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English Ladies' Close Amateur
Stroke Play Championship 2005
Incorporating U18, U21, U23 and Under 23 County Team
Trophy
12 - 14 July 2005 Handicap
limit: 6.4
Laura Eastwood wins English Strokeplay Championship
14 July 2005
Devon’s Laura Eastwood transformed her golfing
fortunes when she stormed away from the field to win
the English Ladies’ Strokeplay Championship
by five shots.
“This is huge for me, I am so chuffed with
myself ” said the 21-year-old from Yelverton,
who shot a four-under par 68 in the final round and
finished with a one-under total of 287 for the 72
holes.
“I forgot to enter the British championship
a few weeks ago. I didn’t get picked for the
European team championship, which was disappointing.
Then the other day I missed out on pre-qualifying
for the Weetabix (Women’s British Open) by one
shot. So I came here with something to prove.”
She let her clubs do the talking throughout the tournament.
She was lying second at the halfway stage and moved
into a share of the lead after the third round, when
she returned a level par 72.
Her game plan for the final round was simple: “I
just wanted to play my own game and try and get my
score into red figures.”
She began as she meant to go on, almost holing her
approach to the first green and following up with
an eagle three on the 5th. She reached the turn at
one-under par, after a couple of bogeys, and then
played flawless golf.
She birdied the 13th before providing the spectators
with a grandstand finish, with birdies on the 17th
and 18th, which widened the gap between herself and
the rest of the field.
Laura, the 2002 English girls’ champion, also
becomes the U23 and U21 English Strokeplay Champion.
Her closest challenger in the tournament was 16-year-old
Kiran Matharu (Cookridge Hall) who was runner-up on
292 and also won the U18 title.
Kiran rocketed through the field after an opening
81, which included an eight on the first hole of the
tournament where she lost a ball.
Her reply was three rounds of sub-par golf: 71, 70,
70, with her third round concluding in spectacular
style with scores of birdie, eagle, birdie.
Two shots behind her was the long-time tournament
leader, 17-year-old Natasha Podmore (Delamere Forest),
who shared third place with England international
Lisa Ball (Matfen Hall).
Natasha kept pace with Laura Eastwood until the last
nine holes of the championship but her challenge fizzled
out on the way home.
Lisa Ball had no problems with the closing holes.
She covered the last nine holes in 32, four under
par, helped by three birdies and an eagle on 18.
Karen Heywood (Crompton & Royton) broke 70 in
competition for the first time when she shot a final
round 67, the low score of the tournament, and soared
up the leaderboard into a share of fifth place. Also
on 296 was international Julie Ross (Whitley Bay).
Another international, Faye Sanderson (Heworth) shared
seventh place on 297 with Anna Scott (Consett &
District) and Ellie Givens (Blackwell Grange).
Defending champion Sian Reddick (Sene Valley) had
a final round 74 and tied for 10th place with Alex
Marshall (Burghley Park) on 299.
The final round provided the lowest scores of the
tournament with Emma Brown (West Wilts) also breaking
70 with a three-under par 69.
The U23 county team trophy was won by Cheshire (Natasha
Podmore & Emma McBride) with a score of 299. Devon
(Laura Eastwood & Emma Tayler) were runners-up
on 303. Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Kent shared
third place.
Natasha keeps lead in English Strokeplay
Championship
13 July 2005 Round 2
Cheshire’s Natasha Podmore has kept a firm
grip on the English Ladies’ Strokeplay Championship
- with a two-shot lead at the halfway stage.
The 17-year-old overnight leader added a three-over
par 75 to her opening 70 to hold off the challenge
of Ellie Givens (Blackwell Grange) and Laura Eastwood
(Yelverton).
They head the top 36 players and ties who have qualified
for the final day’s play in the 72-hole tournament.
The cut fell at 156, twelve over par for the first
two rounds.
Natasha, from Delamere Forest, is looking forward
to tomorrow’s challenge. “I just want
to keep playing well and enjoy the day,” she
said.
Like many players she found today’s conditions
tricky as the breeze got up and made clubbing difficult,
particularly on the downwind holes. However, it was
the greens which caused her most problems.
“My long game was really good and I hit more
fairways than yesterday but I struggled a bit on the
greens. You think you’ve read them well but
you don’t always see the break,” said
Natasha, whose birdie putt on the 18th lipped out.
“But overall I did all right and I’m
quite happy.”
Ellie Givens was one of only two players to break
par – and her one-under 71 was the realisation
of an ambition. “I really wanted to shoot under
par in a major competition and I am so chuffed that
I’ve done it,” said the 16-year-old, who
eagled the long 17th.
“I’ve done it on my home course quite
a few times but it’s nice to do it in the English
Ladies’ Strokeplay!”
It was also a landmark performance for Ellie after
breaking her ankle earlier this year, when she was
struck by a golf ball. “It’s really nice
to prove that I’m back,” she said.
She shares second place on 147 with Laura Eastwood,
21, who shot 75 today and said: “I left quite
a lot out there to be honest. I holed some really
nice putts but I had some really sad three putts.
It was fine, I’m quite happy with it, but it
could have been a bit better.”
One shot behind them is defending champion Sian Reddick,
20, who had two birdies in her 76 – and a number
of unlucky bounces.
Among the other players at the head of the tightly
packed leaderboard is 15-year-old Rachel Connor (Manchester)
who prompted a flurry of applause when she eagled
the 18th. Her second shot to the green travelled 190
yards and came to rest 2ft from the cup.
Kiran Matharu (Cookridge Hall), 16, shrugged off
her opening 81 and bettered it by 10 shots to return
the joint low score of the day. She’s just back
from Switzerland where she helped England win the
gold medal in the European Girls' Team Championship
- and she’s on a high. “It was one of
the best weeks I have ever had,” she said.
Natasha Podmore leads English Strokeplay
Championship
12 July 2005 Round
1
Cheshire teenager Natasha Podmore eagled her way to
a two-stroke lead in todays first round of the English
Ladies’ Stokeplay Championship at St Annes Old
Links.
The 17-year-old from Delamere Forest was the only
player to break par with a two-under 70, returned
on a hot, sunny day with some breeze.
It puts her two shots clear of her nearest challengers;
defending champion Sian Reddick (Sene Valley), Laura
Eastwood (Yelverton) and Hannah Bews (Broadstone,
Dorset).
“It was great,” said Natasha. “I
played well and I’m really happy.” She
came back in three-under 33, helped by an eagle 3
on the 467-yard 17th. She reduced this hole to a five-wood
off the tee, a four iron just short of the green and
a 40ft putt which rolled straight into the cup.
Sian Reddick made a solid start to her defence of
her title but marked herself “could have done
better.”
The 20-year-old student at Baylor University, Texas,
said; “It wasn’t too bad and I would have
taken it at the start of the day, but I made a couple
of stupid mistakes.”
She was disappointed with a double bogey five on the
13th and a missed opportunity on the 18th, where her
4ft putt for birdie stayed out of the hole.
However she was one of only three players to beat
par on the front nine, going out in a one-under 35,
and she had four birdies in her round.
The other players who bettered par by a stroke on
the outward half were Laura Holmes of Hessle and Anne
Weble of Dartford.
Sian Reddick to defend English Strokeplay
Championship
24 June 2005
Kent’s Sian Reddick will defend her title when
the English Ladies’ Strokeplay Championship
is played at St Anne’s Old Links from July 12-14.
The 20-year-old from Sene Valley heads a full field
of 120 players, which includes three former champions,
a host of internationals and a strong contingent of
youngsters.
“I’m looking forward to playing St Anne’s,
which has a lot of history attached to it,”
said Sian. “I’m just going to go up there
and try my best. It’s going to be hard, the
course is tricky and there are a lot of good people
in the field.”
Sian won last year’s championship at Woodhall
Spa by five shots, with a seven-under par total for
the 72 holes. Shortly afterwards she set off for the
USA and her first year at Baylor University, Texas,
where she quickly became a key player on the golf
team.
“I just love it over there, it’s so
much fun and I think it has made me more confident,”
she said.
Since she returned for the summer break Sian has
reached the last 16 in the British Amateur at Littlestone
and will play for England in the European Ladies’
Team Championship in Sweden from July 5-9. Then it’s
straight back for the strokeplay championship.
St Anne’s Old Links is hosting this tournament
for the first time although the course has previously
been the setting for the English Ladies’ Amateur
Championship.
The club, which celebrated its centenary in 2001,
is a sought-after venue for top tournament golf. It’s
an Open qualifying course, a host for the first week
of the European Tour qualifying school, it will hold
final qualifying for next year’s Women’s
British Open and, with Royal Lytham & St Anne’s,
will co-host the Amateur Championship in 2007.
Secretary Steve Mainwaring commented: “It’s
a testing course, a traditional links course and,
like any links, it needs the wind to provide its teeth.
We are hoping for blue skies and wind!”
The par 72 layout has been lengthened by 358 yards
for the championship, using a mixture of ladies, men’s
and seniors’ tees. It will measure 5988 yards.
Its challenge will be met by a strong field. The
internationals include Kerry Smith (Waterlooville),
Sophie Walker (Kenwick Park) and Faye Sanderson (Heworth,
Durham) who will return, alongside Sian, from the
European Team Championships.
Sophie won this event in 2004, following Sara Garbutt
(Ganton) and Caroline Marron (Bromborough) who are
both playing.
Among the competitors who have already tasted success
this season are Naomi Edwards (Ganton), who won the
St Rule Trophy at St Andrew’s and 15-year-old
Henni Brockway (Yeovil), the Welsh open strokeplay
champion.
All 120 players will play 18 holes on each of the
first two days of the championship. The leading 36
players and ties qualify for the final 36 holes, which
are played on the third day. Spectators are welcome.
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