Japanese team take control at The Queens by Kowa.

The LPGA of Japan will take a commanding eight point lead into the final day singles after winning 10 out of a possible 12 points in the day 2 foursome matches at The Queens presented by Kowa. After two days of play they sit on 22 points, with the LPGA of Korea on 14 points, the Ladies European Tour on 8 points and the ALPG on 1 point.

The ALPG team were pumped up for the day 2 foursome matches, after a frustrating first day on which they felt that they had played better than the scoreboard had indicated.

In match one this morning Sarah Jane Smith and Sarah Kemp came back from being 3 down after 12 holes to halve their match and put the first point on the board for the ALPG team. Kemp said that herself and Smith really gelled well today “Foursomes is usually a tough game to play, but we really did well today. We were 3 down and made a birdie at 13, a good par save at 14, and another birdie at 15 to get us back into the match.  Yesterday was a tough day for our girls, coming from a much hotter climate we found the freezing conditions really tough to adapt to and today was warmer which made it a little easier. Now we have that point on the board we will go for it tomorrow and see how high we can finish.”

In the second match, Rachael Hetherington and Whitney Hillier had more than their share of chances against Ritsuko Rya and Akane iijima, but ended up losing on the seventeenth green 2/1. ALPG captain Hetherington was disappointed and she felt that it was a match that her and partner Hillier could have won. “We got off to a really solid start but three-putted 7, 8 and 10 and that put is in a difficult position. We fought hard but just couldn’t get back into the match.”

Lindsey Wright and Nikki Garrett struggled to find their rhythm early on and found themselves 3 down after 3 holes, a deficit that proved too much of a hurdle for them to recover from and lost on the match on the sixteenth green 3/2.

In the final match Katherine Kirk and Nikki Campbell also struggled, Kirk taking responsibility for the pair’s loss. “I really struggled today, poor Nikki was playing from some strange places. Foursomes is a really tough format in any case, and if one player is struggling it makes it pretty tough”

The ALPG team will be hoping that they can accumulate enough points from the 9 singles matches tomorrow to climb up into second or even possibly 3^rd place.

Of the ALPG singles match-ups  tomorrow,  in match 3 legend Dame Laura Davies tees it up against A Sarah Kemp, while in the penultimate match ALPG Captain will play reigning Oates Victorian Open champion Marianne Skarpnord.

Sunday Singles Pairings

Match 1 8:00 Misuzu Narita (JLPGA) V Catriona Matthew (LET)
Match 2 8:08 Whitney Hillier (ALPG) V Jin Young Ko (KLPGA)
Match 3 8:16 Laura Davies (LET) V Sarah Kemp (ALPG)
Match 4 8:24 Min Sun Kim (KLPGA) V Shiho Oyama (JLPGA)
Match 5 8:32 Akane Iijima (JLPGA) V Lindsey Wright (ALPG)
Match 6 8:40 Sei Young Kim (KLPGA) V Melissa Reid (LET)
Match 7 8:48 Stephanie Na (ALPG) V Seon Woo Bae (KLPGA)
Match 8 8:56 Gwladys Nocera (LET) V Erika Kikuchi (JLPGA)
Match 9 9:04 Sarah Jane Smith (ALPG) V Emily Kristine Pedersen (LET)
Match 10 9:12 Yoon Ji Cho (KLPGA) V Ayaka Watanabe (JLPGA)
Match 11 9:20 Hannah Burke (LET) V Bo-Mee Lee (KLPGA)
Match 12 9:28 Ritsuko Ryu (JLPGA) V Katherine Kirk (ALPG)
Match 13 9:36 Nanna Koerstz Madsen (LET) V In Gee Chun (KLPGA)
Match 14 9:44 Miki Sakai (JLPGA) V Nikki Campbell (ALPG)
Match 15 9:52 Karine Icher (LET) V Erina Hara (JLPGA)
Match 16 10:00 Jung Min Lee (KLPGA) V Nikki Garrett (ALPG)
Match 17 10:08 Rachel Hetherington (ALPG) V Marianne Skarpnord (LET)
Match 18 10:16 Sung Hyun Park (KLPGA) V Momoko Ueda (JLPGA)