Scots face quality field in Belfast

THERE are nine Scots in the field of 144 for the British girls' open amateur golf championship, which tees off today with the first of two stroke-play qualifying rounds to produce 64 qualifiers for the match-play stages at Royal Belfast Golf Club.

Clare Queen was the last Scot to win in 2001 and this year's batch of Scottish hopefuls are Lesley Atkins (Gullane), Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm), Gabrielle MacDonald (Craigielaw), Hannah McCook (Abernethy), Alyson McKechin (Elderslie), Gillian Simpson (Murrayfield), Ailsa Summers (Carnoustie), Rachael Taylor (Hartl Golf Resort, Germany) and Rachael Watton (Mortonhall).

However, the more likely winners are likely to come from Musselburgh-based South Korean Julie Yang, England's Kelly Tidy and Hayley Davis and the Irish twins Leona and Lisa Maguire, who between them boast a wealth of experience at higher levels of the women's game.