Megan Briggs and Semi Final opponent Jane Turner (courtesy of Colin Farquharson) click to enlargeTwo first-time finalists, 20-year-old Renfrewshire's Megan Briggs from Kilmacolm, and 26-year-old Louise Kenney from the Pitreavie club, Dunfermline will contest the 18-hole climax to the 95th Scottish women's closed amateur golf championship over the Southerness links on the north shore of the Solway Firth tomorrow morning.
Strathclyde University student Megan Briggs, the No 4 seed, won her semi-final at the 19th against Jane Turner (Mortonhall), the 19-year-old British Universities champion and No 8 qualifier.
Primary schoolteacher Kenney, the No 10 qualifier, beat her Fife county team-mate, Elaine Moffat (St Regulus), the No 22 qualifier, by 5 and 4 in the second semi-final.
Both Briggs, who is a scratch player, and Kenney, who has a +1 rating, played for Scotland in last year's women's home internationals at Wrexham.
It will not be a first time in a national match-play final for either player. Briggs lost to Carly Booth in the final of the Scottish Under-18 girls championship at Peterhead in 2007.
Kenney won the same title in 2000, beating Carnoustie's Fiona Gilbert in the final.
Louise, who spent four years on the US college circuit and was rated one of the best golfers ever to have played for Iowa State University, was roughly level par in her victory over Moffat, who won the Scottish women's championship at North Berwick in 1998 and is now in her 40s. A good effort by Elaine to get as far as the last four.
A double bogey 6 at Moffat at the sixth opened the door for Kenney to go one up, a lead she doubled at the next when her opponent, in trouble, conceded. Moffat had more bogey trouble to lose the 12th, 13th and 14th and the match.
Megan Briggs has been Renfrewshire women's champion for the past four years, even though she is still only 20. Her match-play experience from events like that pulled her through against Turner who was two up at the turn.
Megan won the 11th, 12th and 13th with a birdie-par-birdie run to take a one-hole lead but she bogeyed the 15th to be pulled back to all square. From there in, it was a case of who would have the strongest nerve. The 16th, 17th and 18th holes were halved in par before Megan was conceded the 19th and a place in the final.
Megan, who had been two under par in beating fellow international Laura Murray in the morning, was roughly one over par in the semi-final.
The final will tee off at 9am on Saturday morning.
Thanks go to Colin Farquharson for the report
SEMI-FINALS
Louise Kenney (Pitreavie) beat Elaine Moffat (St Regulus) 5 and 4.
Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm) beat Jane Turner (Mortonhall)at the 19th.
CLARK ROSEBOWL FINAL
Sammy Vass (Tain) bt Louise Fraser (Kingsknowe) 4 and 3.
