Ines Lescudier, the standout women's golfer for Kennesaw State University, is currently a member of Team France in the 2013 European Ladies' Championship in Fulford GC, Yorkshire, England.
Lescudier will be providing regular blogs updating her experiences at the championship. In her first round, Ines carded a one-over-par 73. Follow the championship live here: Championship results.
Below are her thoughts on the first two days. Check back later for her report of today's round.
Friday, July 12 – Today, we played against Netherlands. It was different from the day before because we only had 5 matches instead of 7. There were only one foursome and 4 singles.
We won 3 singles so we stopped the match. I won mine on 18. I played very well, 4 birdies and 2 bogeys. The girl against me won 16 by making the chip in for birdie, and I missed the putt to tie this hole. On 17, I missed again a putt for birdie (8 feet). However, on 18, I made the putt for par (9 feet) and won my match.
Tomorrow we are playing for the 5th or 6th place against Denmark, the team that won the stroke play. It is very important for us to win this game to show that even if we lost against Spain yesterday, we finish greatly.
There will be again 1 foursome and 4 singles, and I'm leading the singles.
Thursday, July 11 – Today we lost against Spain. We lost the 2 foursomes in the morning.
With Justine, we lost 2/1. We played poorly on the first few holes and never came back from that. However, we were 3 down after 14 and we won 15 and 16. Unfortunately, I missed the putt (3 feet) on 17 to continue.
On the afternoon, we knew it would be very hard, we had to win 4 singles out of 5. The last French girls to play lost, so we stopped my match and the 2 in front of me. I played against Noemi Jimenez, the girl who beat me at the British Amateur. I lost the first 4 holes, but after that I played very well. I made a couple of birdies and only one bogey. After 12, I was still 4 down but I won the next 4 holes. Unfortunately, my game was stopped on 17 when I came back all square. We were very sad and very disappointed but the Spanish girls played well and deserved to win.
Wednesday, July 10 – Yesterday was great with perfect weather. I played 73 which was a good score. I didn't make enough birdies to shoot lower, my putts didn't want to get in. We were in the top eight as a team but we haven't played well.
Today I started very badly. I was +5 after 6, after making an out of bounds on number 2. It was hard for me to come back after that, especially because the course was harder than in the first round. It was cooler, a little windy and the pins' positions were not easy. However, I didn't give up and I was still +5 after 17 but made 3 putts on number 18.
I'm glad because my score didn't count today, and we finally got in the top eight (tied for sixth place). We're playing against Spain tomorrow. There will be two foursomes in the morning and five singles in the afternoon.
I'm playing the foursome with my old friend Justine Dreher (morning) and I'm also supposed to play (singles) in the afternoon.
Monday, July 8 – We played late in the afternoon today. We've made two teams, 3 vs. 3 and my team won!
We took the best two scores on each hole, and my team and I played -5. I've made a couple of birdies myself so I'm confident for tomorrow. I'm taking the first tee time which is at 7:50 am.
After the round we just had time to take a shower and to go to the ceremony. Every team has to wear a business attire, usually with the colors and logos of our countries.
Then, we just walked along our own flags and took official pictures. The ceremony is very impressive and announces the start of the tournament.
I'm very excited and proud to play tomorrow. Let's see!
Sunday, July 7 – We played our first round today. It was very warm, such a surprise in England!
The course is very nice, not a typical links. I played this course a few years ago for a match between France and Canada, but I didn't remember much of it! It's actually a long course, about 5800 meters, so around 6400 yards. The greens are fast, which is something I like.
The main difficulty is on the tee boxes. All the bunkers on the fairways are at the bad carry, so we sometimes had to play our 3-wood instead of our drivers.
The team is in very good shape and very excited. This tournament is the most important event for the French team, after the world championship.
We are playing a second practice round tomorrow which is going be some games since we are done with the yardage book. Then, the tournament will start on Tuesday.
Lescudier enjoyed a fantastic season for the Owls, leading the A-Sun in stroke average (74.23) and earning Atlantic Sun Women's Golf Player of the Year, A-Sun Scholar-Athlete of the Year and A-Sun Championship medalist honors. Lescudier also recorded a pair of top-20 finishes along with two top-fives, including the A-Sun individual title.
It was her final A-Sun performance of 2013, however, that was the most impressive. In the final round of the A-Sun Championship, Lescudier finished her last 11 holes at eight-under-par, including seven consecutive birdies from holes 11 through 17, for an amazing back-nine total of 29. The 29 is the best by an A-Sun player in the 24-year history of the championship and one of the top 10 rounds shot by a Division I collegiate player this season. Her previous best for consecutive birdies made was four, her previous low round of the season was a 68 and her prior three-round total best was a 212.
She broke six individual championship records, including the low 18-hole score that previously was 67, the low 54-hole score (210, previously 212), the low 18-hole score vs. par (-6, previously -4). the low 54-hole score vs. par (-6, previously -4), the low third round score (66, previously 69) and the low final round by a winner (66, previously 69).
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