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English Ladies' Close Amateur
Championship 2004
18 - 22 May 2004 Handicap
limit: 6.4
Kerry
Smith wins English Ladies’ Close Amateur Championship
at Northamptonshire County Golf Club. Kerry,
32 years old from Waterlooville, Hampshire has finally
made her break through after nine attempts to win
this title by beating Shelley McKevitt 24 (Reading).
Kerry had a strong start sinking a 10ft putt
on the first hole for a birdie. She led throughout
the match, having two birdies and only one bogey.
She went 2-up on the third when Shelley put her tee
shot into the bunker, but Shelley reduced the deficit
on the 7th with a birdie. Kerry went 2-up again on
the 13th and carried on to win the 14th to go 3-up.
She hit a superb 5 iron on the 15th to within 4ft
of the hole and sank the putt for a birdie to win
the match 4&3. Kerry said “This was my best
shot into the 15th green all week. I am pleased with
my game, it’s a great trophy to win, I’m
now looking forward to the British”.
Kerry is a chef at her home golf club and fits in
her golf and training around work. Lottery funding
helps pay for her golf and Kerry said “The Sport
England programme has definitely assisted my fitness
and game”. Kerry was 3rd at the Sherry Cup and
will be playing for her county at Brocket Hall before
the British Ladies’ in June at Gullane, Scotland.
Close
Final Shelley McKevitt to play Kerry Smith:
Shelley McKevitt
(Reading) beat fellow Curtis Cup International and
defending champion Emma Duggleby (Malton & Norton)
2&1 in the English Close semi-finals. Emma drew
first blood on the opening hole but Shelley soon levelled
matters and went ahead at the 7th, establishing an
advantage she never lost. 3-up with 3 holes remaining
Shelley lost the 16th but closed out the match with
a solid par four on the next.
This was the first time they had played each
other although they have trained together in the GB
& I squad. Shelley reached the semi-finals last
year and went on to win the British Strokeplay Championship
and play for Great Britain in the Commonwealth Tournament.
Shelley then won the New Zealand Amateur Open during
November. An amazing 12 months, which sees Shelley
play with Emma at Formby during the Curtis Cup in
June.
In the quarter-finals Shelley defeated Chloe Rogers
the 19 year old from Braintree, Essex 3&1 and
will face Kerry Smith (Waterlooville) in tomorrow’s
final.
Kerry aged 31 who played in the 2002 Curtis Cup match
in the States overcame Sarah-Jane Eaves of Cosby,
Leicestershire on the home green in the quarter-finals
and then beat Northern Champion Julie Ross (Whitley
Bay) by 2&1 after they had been level with 7 holes
to play.
Matchplay
rounds 1 & 2: 20th May
Claire Howells (Moor Hall) beats Danielle
Masters (Tudor Park Hotel) in the first round of Matchplay
4&2. This was the first supprise of the day and
a later match saw Marie Allen (Moor Park) beat Nicola
Timmins (Sene Valley) 4&3.
Emma Duggleby had
a convincing first round win 6&4 against Katie
Dobson and the second round saw her defeat Rachael
Lomas 3&1. Emma will face Natalie Haywood (Rotherham).
The remaining fellow Curtis Cup player Shelley McKevitt
(Reading) beat Emma Tipping (Sandiway) 3&2 and
Claire Howells 4&3, she will face Chloe Rogers
(Braintree) in the quater finals.
The other matches
see Kerry Smith play Sarah-Jane Eaves and Julie Ross
play Marie Allen.
Round 2: 19th May
Emma Duggleby (Malton & Norton) the current
English Champion leads the English Ladies’ Close
Amateur Championship qualifying rounds for the first
time, 6 under par. Emma said “I am delighted
to be leading the field”.
Emma birdied the 2nd, 6th, 9th, 12th and
the 16th and the only bogey arrived on the unlucky
hole number 13. On the 379-yard 9th she produced what
she described as “a career shot”. In her
own words: “I was in the jungle on the right
and hit it with a 9-iron through a 8-foot gap 140
yards over a bush and under a tree and sunk a uphill
20-foot putt for a birdie”.
Emma went out late and had the worst of the conditions
as the sun baked the greens hard. So much so, the
club is using sprinklers on the greens overnight.
Considering the conditions, the fact that Emma qualified
6 shots clear of a national standard field is a memorable
achievement, even for a former champion of Europe
and South Africa.
The brilliance of Emma’s round can be measured
by the fact that in a field containing 5 Curtis Cup
players only Harborne’s Felicity Johnson was
the other player to reach par for the two rounds.
Emma is hoping to be on a winning Curtis Cup team
for the first time at Formby next month. Should she
keep this English Close title, it will be the first
one she has successfully defended during her glittering
career.
Scores for Emma’s Curtis Cup team mates were:
Danielle Masters (Tudor Park Hotel) 70 / 76, Fame
More (Chesterfield) 74 / 75, Nicola Timmins (Sene
Valley) 79 / 74 and Shelley McKevitt (Reading) 75
/75.
The day reached fever point with 5 playing off for
one place after the cut settled on 159. Katie Dobson
(The Oaks) finally won the play off on the third extra
hole when she sunk a four foot putt.
Round 1: 18th May
Danielle Masters and Emma Duggleby make the
running in the English Ladies’ Close Amateur
Championship.
The Curtis Cup team mates share the lead with 70,
2 under par, at the Northamptonshire County Golf Club
halfway through the Strokeplay qualifying stages of
the tournament.
Emma, 32, the defending champion, is trying for her
third title in five years.
Danni was 5 under after eight holes, including a chip-in
from 30 yards for an eagle at the fifth. Emma also
eagled the fifth.
Both players are looking forward to the Curtis Cup
challenge where Michelle Wie, the 14 – year-old
super girl from Honululu, is in the US team.
Masters said: “It’s
a question of how the captains line up the teams as
to who will play her, but I would love to take her
on and I would love it even more if I could give her
a good game”.
Practice Day:
The English Ladies’ Close Amateur Championship
practice day gets off to a good start, with 73 ladies
are competing for the prestigious title.
The Northamptonshire County course has been lengthened
to a distance of 6117 yards, an increase of 274 yards.
Three of the normal par 5’s are now par 4’s.
The highlight of practice day was a hole-in-one for
Chesterfield’s Curtis Cup player Fame More,
who aced the 160- yard 3rd hole with an 8- iron.
View this
years competitors
Northamptonshire County Golf Club
Golf Lane
Church Brampton
NN6 8AZ
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