Championships - Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship 2009
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10.06.2009
Spanish top seeds for matchplay stage of Amateur Championship
Spain dominated the qualifying stages of the Ladies British open amateur championship with Azahara Munoz, 21, and Carlota Ciganda, 19, both students at Arizona State University, sharing the No 1 position with great scoring – eight-under-par 138 for two rounds over the par-73 Royal St David’s Golf Club links at Harlech, North Wales.But there was disappointment for the four home countries, all of whose recent closed championship winners – Charlie Douglass (England), Megan Briggs (Scotland), Lisa Maguire (Ireland) and Tara Davies (Wales) – failed to beat the cut which sent nine players on the 154 mark out again in a play-off for the last six places in the match-play draw.
Surprise overnight leader Aedin Murphy from Carlow, Ireland dropped out of the pole position with a seven-over-par 80 in the second qualifying round.
Aedin admitted that she had felt more at ease in the gusting wind of Tuesday – when she returned a superb, six-under-par 67 - than she did in today’s more player-friendly conditions.
“I made a lot of mistakes with my club selection because of the different conditions,” said the 20-year-old National University of Ireland Maynooth finance student.
“But I’m still pretty happy with the way things are going. I came here with the goal of making the qualifiers for the match-play stages – and I’m going to achieve that.”
Aedin dropped four shots over the first five holes but did perk up with birdies at the sixth and seventh before subsiding to a bogey at the ninth for 40 (three over par) to the turn.
She also came home in 40 with no birdies and bogeys at the 10th, 11th, 14th and 16th.
Carlota Ciganda, 19, had set the clubhouse target of eight-under-par 138 at lunchtime on Day 2 and it was equalled around 5pm by Azahara Munoz.
The wind that troubled some competitors in the first qualifying round had dropped but, of course, the punishing rough for those who strayed off the fairways was still there.
After a wettish start – first competitors left the tee at 6.30am – it became a warm and pleasant June day.
Carlota, a 19-year-old from Pamplona, Spain, improved on her opening round of 70 with a five-under-par 68 which contained one eagle, five birdies and two bogeys, both in an outward half of 36.
Miss Ciganda, the current European women’s amateur champion and winner of the British title at Alwoodley two years ago, recovered from an edgy start – a drive left that cost her a bogey 5.
Using a five wood off the second tee, she then pitched to within 2ft of the flagstick for her first birdie. She did not get a birdie at the first long hole, the third, but she did at both the par-5s close to the turn, the seventh and eighth.
Carlota holed from 18ft at the seventh and then was on the edge of the green in two at
Out in 36 (one under par), the Spaniard highlighted her round with an eagle 3 at the 434yd 13th where a good drive allowed her to get home with a seven-iron and she holed a 10ft putt for a 3.
Carlota was able to birdie the par-5 13th also, despite bunkering her drive. She played a good recovery and then got down in two shots from 100yds range.
She made it three sub-par figures in a row with a 2 at the 140yd 14th where she holed a 15ft putt after an accurate nine-iron tee shot.
Four pars to finish with got her home in four-under-par 32 for a splendid 68.
Eighteen-year-old Holly Clyburn (Woodhall Spa), beaten finalist in the recent English women’s championship, didn’t hole as many putts as she would have liked but a 72 – one shot worse than her first round effort, put her in the clubhouse at 143.
The wind began to get up in the early afternoon but from a different direction to the first day.
Curtis Cup teenager Carly Booth from Comrie looked in trouble when she required 42 shots for the first nine but she came romping home in 32 for a 76 and a tally of 148.
Leona Maguire, at 14 years of age, become arguably the youngest ever qualifier after she had a pair of 76s for 152.
Lisa, the current Irish women’s champion, followed up her opening 81 with a 75 for 156, two shots too many even to figure in the play-off.
By the time Azahara Munoz finished (around 5pm), the wind had steadily got up to a strength similar to the opening day. The only difference it was a different direction.
Azahara repeated her first-round 69 for eight-under-par 138 to share the lead with Carlota Ciganda.
Ciganda’s better second round earned her the honour being the No 1 seed.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if Carlota and I could meet in the final – my last final, it would be, in this championship,” said Azahara who has graduated from Arizona State University and is to turn professional after her last appearance as an amateur in the United States Women’s Open next month.
Miss Munoz had just one bogey over the 36 holes … three putts from 25ft at the fifth today. She birdied the second, third, eighth, 14th and 16th in halves of 35 and 34.
“I’m enjoying myself and really looking forward to the match-play stages,” said the British girls champion at Lanark in 2004.
Another US college player, Sweden’s Camilla Lennarth, a student at Alabama University, joined Holly Clyburn in third place on the 143 mark. Camilla’s second-round 71 gave her the edge as third seed.
Top Scot was Louise Kenney from Pitreavie, Dunfermline, beaten in the recent Scottish closed championship final. Louise, whose hayfever pills acted better than they did on the first day, had a 73 for 144, the same score as Canada’s Maude-Aimee Leblanc who had a pair of 72s. They were joint fifth but Maude-Aimee’s better second round made her the No 5 seed and Louise No 6..
Another Swede, last year’s beaten finalist, Caroline Hedwall, is running into form at the right time. She had a 71 for 145, alongside former English champion Hannah Barwood and yet another Spanish student at an American college, Marta Silva.
As to be expected, Spain (Ciganda, Munoz and Mireia Prat won the international team event with a best two from three total of 276. Sweden (288) were third and Scotland third with 295.
The nine players who contested the play-off were:
Jacqueline Hedwall (Sweden), Charlotte Wild (Mere), Giulia Molinaro (Italy), Katherine O’Connor (Tadmarton), Sherlyn Popelka (Switzerland), Celine Kortekaas (Netherlands), Nicola Rossler (Germany), Ane Urchegui (Spain) and Myrte Eikenaar (Netherlands).
Their sudden death play-off to eliminate three and decide who would be Nos 59 to 64 in the draw started at 7.40pm and finished at 10.30pm.
The holes used for the extra-time action were the first, the 13th, the 14th and the 18th.
PLAY OFF ALL PLAYERS ON 8 OVER PAR = 9 PLAYERS FOR 6 PLACES
1ST (par 4), 13TH (par 5), 14TH (par 3)
18TH (par 3) to be repeated
Jacqueline Hedwall Sweden 4 5 3 4 (2 @ 18th 4th time) Qualified
Charlotte Wild Mere 4 4 Qualified
Giulia Molinaro Italy 5 x
Katherine O'Connor Tadmarton 4 4 Qualified
Sherlyn Popelka Switzerland 5 x
Celine Kortekaas Netherlands 4 5 3 2 Qualified
Nicola Rossler Germany 4 5 3 3 Qualified
Ane Urchegui Spain 4 5 3 4 (3 @18th 4th time) x
Myrte Eikenaar Netherlands 4 4 Qualified
Surprise overnight leader Aedin Murphy from Carlow, Ireland dropped out
of the pole position with a seven-over-par 80 in the second qualifying round of the Ladies British open amateur championship at Royal St David’s Golf Club, Harlech in North Wales.
Aedin admitted that she had felt more at ease in the gusting wind of Tuesday – when she returned a superb, six-under-par 67 - than she did in today’s relatively calm conditions.
“I made a lot of mistakes with my club selection because of the different conditions,” said the 20-year-old National University of Ireland Maynooth finance student.
“But I’m still pretty happy with the way things are going. I came here with the goal of making the qualifiers for the match-play stages – and I’m going to achieve that.”
Aedin dropped four shots over the first five holes but did perk up with birdies at the sixth and seventh before subsiding to a bogey at the ninth for 40 (three over par) to the turn.
She also came home in 40 with no birdies and bogeys at the 10th, 11th, 14th and 16th.
Carlota Ciganda, 19, had set the clubhouse target of eight-under-par 138 at lunchtime on Day 2 and it was equalled around 5pm by her 21-year-old Spanish compatriot and Arizona State University team-mate Azahara Munoz
The wind that troubled some competitors in the first qualifying round had dropped but, of course, the punishing rough for those who strayed off the fairways was still there.
After a wettish start – first competitors left the tee at 6.30am – it became a warm and pleasant June day.
Carlota, a 19-year-old from Pamplona, Spain and a student at Arizona State University, improved on her opening round of 70 with a five-under-par 63 which contained one eagle, five birdies and two bogeys, both in an outward half of 36.
Miss Ciganda, the current European women’s amateur champion and winner of the British title at Alwoodley two years ago, recovered from an edge start – a drive left that cost her a bogey 5.
Using a five wood off the second tee, she then pitched to within 2ft of the flagstick for her first birdie. She did not get a birdie at the first long hole, the third, but she did at both the par-5s close to the turn, the seventh and eighth.
Carlota holed from 18ft at the seventh and then was on the edge of the green in two at
Out in 36 (one under par), the Spaniard highlighted her round with an eagle 3 at the 434yd 13th where a good drive allowed her to get home with a seven-iron and she holed a 10ft putt for a 3.
Carlota was able to birdie the par-5 13th also, despite bunkering her drive. She played a good recovery and then got down in two shots from 100yds range.
She made it three sub-par figures in a row with a 2 at the 140yd 14th where she holed a 15ft putt after an accurate nine-iron tee shot.
Four pars to finish with got her home in four-under-par 32 for a splendid 68.
Eighteen-year-old Holly Clyburn (Woodhall Spa), beaten finalist in the recent English women’s championship, didn’t hole as many putts as she would have liked but a 72 – one shot worse than her first round effort, put her in the clubhouse at 143.
The wind began to get up in the early afternoon but from a different direction to the first day.
New English champion, left-hander Charlie Douglass (Brocket Hall) had a disappointing 80 for 155 which made her a borderline case for making the cut.
Curtis Cup teenager Carly Booth from Comrie looked in trouble when she required 42 shots for the first nine but she came romping home in 32 for a 76 and a tally of 148.
The 14-year-old Maguire twins from Slieve Russell might find themselves on either side of the cut-off for the match-play stages.
Leona was set to become arguably the youngest ever qualifier after she had a pair of 76s for 152.
Lisa, the current Irish women’s champion, followed up her opening 81 with a 75 for 156.
By the time Azahara Munoz finished (around 5pm), the wind had steadily got up to a strength similar to the opening day. The only difference it was a different direction.
Azahara repeated her first-round 69 for eight-under-par 138 to share the lead with Carlota Ciganda who, if nobody dislodged them, would be the No 1 seed and top qualifier by virtue of having the better second round, a 68 to 69.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if Carlota and I could meet in the final – my last final, it would be, in this championship,” said Azahara who has graduated from Arizona State University and is to turn professional after her last appearance as an amateur in the United States Women’s Open next month.
Miss Munoz had just one bogey over the 36 holes … three putts from 25ft at the fifth today. She birdied the second, third, eighth, 14th and 16th in halves of 35 and 34.
“I’m enjoying myself and really looking forward to the match-play stages,” said the British girls champion at Lanark in 2004.
Another US college player, Sweden’s Camilla Lennarth, a student at Alabama University, joined Holly Clyburn in third place on the 143 mark. Camilla’s second-round 71 would give her the edge as third seed.
Another Swede, last year’s beaten finalist, Caroline Hedwall, is running into form at the right time. She had a 71 for 145, alongside former English champion Hannah Barwood and yet another Spanish student at an American college, Marta Silva.
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