Hannah Screen (Houston Athletics)
The match-play bracket is set at the Ladies British Amateur, and Houston’s
Hannah Screen, a native Englishwoman, will take the No. 1 seed into the head-to-head portion of the tournament. Interestingly, Screen is seeking to become the second consecutive Houston player to win the prestigious event. Teammate
Leonie Harm, of Germany, won the title – and all that goes with it – a year ago.
Screen had only one bogey at Royal County Down on Wednesday. Her 3-under 70 left her at 7 under for 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying. That was two shots better than Angelica Moresco, with whom she was tied after Tuesday’s opening round. Moresco, an Italian who plays for Alabama, followed her opening 69 with a 72.
“It feels really good to be top qualifier,” Screen told the R&A. “I came in today trying to play steadily and I managed to do that, holing some great putts. It was harder today as the wind was definitely blowing stronger and also cross wind on some holes which is so challenging.”
Over the past year, Screen’s biggest weakness has been following a low round with another low one. She did that on Wednesday. Now that the tournament resets to match play, she feels quite comfortable with her track record in that format.
American
Gurleen Kaur, a rising junior at Baylor, rebounded from an opening 73 with a 71. She tied for third with
Amelia Garvey, a New Zealander who plays for USC.
Royal County Down is hosting this event for the ninth time this week, exactly 120 years since it first staged the event in 1899.
Garvey, 19, is getting an education in links golf.
“This is my first time on a proper links course,” she said. “I’m getting used to landing the ball short of the greens and it’s been fun. I’ve been using my 2 iron a lot to keep the ball in play and avoid the rough as it can be hard to control the ball in the wind with the driver.
Among the 144-woman starting field, 26 countries were represented. The field has now been whittled down to 64. The cut fell at 7 over.
Defending champion Harm was among those to make the match-play bracket.
The first two matches will take place on Thursday.
ABOUT THE
Ladies British Amateur
This championship, along with the US Women’s
Amateur Golf Championship, is considered the
most
important in women’s amateur golf.
The first stage of the Championship involves
144
players each of whom plays two rounds of 18
holes.
The 64 lowest scores over the 36 holes will
compete
in the match play stage of the Championship.
Each
match will consist of one round of 18 holes,
including
the Final.
The ‘Pam Barton Memorial Salver’ is awarded to
the
winner of the Championship, while the runner-
up
receives The Diana Fishwick Cup. An
international
team award is presented after the stroke play
qualifying rounds.
View Complete Tournament Information