Golf news in brief: Clare Hargan leaving SLGA to take up rules job

THE Scottish Ladies Golfing Association is facing a race against time to have a new championship manager in place for the start of the season.

The vacancy has arisen after Clare Hargan, who has been in the post for just over two years, landed a new job working for the R&A on its rules team.

Hargan, a former Scottish internationalist, used her wealth of knowledge as well as a connection with the players to ensure the SLGA’s events were run professionally. She is due to depart on 23 March, leaving little time for the SLGA to hold interviews and have a successor in place for the start of the new season in mid-April.

“We really need to have someone who can hit the ground running,” said SLGA secretary Dr Sheila Hartley, of a process that has already started, with applications being welcomed.

Walker, Booth and Queen on a Mission

THREE Scots – Kylie Walker, Carly Booth and Clare Queen – have secured places in the field for next week’s inaugural World Ladies Championships at Mission Hills in China.

The event will adopt a unique three-in-one format that will see players competing as individuals as well as for their country. There will be concurrent, 54-hole competitions in three categories – individual professional stroke-play, individual amateur stroke-play and professional teams.Walker and Booth will represent Scotland in the team event.

The tournament, which is being co-sanctioned by the LET and China LPGA Tour, will carry a total prize purse of £380,000, £500,000 less than the prize fund for this week’s HSBC Women’s Champions event in Singapore, where the field includes Catriona Matthew.

O’Hara into top ten in Morocco after 71

PAUL O’Hara leapt into the top ten and David Law also made the cut after both players shot sub-par second rounds in the Mogador Open, an EPD Tour event in Morocco.

Lying in a tie for 38th at the start of the day, O’Hara jumped up into a share of ninth after a 71 for 148, five shots behind new leader Nuno Henriques from Portugal. The former Scottish international started his second-round with a double-bogey 6 and dropped another shot at the third before covering his final 14 holes in four-under.

Law looked to have little hope of surviving the cut after an opening 84, but the Aberdonian showed courage to trim 14 shots off that effort.

Ross Cameron (74), Philip McLean (74) and Jordan Findlay (75) also produced better second-day performances but fell below the cut line.