England international Nikki Foster played her way into the field for the Ricoh
Women’s British Open with a superb two-under par 69 in final qualifying at
Panmure.
She will take her place at Carnoustie on Thursday alongside fellow England
amateur, 16-year-old Lauren Taylor (Woburn) who qualified for the tournament
when she won the British women’s amateur title last month.
Nikki, 19, from Pleasington in Lancashire, came through pre-qualifying at The
Berkshire and final qualifying to earn the right to test herself against the
great names in women’s golf.
At Panmure she made hardly any mistakes with just two bogeys on her card. She
was two under after four and, despite dropping a shot on the sixth, was still
two-under at the turn. She had one birdie and one bogey on the homeward half.
Playing in major championships clearly runs in the Foster family. Nikki’s
father, Trevor, once led The Open Championship after 11 holes.
Nikki was one of nine England amateurs to make it through to final qualifying,
where they were also joined by 2010 British amateur champion Kelly Tidy and
Curtis Cup player Holly Clyburn. However, Nikki was the only one to successfully
win a place in the championship. The cut off mark fell at level par 71 and the
eight competitors on that score had to play-off for the remaining four places.
England amateur scores
69 Nikki Foster (Pleasington)
72 Kelly Tidy (Royal Birkdale), Bronte Law (Bramhall)
73 Charley Hull (Woburn), Emily Taylor (Royal Lytham & St Annes), Jess Wilcox
(Blankney)
75 Ellie Robinson (Middlesborough)
76 Meghan MacLaren (Wellingborough), Holly Clyburn (Woodhall Spa)
77 Natalie Lowe (Prestbury)
82 Rachael Goodall (Heswall)
