UAE's Tufail narrowly misses British Open cut

Dubai: It was a long and eventful summer for Sana Tufail, the 14-year-old scratch golfing prodigy from Abu Dhabi.

She narrowly missed the cut at the Ricoh Women's British Open Pre-Qualifier held at "The Berkshire" in Ascot England on July 11. Playing off the extended 6100 yard championship course founded in 1928, proved a stern test to all vying for a place in the coveted Lady's Master's Event being held the following month at Carnoustie Scotland.

Only the very experienced and those playing in the "zone" made the cut. Sana's otherwise impressive round was punctuated by three club selection mistakes costing five shots which in the end was the difference in making the cut. However, her respectable 79 still placed her halfway (65th) in a field of 120 scratch lady players.

Strong finish

In the South England Ladies Championship on July 17 she managed to reach the quarterfinals by defeating a former England player in atrocious weather.

At the English Girls U15 Championship at Mentmore Golf & Country Club on July 29, Sana used her recent experience to keep her hopes alive of winning the title by hitting 71 on day one and was at one point leading the event on day two before coming home with a level par 73 to remain in the top three. On day three a concentration lapse in the morning round (three) saw her lose a few strokes in the middle of the round and fall down the leaderboard but a strong finish in the fourth round in the afternoon with a 75 ensured that she finished 12th overall amongst the best 80 girls in the country.

In Gullane Scotland at the British Girls Open, August 8, Sana managed a very respectable mid-field position in a field of 144 girls which included over 110 of the best scratch girl players from all over the world.

At Royal Ashdown Forest Golf in Sussex which hosted the British Ladies Strokeplay Championship on August 17, Sana managed a top 10 position on day two amongst the U18 category in a very strong field of 130 women.