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Championships - Ladies' British Open Amateur Stroke-Play Championship 2008

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20.08.2008

Aitken and Goumard lead in Malone

7.00pm

Former Kent county champion Claire Aitken and Junior Solheim Cup player Audrey Goumard from France shared the lead on two-under-par at the end of the first day of the Ladies' British women's open amateur stroke-play championship at Malone Golf Club, near Belfast. 

Claire, 22, whose string of successes last season included the Roehampton Gold Cup, needed a par at the last for a 69 and a clear lead to carry over to the second round. But she bogeyed the testing par-4 hole after running into some tree trouble and had to settle for a share of the honours. 

In the early part of her round, Aitken, a member of the Mid Kent club, looked on course for a sub-70 round. She started with a flourish, birdieing the second, third, fourth and seventh and was still four-under-par (33) at the turn. Claire's first mistakes came with back to back bogeys at the 12th, where she was bunkered, and 13th, where she missed the green and could not get up and down, but she got her momentum back by holing a 30ft putt for a birdie 2 at the short 15th ... only to take that 5 at the 18th. 

Audrey Goumard, an 18-year-old +3 player from the Pay de La Loire region in west France, demonstrated how much things can change from one week to the next in golf. Last week, she failed by several shots to qualify for the match-play stages of the British girls' championship at Monifieth. But over she comes to Northern Ireland - and the change of scenery worked wonders for her. 

Audrey took over the lead just before mid-afternoon with a two-under-par 70 after first Caroline Karsten had posted a 72 and then her Netherlands compatriot, Marieke Nivard, had bettered that with a 71. 

A third Dutch player, Dewi-Claire Schreefel, came into the picture with a 71 after a spectacular run of back-to-back birdies on the inward half.
Audrey Goumard deviated from par only four times in halves of 36 and 34. She birdied the first, bogeyed the second, birdied the third and then reeled off a string of pars until birdieing the 18th. 

Dewi-Claire Schreefel is a former winner of the major American women's college title, the NCAA championship. A sub-par round for her looked out of the question when she started moderately with bogeys at the first, second, fourth and fifth. 

But birdies at the seventh and eighth were a sign of great things to come. Turning in 39, Schreefel slipped back with a bogey at the 11th. Then she caught fire with birdies at the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th, a run of 3-3-2-3, in an inward half of three-under-par 32. 

At the 13th and 14th, she chipped in from off the green, flopping her ball over a bunker and into the hole at the 14th. Early starter Caroline Karsten, a 17-year-old from Utretcht in the Netherlands, had set the first clubhouse target with a level par round of 72. 

Then she was overtaken by compatriot Marieke Nivard with a 71.
Marieke, 18, from Eindhoven, won the Germany girls' open championship this summer and also played for the Netherlands in both the European women's and girls' team championships. 

She birdied the long second but dropped a shot at the par-5 sixth before getting another birdie 4 at a long hole, the seventh, and then bogeying the eight in matching the outward par of 37. Marieke had only one deviation from par after the turn and that was a birdie at the 13th in coming home in 34. 

Christol Boeljohn, a golf scholarship student at Purdue University at West |Lafayette, Indiana, made it three Dutch players on 71. She birdied the second and third but dropped a shot at the fifth in turning in 36. She got two more birdies on the inward half, at the 10th and 17th, but a double-bogey 6 at the 14th cost her the lead. 

Christel finished joint 10th in a Ladies European Tour event at Eindhoven earlier in the summer. Tara Davies (Holyhead), the 2006 Welsh girls champion, and Kylie Walker, the St Rule Trophy winner this season from Buchanan Castle, Scotland, joined the Dutch trio on 71 late in the day.
Tara had one of the best finishes all day, birdeing both the 17th and 18th for 35 home after starting well with birdies at the third and ninth. 

The long-hitting Kylie birdied two early par-5 holes, the third and seventh, and also birdied the 16th. She bogeyed the 14th and, like so many other players, also dropped a shot at the 18th for 36 home and a 71.
Four players leading the Irish challenger are on the one-over 73 mark. They are the 13-year-old Maguire twins from the Slieve Russell club, Leona and Lisa, Karen Delaney (Carlow) and Limerick University student Niamh Kitching (Claremorris). 

Also on 73 is the English women's champion, 17-year-old Hannah Barwood (Knowel). Four digital clocks on the course produced an immediate speeding-up of of the pace of play in the British girls championship last week. The improvement was maintained this week with rounds averaging around the four-hour mark. 

The leading 40 players and ties at the end of the second round will go forward to Friday's final 36 holes.


3.00pm

Junior Solheim Cup player Audrey Goumard from France reinforced a Continental domination of the early leaderboard in the Ladies' British women's open amateur stroke-play championship at Malone Golf Club, near Belfast today. 

The +3 player from the Avrille club, Pay de La Loire, took over the lead with a two-under-par 70 after first Caroline Karsten had posted a 72 and then her Netherlands compatriot, Marieke Nivard, had bettered that with a 71. 

A third Dutch player, Dewi-Claire Schreefel, came into the picture with a 71 after a spectacular run of back-to-back birdies on the inward half.
Audrey Goumard deviated from par only four times in halves of 36 and 34. She birdied the first, bogeyed the second, birdied the third and then reeled off a string of pars until birdieing the 18th. 

Dewi-Claire Schreefel is a former winner of the major American women's college title, the NCAA championship. A sub-par round for her looked out of the question when she started moderately with bogeys at the first, second, fourth and fifth. 

But birdies at the seventh and eighth were a sign of great things to come. Turning in 39, Schreefel slipped back with a bogey at the 11th. Then she caught fire with birdies at the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th, a run of 3-3-2-3, in an inward half of three-under-par 32. 

At the 13th and 14th, she chipped in from off the green, flopping her ball over a bunker and into the hole at the 14th. Early starter Caroline Karsten, a 17-year-old from Utretcht in the Netherlands, had set the first clubhouse target with a level par round of 72. 

Then she was overtaken by compatriot Marieke Nivard with a 71.
Marieke, 18, from Eindhoven, won the Germany girls' open championship this summer and also played for the Netherlands in both the European women's and girls' team championships. 

She birdied the long second but dropped a shot at the par-5 sixth before getting another birdie 4 at a long hole, the seventh, and then bogeying the eight in matching the outward par of 37. 

Marieke had only one deviation from par after the turn and that was a birdie at the 13th in coming home in 34. Caroline Karsten was also a member of the Netherlands squad who finished third behind Sweden and England in the recent European girls' team championship. She recorded nine straight pars for the inward half of 35 after two birdies and two bogeys in an outward 37. She birdied the long third, dropped a shot at the short fourth and another one at the eighth before birdieing the ninth.
Irish women's champion 13-year-old Leona Maguire (Slieve Russell), returning to action after missing last week's British girls' championship at Monifieth alongwith her twin sister Lisa, had a 73 made up of 17 par figures and one bogey, at the short 12th in halves of 37 and 36. 

Also on 73 was last year's Irish match-play champion, Karen Delaney from the Carlow club. Karen looked set to take the lead when she was one under par with two holes to play but she bogeyed both of them. Earlier Karen had bogeyed the fifth but birdied the eighth and 16th. Her halves were 37 and 36. 

Niamh Kitching (Claremorris) became a third Irish player on the 73 mark with an inward half of 35 in which she birdied the 10th but bogeyed the 18th.Curtis Cup 16-year-old Scot Carly Booth finished on two-over 74 after four-putting the first green. 

Four digital clocks on the course produced an immediate speeding-up of of the pace of play in the British girls championship last week. The improvement was maintained this week with rounds averaging around the four-hour mark.

2.00pm

It was "Double Dutch" at the top of the early leaderboard in the Ladies' British women's open amateur stroke-play championship at Malone Golf Club, near Belfast today.

Early starter Caroline Karsten, a 17-year-old from Utretcht in the Netherlands, set the clubhouse target with a level par round of 72.
Then she was overtaken by compatriot Marieke Nivard with a 71.
Marieke, 18, from Eindhoven, won the Germany girls' open championship this summer and also played for the Netherlands in both the European women's and girls' team championships.

She birdied the long second but dropped a shot at the par-5 sixth before getting another birdie 4 at a long hole, the seventh, and then bogeying the eight in matching the outward par of 37.

Marieke had only one deviation from par after the turn and that was a birdie at the 13th in coming home in 34. Caroline Karsten was also a member of the Netherlands squad who finished third behind Sweden and England in the recent European girls' team championship. She recorded nine straight pars for the inward half of 35 after two birdies and two bogeys in an outward 37.

She birdied the long third, dropped a shot at the short fourth and another one at the eighth before bireding the ninth. Irish women's champion 13-year-old Leona Maguire (Slieve Russell), returning to action after missing last week's British girls' championship at Monifieth alongwith her twin sister Lisa, had a 73 made up of 17 par figures and one bogey, at the short 12th in halves of 37 and 36.

Also on 73 was last year's Irish match-play champion, Karen Delaney from the Carlow club. Karen looked set to take the lead when she was one under par with two holes to play but she bogeyed both of them. Earlier Karen had bogeyed the fifth but birdied the eighth and 16th. Her halves were 37 and 36.

Niamh Kitching (Claremorris) became a third Irish player on the 73 mark with an inward half of 35 in which she birdied the 10th but bogeyed the 18th. Curtis Cup 16-year-old Scot Carly Booth finished on two-over 74 after four-putting the first green.



1.00pm

Early starter Caroline Karsten, a 17-year-old from Utretcht in the Netherlands, set the clubhouse target with a level par round of 72 on the first day of the Ladies' British open amateur stroke-play championship at Malone Golf Club, near Belfast. The course is in fantastic condition and full credit must go to Mike Norman and his team for presenting the course to an excellant standard despite the horrendous weather.

Caroline, a member of the Netherlands squad who finished third behind Sweden and England in the recent European girls' team championship at Murcar Links in the North-east of Scotland, recorded nine straight pars for the inward half of 35 after two birdies and two bogeys in an outward 37. 

She birdied the long third, dropped a shot at the short fourth and another one at the eighth before bireding the ninth.  Irish women's champion 13-year-old Leona Maguire (Slieve Russell), returning to action after missing last week's British girls' championship at Monifieth alongwith her twin sister Lisa, had a 73 made up of 17 par figures and one bogey, at the short 12th in halves of 37 and 36. 

Also on 73 was last year's Irish match-play champion, Karen Delaney from the Carlow club. Karen looked set to take the lead when she was one under par with two holes to play but she bogeyed both of them. Earlier Karen had bogeyed the fifth but birdied the eighth and 16th. Her halves were 37 and 36. 

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