at 0930 tomorrow.
Good luck Joanne
Other Ayrshire qualifiers in the scratch event were Liz Keohone and Helen Craig, and in the handicap event we had Carolyn Christie and Jocelyn Faris, well done ladies
Top 10 finish for Luisa
This week saw the Women's National Junior College Championship at Plantation Bay Golf and Country Club, Florida where Luisa Gibson (Irvine) was representing her college team Iowa Reivers.
In a field of 75 players over 4 rounds Luisa finished in 9th place which helped her team finish 4th overall.
Another great result for Luisa. Well done!
Foursomes Results
Some sort of "normality" returned yesterday when 86 of our Ladies descended on Kilbirnie Place Golf Club for the County Foursomes, our first fixture of 2021.
We last visited Kilbirnie back in 2009 so it was a first for quite a lot of our members and it's certainly a course which is a bit different!
A huge thank you to the Club for the courtesy of the course and to the kitchen staff who looked after us so well.
The full list of scores are available on howdidido but the following are the qualifiers (from those who were available) for the Inter County Foursomes at East Kilbride and the Commonwealth Spoons at Dullatur -
East Kilbride
1st Scratch Liz Keohone and Audrey Thompson (Loudoun) 79
2nd Scratch Arlene Sinclair and Angela Hughes (Irvine) 85
1st Handicap Jennifer Mutter and Carolyn Christie (Troon Ladies) 96-24=72
2nd Handicap Janet Harkness and Elspeth Howie (Skelmorlie) 99-26=73 bih
3rd Handicap Mara Lindsay and Christine MacLeod (St Nicholas) 98-25=73
4th Handicap Sandra Johnson and Nancy Shedden (Kilbirnie) 101-27=74 bih
Dullatur
1st Arlene Sinclair and Angela Hughes
2nd Jennifer Mutter and Carolyn Christie
3rd Lesley Barker and Vicki Cameron (Barassie)
4th Mara Lindsay and Christine MacLeod
Well done ladies and good luck to you all!
Birthday surprise for Nancy
Ayrshire Ladies Honorary President Nancy Chisholm, celebrates her 90th birthday later this month. The committee organised a gift of a "celebration" rose for her and took the opportunity to present it at the foursomes competition today at Kilbirnie Place Golf Club.
Nancy is a long standing member of Ayrshire Ladies, she played in the team many times and was County Captain from 1985-87. She became Honorary President in 2012.
Nancy was also awarded an MBE for services to golf in 2009, she is pictured here with that award surrounded by her very proud family, husband Bill and daughters Lindsey and Susan.
Happy Birthday Nancy from all your friends at ALCGA