Kelsey MacDonald put out by youngster
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Kelsey MacDonald
OVER the past two years Curtis Cup contender Kelsey MacDonald has not lost many ties to younger opponents but she surrendered her Scottish Women’s title at the quarter-final stage when she was beaten by teenager Eilidh Briggs.
The 20-year-old Nairn Dunbar member had battled to the top seeding among the 32 qualifiers for the match-play stages at the Machrihanish links but bowed out in the last eight at the gale swept Mull of Kintyre course.
MacDonald, in defence of the crown she won last year at Craigielaw, showed her qualities over the exposed setting with comfortable opening matchplay wins before losing her way against 18-year-old Briggs.
She started badly and was soon four behind after eight holes, gaining her first hole after eight to be three down at the turn for home.
But making little further inroads into Briggs’s lead MacDonald eventually had to give way to one under par figures and a winning holed chip for birdie two on the 15th green by Briggs.
Northern Counties had three more members playing — Hannah McCook (Grantown-on-Spey), Cara Gruber (Royal Dornoch) and Sammy Vass (Tain).
Gruber and Vass went out in the first round but McCook enjoyed an eye-catching first round win over former champion Sheena Wood (Aberdeen Ladies). When the Abernethy teenager came up against fellow junior cap Briggs in round two she took a bit of a hammering losing 7 and 6.
After beating her elder sister Megan in the semi-final Eilidh went up against Dunfermline schoolteacher Louise Kenny (Pitreavie), who having lost in the 2009 final held the upperhand through the wind and rain to win her first championship after 14 holes against her younger opponent.
Next up for MacDonald on her quest for a Curtis Cup call-up is a crack at next month’s British Women’s amateur championship. After losing in the final last year to Astor Cup team-mate Kelly Tidy (England), MacDonald will be at Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush for the championship from 7th to 11th June.
Meanwhile, Moray became the first team to successful defend the B. D. Fraser Cup by winning the Senior Northern Counties Cup at Elgin. They eliminated the hosts in the semi-finals before beating Nairn quartet of Ian Cooper, Peter Saggers, Pat Tomisson and James Walton to secure the trophy.
In the double foursomes format, where the two opposing couples play to the final green, Moray’s first string of Jim Young and Pat Smith finished one hole up on Cooper and Saggers, while Chris Macleod and Michael Dean cruised to a three hole victory over Tomisson and Walton.
The other losing semi-finalists were Fortrose and Rosemarkie.
