England's top girl golfers head to Durham for national championships

The English girls U18 championship will be played at Durham City Golf Club from July 29 to August 2.  It has attracted an entry of 118 golfers whose handicaps start at plus-one and who include a host of internationals.

The English girls U15 and U13 championships will take place at Ramside Golf Club, Durham, from July 29-31. Both these events are oversubscribed and have waiting lists.

Altogether, 80 girls will contest the U15 title and again the lowest handicapper plays off plus-one  - while 40 players are competing in the U13 event. Almost one-quarter of these have single figure handicaps.

In addition, Ramside will host the final of the Abraham Trophy on Monday, July 28. This competition is for England s most improved girl golfers and 20 players have qualified on the basis of handicap reduction.

They include Durham s Charlotte Hindmoor, who plays at Blackwell Grange, and has reduced her handicap to 11. She is also taking part in the English U15 championship. Charlotte is one of four Durham girls who will be in action during the championship week.

Rebecca Horner, 13, plays at Woodham and is a member of the English Women s Golf Association s Birdies North East Squad. She will play in the U13 event.

Rebecca McGinley, a scratch county player from South Moor will play in the U18s, alongside another Woodham golfer, Stephanie Peareth, who plays off 12.

The U18 field includes five of the players selected to play for England in the Girls International Matches in August. . They are Heidi Baek of Felixstowe Ferry, Suffolk, who won the 2007 U15 championship; Holly Clyburn of Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, Rachel Connor of Manchester, Katie Mundy of Dunwood Manor, Hampshire and Helen Searle of West End, Yorkshire.

The competitors in the U15 event include Jamie-Leigh Voss, 14, from Kirby Muxloe, who has won the English schools and Leicestershire championships this season. She has a handicap of plus-one. Other contenders include Hannah Turland, the 2007 U13 champion from Tidworth Garrison, Wiltshire, and Elizabeth Mallett the 2007 English schools U16 champion from Sutton Coldfield Ladies.

The U13 field includes Charley Hull, 12, of Kettering, Northamptonshire, who won a national competition at the age of nine. She plays off four. Among the other competitors is 11-year-old India Clyburn of Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire the sister of girl international, Holly.

The U18 girls will play a qualifying strokeplay round on each of the first two days of the championship. The leading 32 players will qualify for the championship matchplay flight and the next 32 will play in the second flight. The finals of both flights take place on the morning of Saturday, August 2.

The U15s and U13s also play strokeplay qualifying rounds on the first two days of their championships. In the U15s the leading 36 players and ties qualify for the 36 hole final. In the U13s the leading 18 players and ties qualify for the 18-hole final. Both finals are played on Thursday, July 31.

More details: www.englishwomensgolf.org