Charley Hull – winner of the first Rose Ladies Series event at Brokenhurst Manor – got to play with Somerset’s Mimi Rhodes, one of England’s top young talents. Picture by TRISTAN JONES

MIMI Rhodes made a spectacular first impression on LPGA and Solheim Cup star Charley Hull at the opening event of the Rose Ladies Series.

The 18-year England women’s squad player’S booming drive found the green at the 308-yard, first hole at Brokenhurst Manor.

Rhodes’ eagle putt from 25 feet then struck the flag – but agonisingly hopped back out the hole to leave the Somerset ace with a tap-in birdie.

No wonder Hull had a broad grin on her face. Her own aggressive style of play as an amateur was a portent of things to come on the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA where the Woburn golfer now plays.

Yet if Rhodes made a positive early impact on Hull – she also birdied the second hole to take the early tournament lead – it was nothing compared to the lasting impression the woman ranked 25th in the world made on the young England international.

Hull went on to win the event after making birdie at the first play-off hole.

The former Kettering junior pipped tournament organiser Liz Young on her home course – after the duo finished the regulation 18 holes tied with level-par 70s.

Twenty-four-year-old Hull received the trophy and a £5,000 cheque from Kate Rose, wife of England Golf ambassador Justin, on Thursday.

The couple agreed to sponsor the event, initially, before turning Young’s idea into an eight-round series over the next two months.

Rhodes was watching her every step of the way – eager to pick up any bits of advice and insight to help with her own progress in the game.

Rhodes, who played in the Junior Solheim Cup against the USA at Gleneagles, in September, was not disgraced shooting a five-over par 75 on a very tough set-up.

Mimi Rhodes – winner of the Justin Rose Telegraph Junior Golf Championship – at Quinta do Lago Golf Club in November. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

Seventh heaven for Rhodes sisters

THE winner of last year’s Justin Rose Telegraph Junior Championship finished in a tie for seventh place in the inaugural Rose Ladies Series event in the New Forest.

As one of only three amateurs in the field of 47 players at the Brokenhurst Manor Women’s Open, her finish was highly creditable.

And she had sister Patience – who also qualified for the 2019 Justin Rose Telegraph Junior Championship finals – on the bag.

Rhodes admitted watching Hull at close proximity for 18 holes was the major positive she will take from the day.

“I desperately wanted to play well in front of Charley. My sister was on the bag and telling me to calm down,” joked Rhodes, a member at Burnham and Berrow GC.

“At the first hole I was really nervous. But I guess there was a bit of adrenaline too.

“In practice my drive at the first was close to the green.

“Then in the event I had 310 yards to the front and I boomed one – and it finished pin high.

“It was a bit awkward with players still on the green.

“My putt was from 25 feet. It hit the pin and was knocked out. Charley was laughing. The birdie settled me down.

“I had watched Charley play at the Solheim Cup last year, but never met her.

“She was obviously concentrating on her own game. But when we were walking between shots she was really friendly and the conversation felt really normal and that helped me settle.

“I was watching her play really intently. I was also listening to how her and her caddie made decisions during the round.

“My sister could have learned a lot.”

Big year ahead for America-bound Mimi

Mimi Rhodes and her sister Patience at the Justin Rose Telegraph Junior Golf Championship. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

THE England international – who is bound for the USA in the autumn – is confident her first pro event will be a huge benefit in the coming months.

“I always wondered how my game would compare to these players, and playing with Charley helped me realise a few things.

“It has given me confidence that I have enough distance in my game to keep up – but the big area of difference is the short game.

“It really opened my eyes to where I need to get to in the future.

“I tightened up around the green and had five putts of around 10 feet for birdie that I didn’t take,” said Mimi.

”So I can take a lot from the experience.

“It was really good that Justin sponsored the event to give women professionals and amateurs the chance to compete in such a great event.

“For him to take such an interest in the women’s game is a real positive for our sport.

“I had time to meet his wife Kate and thank her for their support, which we all truly appreciate.”

Mimi offered golf scholarship place in North Carolina

MIMI Rhodes has decisions to make about what direction her season will now take during the summer.

She has options to play a couple more events in England – or head to America for the US Amateur.

Whatever route the England Women’s squad member takes, it does appear that her career is following an upward trajectory as she prepares for a move to America to play college golf.

Rhodes revealed: “I’m going to Wake Forest in North Carolina at the end of August. I’m really looking forward to combining studies with golf.

“It’s an exciting time. Hopefully I can make progress toward my goal of eventually becoming a professional.”

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Justin Rose (right) wants to put something back into the game by sponsoring the Telegraph Junior Championship. Picture by ANDREW GRIFFIN / AMG PICTURES

HAMPSHIRE’S Justin Rose has lent his name to the competition that helped him on his way to stardom – The Telegraph Junior Championship.

And record-breaker Ben Schmidt is earning similar plaudits that followed the North Hants GC junior in the mid 1990s.

The Yorkshire teenager, who broke two big records earlier this summer by becoming the youngest player to land the English Strokeplay double, is the hot favourite for the Justin Rose Telegraph Junior Championship, which gets under way at Portugal’s Quinta de Lago, today (Wednesday).

Olympic Champion Rose won the Hampshire Hog at his home club as a 14 year old, in 1995 before adding the McGregor and Carris Trophies at the English U16 and U18 Strokeplay Championships – a feat not matched since.

But Schmidt not only became the youngest-ever winner of the Brabazon Trophy at just 16 when he won the English Amateur Strokeplay at Alwoodley GC, in May, he then added the Carris a few weeks later at the English Boys Amateur Strokeplay’s spiritual home at Hertfordshire’s Moor Park.

In both instances, Schmidt broke records held since 1974 by Sandy Lyle, who won both the Brabazon and Carris as a 17-year-old.

Rotherham GC’s Ben Schmidt won the Brabazon, Carris and Sir Henry Cooper Masters in 2019

Having been named as a reserve for the Walker Cup, which Great Britain and Ireland lost to the USA at Royal Liverpool in September, Schmidt’s chance to break Fisher’s record has gone for good.

Now 17, the Rotherham GC member has been tipped for the top by Green Jacket winner Danny Willett, who hails from the same club.

Willett said of Schmidt, who also won Kent’s top Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters event at Nizels, in June, said: “This kid is destined for the big time.”

Willett’s caddy Samy Haywood was bemused by the R&A’s decision to not pick Schmidt in August, while another 16-year-old – Stoke Park’s Conor Gough – got the nod after winning the English Amateur at Hankley Common, the week before the team was picked.

Rose came through the same Hampshire junior programme that produced its first two Amateur Champions for the county in Harry Ellis and Scott Gregory in 2016 and 2017, and both players have looked up to Rose and his win at the 2013 US Open for inspiration.

Justin believes winning the Telegraph in 1997 put him firmly on the path to success in the professional game.

It was his first victory overseas and followed having become the youngest-ever Walker Cup player after his 17^th birthday that summer.

Justin Rose (right) won the Daily Telegraph Junior Championship in 1997

Rose revealed: “When I won this tournament it acted as springboard to me realising my dreams.

“This is an unofficial major in junior golf and you can see that by the quality of those who have previously won.

“In front of the TV cameras, this is their chance to put their marker down. People will take notice.”

Schmidt, who started the year some 5,000 places below his current World Amateur Golf Ranking of No. 8, has had some time to reflect on his success in 2019.

“It’s been crazy looking back on it, and, if I’m being honest, the amount of success I enjoyed this year has been unexpected.

“It all just clicked over the summer and everything changed for me in a matter of weeks.

“I just got on a roll. I came out of winter training and made a decent start to the season, despite not having played competitively for a few months.

“I won the Yorkshire Boys in May, which was a real boost and it progressed from there.

“Once I won that first event, I started every tournament thinking only about the win. I just had so much confidence,” added Schmidt, who is favourite to follow Rose by winning the Telegraph Junior Championship title this week.

Rose, who now lives in the Bahamas, knows that feeling after his first golden season in 1995 which saw him win two national championships as well as the famous Hampshire Hog.

Rose said: “This is a nod to where I’ve come from. I have done lots of charitable work in the US.

“But this is my first way of trying to give back to golf in the UK – and its really important to me.

“The championship is 35 years old and – as well as me – there have been some other winners who have gone on to big things.”

Those past champions include Sheffield Ryder Cup player Matt Fitzpatrick and Essex’s Oliver Fisher – who broke Rose’s record as the youngest Walker Cup player in 2005, in Chicago.

Ryder Cup star Tommy Fleetwood finished second when he reached the Daily Telegraph finals.

In the women’s game, Ladies European Tour winner Carly Booth, Solheim Cup winner Jodi Ewart-Shadoff and former England Girls Champion Melissa Reid, who has played in three Solheim Cups, are past winners of the Daily Telegraph Girls’ Championship,

Yorkshire’s Rebecca Hudson, who dominated English amateur golf in the 1990s and early 2000s, claimed the trophy three times in four years.

Rose, who announced his sponsorship of the event back in March added: “The quality of those champions shows it is run incredibly well, and I wanted to get behind a well-oiled machine.

“But I would still love to help to grow it. We’ve added some players and some spots to the field this year, and my aim is to see different categories going forward – and to broaden its reach.”

Other names to watch this week in the Algarve are Worcestershire’s 2018 Reid Trophy winner Hugh Adams, from Hagley GC, and Bishop’s Stortford’s Max Hopkins, the Telegraph Champion in 2017.

The increase to 12 finalist spots for 2019 is not the only first – Somerset sisters Mimi and Patience Rhodes, who are members at Burnham and Berrow, will become the first siblings to play in the final – of either sex.

They will be watched by grandmother Susan, who has been recovering from cancer treatment, but was well enough to see them play for Europe in the Ping Junior Solheim Cup, at Gleneagles, in September.

England junior international Mimi was fifth in qualifying at the Women’s Amateur, at Royal County Down, in June, and third in qualifying for the Girls Amateur Championship at Panmure, in August.

Rhodes sisters, Banday and Scanlon all write history in girls’ event

THE increase to 12 finalist spots for 2019 is not the only first – Somerset sisters Mimi and Patience Rhodes, who are members at Burnham and Berrow, will become the first siblings to play in the final – of either sex.

They will be watched by grandmother Susan, who has been recovering from cancer treatment, but was well enough to see them play for Europe in the Ping Junior Solheim Cup, at Gleneagles, in September.

England junior international Mimi was fifth in qualifying at the Women’s Amateur, at Royal County Down, in June, and third in qualifying for the Girls Amateur Championship at Panmure, in August

Surrey’s Rafiah Banday is sure to attract the Sky TV cameras over three rounds on Quinta do Lago’s North Course, as the Wembley-raised teenager, who is a member at Royal Mid-Surrey, will play in a hijab, confirming the growing diversity of golf in the UK.

Huddersfield’s Charlotte Heath won the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters in 2018

England junior internationals Charlotte Heath, Rosie Belsham and Banday will have their eyes firmly on the prize this week, while Welsh international Darcey Harry will have similar ideas.

But it is The Buckinghamshire’s Roisin Scanlon, who makes history after becoming the youngest finalist in the Telegraph’s history at the age of just 12.

Scanlon has a reputation for enjoying competing against the older girls at county events and junior opens despite not even being a teenager.

All the players have come through a number of qualifying events across the country this summer, with the lowest 12 scores against par booking their seats on the plane to Portugal.

Finalists: BOYS – Ben Schmidt (Rotherham), Hugh Adams (Hagley), Aaron Marshall (Lisburn), Rhys Wallace (Handsworth), Cameron Adam (Royal Burgess), Miles Gray (Etching Hill), Jack Kelso (Kings Hill), Craig Passmore (Torquay), Henry Hayward (Kedleston Park), Oscar Fuentes (Bearwood Lakes), Calvin Holmes (Quinta do Lago).

GIRLS – Charlotte Heath (Huddersfield), Rosie Belsham (Whitley Bay), Rafia Banday (Royal Mid-Surrey) Evanna Hyde (Lundin Links), Carmen Hall (Aboyne), Darcey Harry (Vale Resort), Chloe Haesler (Broadstone), Lily Hirst (Woodsome Hall), Roisin Scanlon (The Buckinghamshire), Grace Rigby-Walden (Gerrards Cross).

Last year’s Telegraph Junior Championship winners Barclay Brown (Hallamshire GC) and Enville’s Sophie Johnson. Picture courtesy of DAILY TELEGRAPH

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Team USA won the PING Junior Solheim Cup for the fourth time in a row at Gleneagles, beating Europe 13-11 despite the hosts narrowly winning the singles. Picture by WME / IMG

EAM USA held off a spirited fightback by Europe to claim their fourth consecutive victory in the Ping Junior Solheim Cup with a 13-11 points triumph at Gleneagles.

The visitors took a 7½-4½ lead into Wednesday’s singles session after drawing the foursomes 3-3 and then convincingly winning the fourballs 4½-1½, and closed out the win when Brianna Navarrosa beat Somerset’s Mimi Rhodes (Burnham & Berrow GC) by one hole.

Earlier in the day, Scotland’s Hannah Darling (Broomieknowe GC) grabbed a half point when out first against Lucy Li, and wins for Surrey’s Annabell Fuller (Roehampton GC), Denmark’s Amalie Leth-Nissen and Slovakia’s Pia Babnik, who birdied four straight holes to win 2&1, narrowed the gap.

However, Rose Zhang stemmed the tide in match two, and triumphs for Amanda Sambach, Briana Chacon – who beat Essex’s Lily May Humphrey’s 6&4 – and then Navarrosa took the USA to the all-important 12 points needed to retain the trophy,

Christine Wang then made it 13 points when she beat Germany’s Paula Shulz-Hanssen in match 10.

American captain Mary Bea Porter-King said: “‘It was quite the victory, very close, it went up and down all day. They were ahead, then behind. I’m exhausted and I didn’t hit a shot.

“I’m very proud of my team, there wasn’t a whole lot I could do to help them – these young ladies are so talented, on both sides.

“I am so impressed to see the golf swings and how they play the game, which makes me feel good about the future of the game.”

Mickey Walker, who captained Europe in the first four Solheim Cups, and manged the continent’s girls team this week, said: “I’m incredibly proud of the European team.

“They’re very, very talented and we’ve had a wonderful time here. It’s been just amazing, one of the best experiences of my life,” added the former Essex club pro, who won six times on the Ladies European Tour and played in the 1972 Curtis Cup before turning pro.

“I think we were good enough to win, but we just missed out by virtue of a poor session in the afternoon yesterday.

“That’s what did for us. If you took the singles as a standalone competition, we won today,” Walker added.

“But we knew we needed to get eight-and-a-half points and we came up just short. It’s wrong to mention individuals because we really are a team.

“But Pia Babnik is the first-ever junior to play in this from Slovenia and beat Rachel Heck – an incredible scalp.

“Rachel’s one of the best American golfers and Pia is relatively inexperienced. The same for Lucie Malchirand beating Alexa Pano in the final match.

“So it augers very well for the future, and a lot of our team will still be young enough to play in two years’ time.”

•For the full scores click here.

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THREE of England’s most talented young players will represent their country at the World Junior Girls’ Championship, to be played in Canada at the end of September.

Annabell Fuller, Lily May Humphreys and Mimi Rhodes will make the trip across the Atlantic after representing Europe in the 2019 PING Junior Solheim Cup match at Gleneagles, Scotland, on September 10-11

They will compete in the 72-hole team stroke play event against teams from 18 other countries, including two from Canada itself at Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham, Ontario, from September 24-27

The championship returns to Angus Glen for the first time since it was inaugurated back in 2014 when the USA took the gold medal ahead of Sweden and a Canada team including future LPGA star Brooke Henderson.

Fuller, from Surrey’s Roehampton GC, is based in the USA where to date this season she has won the girls’ title at the Major Champions Invitational, and finished second at the Bishops Gate Golf Academy and the Scott Robertson Memorial,

The 17-year old Curtis Cup player was also third at the Harder Hall Invitational, fourth at the Annika Invitational USA and reached the last-16 of the US Women’s Amateur Championship.

The former HSBC Wee Wonders star was also fifth at the European Ladies’ Amateur Championship.

Annabell represented Great Britain and Ireland at this summer’s Vagliano Trophy, having played for Europe in last year’s Junior Ryder Cup.

She was also a member of England’s side at the European Ladies’ Team Championship in July.

Essex’s Lily May Humphreys has played in a Curtis Cup and will appear for Europe in this month’s PING Junior Solheim Cup at Gleneagles before heading for Canada. Picture by VICKI HEAD

Essex’s Lily May Humphreys, has been in sparkling form this season winning the Welsh and Irish Strokeplay titles and the Annika Invitational Europe.

The 17-year-old from Stoke by Nayland GC was runner-up at the English Women’s Amateur Championship and the English Women’s Open Amateur Strokeplay Championship.

She played on the 2018 GB&I Curtis Cup team and has since represented the Home Nations in both the Vagliano and Astor Trophy – and was a team-mate of Fuller’s at the European Ladies’ Team Championship.

Lily was also a member of the victorious England team at this year’s Home Internationals at Downfield GC, in Scotland.

Somerset’s Mimi Rhodes is also 17 years old like her team-mates, and reached the semi-finals of the Girls’ British Open Amateur Championship at Panmure.

The West Country teenager also made the quarter-finals of the Women’s Amateur Championship, at Royal County Down, in June.

The Burnham and Berrow GC member was also eighth in the German Girls’ Open and ninth in the Annika Invitational Europe.

She represented England in this year’s European Girls’ Team Championship, where she was fourth in the individual competition, and was part of the victorious English team at the Women’s Home Internationals last month.

Rhodes was also part of the winning English team at last year’s Girls’ Home Internationals in Ireland.

The countries taking part also include Chinese Taipei, Columbia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and Wales

The post Humphreys, Rhodes and Fuller selected for World Junior Girls in Canada appeared first on Golf North.

SOMERSET’S Mimi Rhodes, Essex’s Lily May Humphreys and Surrey’s Annabell Fuller have all been included in the European team to face the United States of America in next month’s PING Junior Solheim Cup at Gleneagles.

Seventeen-year-old Rhodes, from Burnham & Berrow, earned an automatic place on the team having finished in the top-six on the European Junior Solheim Cup ranking.

Fuller, from Roehampton, and Humphreys, from Stoke by Nayland, who have both already played in the Curtis Cup against the USA even though they are only both 17 like Rhodes, were both selected as wild card picks by European captain Mickey Walker.

Scotland’s Hannah Darling, Denmark’s Amalie Leth-Nissen, France’s Lilas Pinthier and Germany’s Paula Schulz-Hanssen were the other picks.

“I’m excited to announce such a young, talented and international team for this year’s PING Junior Solheim Cup, said Walker, who was Europe’s Solheim Cup captain when the match was first played in 1990.

“This will be a special week for everyone involved and create memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.

“I am delighted the matches will be played at Gleneagles, one of the most iconic golfing venues in the UK and one of my personal favourite places to visit and play golf,

Walker, who was herself an Essex-based amateur, added: “I feel sure that all the girls participating in the PJSC will feel the same.”

“Finally, on behalf of the European team, I would like to say a big thank-you to John Solheim and his family for their vision and generosity in creating this wonderful match between the very best young players from the two continents.”

“The depth of talent on Mickey Walker’s team is very impressive and promises to create some exciting and memorable moments at Gleneagles,” said John Solheim, PING chairman and chief executive.

“It is wonderful to see six countries represented. It speaks to the wide appeal of the game and is a testament to the golf organisations within each country that have committed to developing such talented young ladies.,” Mr Solheim added.

This year’s PING Junior Solheim Cup is to be played over the King’s course at Gleneagles, on September 10 and 11, immediately ahead of the Solheim Cup which starts on the resort’s PGA Centenary course on September 13.

The post England trio selected by Mickey Walker for Europe’s Junior Solheim Cup team appeared first on Golf North.

ENGLAND’S women’s team will be looking to go one better than last year when they finished runners-up to Scotland in the Ladies Home Internationals, at Ballybunion, in Ireland.

The Home Internationals get under way when England face Wales at Downfield Golf Club, in Scotland, on Wednesday.

They will then face the Auld Enemy on Thursday before facing the last of their Home Nations opponents, Ireland, on Friday.

The selectors have a strong array of talent at their disposal , and have named Women’s Amateur Champion Emily Toy in their seven-strong squad.

Toy is joined by Hertfordshire’s current English Women’s Amateur Champion Ellen Hume, and the player she beat – her predecessor Lily May Humphreys – who has won three big titles aleady in 2019 – in the team that travelled north of the border, earlier this week.

Even without Roehampton’s Fuller sisters or Berkhamsted’s Alice Hewson, the recent winner of the European Amateur Championship, England can go into their matches with Wales, Ireland and hosts Scotland with every confidence.

Twenty-one-year-old Toy claimed the biggest title of her career at the Women’s Amateur Championship at Royal Co. Down, in June, where she beat New Zealand’s Amelia Garvey in the final.

The member at Cornwall’s Carlyon Bay also won the New South Wales Amateur Championship, in Australia, at the start of the year and been flying ever since.

Debutant Hume won her English crown at Sauntion and has also won the West of England Championship – and the Faldo Series’ England Girls’ Championship – this summer.

Essex ace Humphreys, a member at Stoke-by-Nayland, claimed the Welsh and Irish Strokeplay titles in May, and the Annika Invitational Europe.

Humphreys played in last year’s Home Internationals and has since represented Great Britain and Ireland in the Vagliano Trophy at Royal St George’s, as well as for England at the European Ladies’ Team Championship, in July.

Cheshire’s Isobel Wardle won this season’s Comboy Leveret and was second at the Welsh Ladies’ Open Strokeplay,

The 19-year-old, from Prestbury GC, reached the quarter-final at the English Women’s Amateur and the last 16 at the Women’s Amateur.

Wardle was also third at the St Rule Trophy, fourth at the Portuguese International Ladies’ and fifth at the Spanish International in the early part of the season.

Somerset’s Mimi Rhodes reached the quarter-final of the Women’s Amateur, and was eighth in the German Girls’ Open as well as ninth in the Annika Invitational Europe.

The 17-year-old represented England in the European Girls’ Team Championship last month, where she was fourth in the individual competition.

Rhodes, a member at Burnham and Berrow, was part of the winning English team in last year’s Girls’ Home Internationals, in Ireland.

Leicstershire’s Lianna Bailey, won the 2018 St Rule Trophy at St Andrews and finished second in the same event this year.

The 22-year-old, from Kirby Muxloe GC, represented England in this year’s European Team Championship.

Bailey was also a member of the team that finished runners-up to Scotland in the 2018 Women’s Home Internationals in Ireland.

Norfolk’s Amelia Williamson won the Chiberta Grand Prix, in France, in July, and was third at the Critchley Astor Salver, at Sunningdale.

The 19-year-old, from Royal Cromer GC, was seventh at the Dutch International Junior Open.

She followed that up by sharing 11^th place behind Hewson at the European Amateur at Parkstone.

Williamson was also part of the winning English team at last year’s Girls’ Home International.

For live scoring click here.

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