SA girls fail to qualify in Scotland
WGSA President Cynthia Rayner reports, “Sadly, the South African girls did not qualify for the match play of the Girls British Open Amateur played at Gullane Golf Club in Scotland this week. The top qualifier was 17 year old Noemí Jiménez from Spain who finished on -5 and goes forward with 63 other girls today to the match play.
“Lara Weinstein teed off early and was hitting the ball better than she has done both here and in Germany. Things went wrong after the fifth hole, when she missed her one and a half meter eagle putt and ended with a par. With a lost ball on the 17th, she ended with an 81 which she knew was not going to be sufficient to qualify for the match play (77, 81).
“Michaela Fletcher got into trouble on the narrow second hole which resulted in a dreaded snowman (8). She has shown amazing character on her first overseas trip, and finished her second qualifying round as the best of our team with a total of 11 over par (79, 78).
“Izel Pieters, teeing off at 15:07 knew that she had to shoot around 69 to make the cut, but turning three over, this proved to be an almost impossible task. She carded a 78 (84, 78). The girls acknowledge that reaching the green in regulation is not sufficient and that you need to be within a couple of meters of the hole on the links greens in order to have birdie opportunities. They will leave Scotland very disappointed, but with a lot more experience under their young belts.
“Past President, Erica Lefson, told us that this was a tough school and she was certainly correct. If anything, this year’s field of 144 junior girls has outclassed previous years and produced top class golf. One understands that comparing with a previous year does not take into account weather conditions, but in this part of the world, the weather is never perfect so it is worthwhile making the comparison.
“The 2010 winning score for the two qualifying rounds played at Royal Belfast was one-over par and the qualifying score for match play (top 64) was 15 over par. This year, 17 year old Noemi Jimenez, top seed of the qualifiers, finished on five-under par, and the cut-off for qualifying for the match play was seven-over. Only one English girl finished in the top 10, which was dominated by French players. The best round came from 15 year old Emily Pedersen from Denmark, who carded a 67 in the second round and is tied sixth.”