No luck for Leona in Ricoh Women’s British Open Final Qualifying
Leona Maguire
World amateur No 1 Leona Maguire came up four shots shy in her bid to join Stephanie Meadow in this week’s Ricoh Women’s British Open at Turnberry.
The Duke and Slieve Russell star shot a four over 78 in the battle for 12 spots from Final Qualifying at Irvine Golf Club on Monday, finishing tied 36th. Scoring
England’s Charlotte Ellis, the 29-year-old former England international and past Helen Holm Scottish women’s amateur stroke play champion, led the qualifiers in miserable, wet conditions.
Out first at 7.30am, her superb round of five-under-par 69 proved unbeatable with Georgia Hall getting closest with a four-under 70.
At the end of the regulation play, there was a play-off involving the six competitors who returned par-matching 74s. The six went out again in the still wet conditions after 6.30pm with the last four qualifying places and the first two alternate places at stake.
Madelene Sagstrom, the World No 3 female amateur from Sweden, Scot Vikki Laing, Rebecca Hudson from England and Minea Blomqvist of Finland secured their starting spots at Turnberry by parring the first play-off hole.
Celine Herbin (France) and Liz Young (England) and both had bogeys 5s and were left to contest the first and second alternate places. The nine players who had finished on 75 played-off for the third and fourth alternate spots.
World Amateur No 2 Bronte Law was disqualified for using a distance measuring device at the fourth hole while Ireland’s Hermoine Fitzgerald shot an 81.
Final Qualifier at Irvine Golf Club (Par 74)
Qualifiers for Turnberry
69 C Ellis (Eng)
70 G Hall (Eng)
71 A Simon (SAfr)
72 N Holleder (Ger), C Mertens (Ger) (am)
73 S Walker (Eng), M Balikoeva (Russia), C Booth (Sco)
74 L Strom (Swe) (am), V Laing (Sco), R Hudson (Eng), M Blomqvist (Fin)
FAILED TO QUALIFY
74 (eliminated in play-off) C Herbin (Fra) 1st alternate. L Young (Eng) 2nd alternate
75 M Sagstrom (Swe) (am) 3rd alternate, P Sanz (Spa) 4th alternate, A Peters (Eng), M Jorgensen (Den), C Leathem (Eng) (am), A Lewis (USA). A Vilatte (Fra), B Morgan (Wal), B Mozo (Spa)
76 M Beautell ( Spa), W Hillier (Australia), L Johansson (Swe) (am), E Goddard (Eng), S Keech (Eng) (am), A-K Lindner (Ger)
77 E Henrikson (Swe) (am), L Taylor (Eng), S L Bregman (SAf), L Murray (Sco), Jing Yan (China), N Tamminen (Fin), E Givens (Eng)
78 Leona Maguire (Ire) (am), V Derrey (Fra), B Brewerton (Wal), C Williams (Wal) (am), C Afonso (Fra), C Leurquin (Bel), C Bristow (NZ), C Wolf (Austria), K Macdonald (Sco), C Woods (USA)
79 D Luna (Ita), S Hassan (Eng), M Rigon (Ita)
80 T Boyes (Eng), J Bradley (Eng) (am), M MacLaren (Eng) (am), H MacRae (Sco), I Ramsay (Swe), S-J Smith (Australia), C Martens (Norway), M Wold (Norway) (am)
81 H Fitzgerald (Ire), A Dimmock (Eng), H Aitchison (Eng)
82 M Silva (Spa), M Sanz (Spa)
84 I Clyburn (Eng) (am), G Clews (Eng) (am), S Na (Australia), A Gray (Eng) 85 C C Bulford (USA) (am), J Maihaniemi (Fin)
86 C Ricolfi (Ita) (am), M Nicol (Eng)
90 E Slater (Eng) (am)
DISQ Bronte Law (Eng) (am)
