AYRSHIRE LADIES COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP - Extra holes win puts Mckay into semi finals

Mhari McKay

The Semi finals of the Ayrshire Ladies County Championship, being held this week over the Troon Portland course, will feature Mhari McKay (West Kilbride), Jane Finnie (Troon ladies), Lesley hendry (Largs Routenburn) and Alex Glennie (Kilmarnock Barassie) after they won through the first two rounds of matchplay on Wednesday.

Mhari McKay, a student at Stirling University, beat clubmate Catherine Garrett by 5&3 in the opening round of matchplay to set up a quarter final match against top qualifier Catherine Malcolm (Prestwick St Nicholas) who had defeated Jill West (Irvine) by 4&3 on Wednesday morning.

In an epic encounter in the afternoon, McKay went two holes behind with four to play and was still two down with three remaining before winning the sixteenth and seventeenth to square the match. A half at the closing hole saw the players go on to extra holes where McKay edged out Malcolm to book her semi final place.

Host club member Jane Finnie beat Rachael Irvine (Largs) 7&6 in round 1 and faced Prestwick St Nicholas ladies champion Ros Purdom in round 2, Purdom having beaten Gillian Henderson (Belleisle Ladies) by 7&6 in the morning. In the afternoon however it was Finnie who took control, scoring around 2 under par over the holes played on her way to a 7&6 victory.

Multiple former champion Lesley Hendry (Largs Routenburn) saw off Barbara Beckett (Loudoun) by 5&3 in the morning whilst Pauline Patrick (Irvine) defeated Sheila Adams (Loudoun) by 3&2 to secure a quarter final match against Hendry, who won through to another semi final with victory over Patrick by 3&2 in their match on Wednesday afternoon.

The remaining quarter final was between Audrey Thomson (Loudoun), who secured her place with a 4&3 win over Sarah Ann Bottomly (Troon Ladies) in the morning, and Vets Internationalist Alex Glennie (Kilmarnock Barassie) who beat Nora McCrossan (Troon Ladies) by 6&5 in the opening round. In a close match, Glennie booked the last semi final spot with a two hole victory over Thomson.

The semi finals are scheduled for Thursday morning with the final at 2.00 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.

SEMI FINAL MATCHES

Mhari McKay (West Kilbride)
Vs.
Jane Finnie (Troon Ladies)

Lesley Hendry (Largs Routenburn)
Vs
Alex Glennie (Kilmarnock Barassie)