Golf: Turner and Watton remain in contention at Craigielaw

The host club player was far from happy about her performance in the qualifying rounds and decided some drastic action was required.

"I gave myself a stern talking to," revealed Turner after winning her two matches on another sun-drenched day on the East Lothian coast.

"I was a bit disappointed with my performance on the first two days. In fact, I didn't feel I played well at all," added the British Universities' champion.

"However, I came back with a completely different attitude thanks to my pep talk – my game was ten times better."

Turner played particularly well in her first-round match, estimating she was round in a couple under par in beating Portpatrick Dunskey's Gillian Monteith by 5 and 5.

In the afternoon, she was one up at the turn against Susan Jackson of Ladybank before a "messy run" saw her lose three holes in a row from the 12th.

One down with four to play, Turner needed to dig deep to stay in the tournament and she duly did.

After almost driving the green at the 15th, she won that with a birdie and just missed an eagle attempt to take the next as well and get her nose back in front.

Turner's opponent in this morning's quarter-finals was Alford's Laura Murray, a fellow SGU elite squad member.

"It was always going to be a tough match at this stage but I'm okay about facing Laura," she said. "If I play how I did in my first-round tie in particular, I don't think I can go wrong."

After getting her bid off to a flying start with a 7 and 5 win over Sheila Cuthbertson of Peebles, Watton found herself up against Wendy Nicholson of Broomieknowe in the second round.

Nicholson, who had beaten Muckhart's Laura Walker in the morning, won the opening hole after her younger opponent had taken two shots to escape from a greenside bunker but Watton hit back with a bang as she claimed the next three holes. She never really looked back after that and admitted, following her 3 and 2 success, that this week has probably seen her come of age on the national scene.

"I feel comfortable out there," said the 17-year-old. "I gained a lot of confidence from finishing 11th in the Helen Holm earlier in the season (she managed a three-under-par closing round on Royal Troon] and feel I'm more patient and also able to get the ball in the hole better than I used to.

"At the start of the week, I would have been happy to have reached the quarter-finals so everything from now on is going to be a bonus."

Watton's opponent in the last eight was Nairn Dunbar's Kelsey MacDonald, which meant it was a tough one to call for Spencer Henderson as he coaches both players. "Kelsey and I get on really well and have played a few practice rounds together," said Watton.

"I think this is the first time we've met in a competitive game and I've got nothing to lose whatsoever."

Watton, Turner and Nicholson apart, Baberton's Karen Marshall was the only other Lothians player among the six to have qualified to get past the first round.

She claimed a notable scalp, too, in beating former winner Elaine Moffat at the 19th only to be disappointed with her performance as she lost heavily to Selkirk's Martine Pow in the afternoon.

Broomieknowe youngster Kate McIntosh was beaten but certainly not disgraced in losing her first-round tie to Louise Kenney, while Dunbar's Noreen Fenton also went down fighting against Jackson.

In the consolation event, for the Clark Rose Bowl, Craigielaw's Gabrielle MacDonald and Clara Young of North Berwick were both through to the semi-finals, where they faced Ailsa Summers and Jessica Meek respectively this morning.