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The Women's Amateur
Lindblad maintains Women’s Amateur form at Prince’s
15 Jun 23
3 mins
Ingrid Lindblad lived up to her status as the new women’s amateur world number one after a convincing victory to reach the last-32 stage in The 120th Women’s Amateur Championship at Prince’s.
The 23-year-old, who finished in a tie for second place in stroke play qualifying, eased to an 8&7 success over Bailey Shoemaker to continue her form on the glorious Kent links. Lindblad won the first two holes and never looked back as the Swede – who took over from Rose Zhang at the summit of the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®) last week – set up a tie with England’s Patience Rhodes, who won the St Rule Trophy two weeks ago, in the next round. “It was nice today,” said Lindblad, the Louisiana State University player. “I played really well. I missed one green and one fairway in 11 holes. I had a few shorter birdie putts and rolled in a long putt on the 9th so it felt good. “I’ve been pretty confident in my driver this week, so I've just been trying to hit driver wherever I can which gives you a little shorter in obviously. So on the 2nd I think that drive was like 300 metres long. When it's blowing, you just trust that the wind is going to pick up the ball and bring it to the fairway. You can attack.”Hole-in-one from Shoemaker
It proved a bittersweet day for Shoemaker, who defeated Scotland’s Penelope Brown in the preliminary round with the help of a hole-in-one. The 18-year-old, who reached the semi-finals in the 2022 US Women's Amateur, aced the 11th with a 9-iron. There was joy for another Scottish player, Jasmine Mackintosh, who ended the hopes of defending champion, Jess Baker. Mackintosh, winner of the Helen Holm Scottish Women's Open in April, survived Baker’s fightback from four holes down with six to play to win on the 18th. “It was inspiring to play Jess,” said Mackintosh. “It's like a good challenge to know that you can try and beat somebody who already went the whole way and won. She fought hard all the way to the end. She's a great player and it was a tough match. I’m happy to have won. “I’ve had a good year so far. Winning the Helen Holm in April boosted my confidence a lot coming into the season so it's been good.”
Lucy Lin - Cypus
“It was my first time in match play. I was kind of not really knowing what to do but I just tried to play my game. I played with Krissy for the past two days, so she's really nice and it was really enjoyable. I just tried to go shot by shot.”
Lin defies age
Leading stroke play qualifier Beth Coulter was also victorious, beating Spain’s Paula Francisco 2&1, while Spaniard Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, the world number three, progressed after ousting Australian Abbie Teasdale 2&1. Playing in match play for the first time, 13-year-old Lucy Lin of Cyprus also advanced to the last-32 with a 6&5 win over 2022 US Women's Mid-Amateur champion Krissy Carman. Last August, at the age of 12, Lin became the youngest to qualify for the LPGA Tour’s CP Women’s Open. “It was my first time in match play,” she admitted. “I was kind of not really knowing what to do but I just tried to play my game. I played with Krissy for the past two days, so she's really nice and it was really enjoyable. I just tried to go shot by shot.” On her first visit to the UK, Australian Caitlin Peirce has quickly adapted to the hard and fast conditions and is still in the title hunt after beating Aine Donegan 4&3.Aussie knowledge
She said, “I’m definitely getting used to it a little bit. Some of the shots are a lot easier in match play because you're not worried about where it's going to go so much. It's just one hole. “I suppose the course I play at home, Royal Adelaide, it gets quite windy, so it's not like I haven't played windy golf but I haven't played proper links. It’s definitely the result I was looking for and I’m excited for tomorrow.” But other Championship hopefuls bowed out including R&A Student Tour Series winner Lorna McClymont and Thailand’s Eila Galitsky, the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific victor in March. McClymont lost 2&1 to Spain’s Paula Martin Sampedro and Galitsky was beaten by one hole against the USA’s Catherine Rao. Fellow American Latanna Stone also lost out at the 19th to Swede and her LSU teammate, Edit Hertzman. Late in the day, Hannah Darling fought hard to progress by a hole against another Swede, Nathalie Borg, as the top-ranked Great Britain and Ireland player in the field maintained her bid. The winner of the Championship gains entry to the AIG Women’s Open, the US Women’s Open, The Amundi Evian Championship, the Chevron Championship and, by tradition, will earn an invitation to compete at the Augusta National Women's Amateur. The remaining players are also aiming to join an impressive list of past Women’s Amateur winners including major winners Georgia Hall, Catriona Matthew and Anna Nordqvist and LPGA victor Leona Maguire.
Caitlin Peirce - Australia
“I suppose the course I play at home, Royal Adelaide, it gets quite windy, so it's not like I haven't played windy golf but I haven't played proper links. It’s definitely the result I was looking for and I’m excited for tomorrow.”