Championships - Girls' British Open Amateur Championship 2010
« Back to news indexNews for this championship
Lisa Maguire (Slieve Russell)
12.08.2010
Lisa Maguire through to Semi Final in Belfast
Ireland’s Lisa Maguire, Alexandra Bonetti (France), Italy’s Laura Sedda and Andrea Vilarausau are the last four in Girls’ British open amateur championship.On another windy and sometimes cold day at Royal Belfast Golf Club, Lisa avenged the morning defeat of her 15-year-old twin, Leona, by beating Germany’s Antonia Scherer by one hole in the afternoon quarter-finals.
Scherer had beaten Leona by two holes.
“I couldn’t say that playing the player who beat my sister motivated me but it’s nice to have one Maguire in the semi-finals of a British championship,” said Lisa who had beaten the No 6 seed, Spain’s Camilla Hedberg, by 2 and 1 to reach the last eight.
Lisa herself was 54th of the 64 qualifiers for the match-play stages while Leona was the No 3 seed, which underlines the belief that stroke-play – which was the format on Monday and Tuesday – and match-play are two completely different forms of golf.
Lisa Maguire’s crisp striking of her irons was the feature of her play and she felt that she “hit the ball very well and holed a few putts.”
“There are a lot of good players, good strikers of the ball in this championship and it’s really all about who holes the most putts on the day. I just hope that I can hole a few when I have to on Friday.”
The Maguire’s coach, Alan Ferguson, is Royal Belfast club’s professional, and he watched the last few holes of Lisa’s quarter-final but would not be drawn into making a comment.
“I’ll give you a quote when it’s all done on Friday,” he said.
Antonia Scherer won the first hole against Lisa and it took a birdie 4 by the Irish Curtis Cup player to square the match at the fifth. But the Germany went ahead ahead with a 3 at the short seventh.
Maguire squared the match at the 10th but went one down against the 11th . Then came possibly the turning point. In a swirling wind, Lisa hit a great five-iron second a the downhill 13th, the ball covering the flag all the way and coming to rest 8ft past the hole.
Scherer had missed the green right but pitched close to save a par 4. Up stepped Lisa and, with a minimum of fuss, which is characteristic of the play of both twins, she rolled the birdie putt home. That squared the match and she went one up for the first time at the 14th after both players were bunkered but Lisa’s recovery from the sand was a brilliant effort, stone dead for a winning 4.
Scherer was bunkered off the tee at the par-4 15th where Lisa hit a massive drive downwind of more than 280yd. That set up a winning par 4 to go two up.
Maguire should have finished off her opponent at the short 17th but missed a short putt to go back to one down. The handshakes were delayed only one hole with the long 18th halved in par 5s.
Her opponent in the semi-final will be the 18-year-old Parisienne, Alexandra Bonetti, the No 2 seed who led the field at the end of the first qualifying round with a 68. She had to battle to survive her quarter-final against Spain’s Ainhoa OLarra who was two up for a long way on the inward journey, having won the seventh and ninth after an early exchange of holes.
Bonetti was still two down with three to play – but staged a grandstand finish to win them all. She took the 16th with a birdie 4, the short 17th with a par 3 and the 18th with a par 5.
The first semi-final off the tee at 8.30am will feature Laura Sedda, a 17-year-old from Vicenza, near Venice in Italy, and Spain’s 16-year-old Andrea Vilarasau.
Sedda, the Italian Under-18 girls champion and winner of the Scottish Under-16 open title three years ago, qualified in 48th place compared with Vilarasau’s 20th spot.
Sedda knocked out the defending champion, France’s Perrine Delacour in Thursday’s second round and the No 1 seed, Julie Yang (South Korea) by 4 and 3 in today’s third round.
In the quarter-finals, France’s Emilie Alonso, the No 8 seed, looked to be dictating the flow for most of the way. But from two up after 11, she was pulled back to all square after 14th. Alonso did show in front again by winning the 17th with a birdie 2 but Sedda countered with a birdie 4 at the 18th to take the tie down the 19th. And at the first extra hole, Sedda won her place in the semi-finals with a birdie 3.
Vilarasau won an all-Spanish quarter-final by 3 and 2 against 14-year-old Ha Rang Lee.
Vilarasau looked to be heading for a win out in the country when she won the seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th to be five up. But her young opponent reversed the trend by winning the 12th, 13th and 14th to be down down after 14 holes.
It was so far and no further for Lee. The 15th was halved in 4s before Vilarasau took the long 16th with a par 5 for the match by 3 and 2.
THE MAIN PRESENTATION OF PRIZES WILL BE HELD AT APPROXIMATELY 4.30pm ON FRIDAY.
All competitors in receipt of a prize are required to attend the Prize Presentation. Any prize winner who fails to attend the prize presentation and has not recvorded her apologies in the Championship Office, will NOT receive a voucher and the equivalent value will instead be donated to the LGU’s official charity.
2010 QUALIFYING PRIZEWINNERS
TEAM AWARD – FRANCE 291
Celine Boutier
Perrine Delacour
Alexandra Bonetti
LOWEST 18-HOLE SCORE IN ROUND 1
Alexandra Bonetti 68 (-2)
LOWEST 18-HOLE SCORE IN ROUND 2
Ivon Reijers-Navas 69 (-1)
LEADING QUALIFIER / LADY HEATHCOAT MEDAL
Julie Yang 141 (+1)
LOWEST UNDER-16 / TODD BOWL
Julie Yang 141 (+1).
LOWEST UNDER-14
Charlotte Puts 161
QUARTER-FINALISTS
Emilie Alonso
Ha Rang Lee
Antonia Scherer
Ainhoa Olarra
SEMI-FINALS …………… to be decided.
RUNNER-UP ………………. to be decided.
WINNER …………………… to be decided
Entry is Free and spectators are welcome. Live updates available on Twitter!
Do you have comments or questions about the LGU?
LGU legal disclaimer | Privacy statement | Copyright © 2012 - Ladies' Golf Union
Ladies' Golf Union, The Scores, St. Andrews, Fife, KY16 9AT
Tel: 01334 475811, Fax: 01334 472818