Karen Stupples says playing in gusty winds was "quite disconcerting"
English Karen Stupples, who got off to a grim start at the ongoing Ricoh Women’s British Open 2012, said that it is “quite disconcerting” that winds marred the second round of the major tournament.
Stupples could not make a good start at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, United Kingdom, as she posted an unimpressive 76 in the opening round, but the English golfer moved into the second round with
an aim to improve her position on the leaderboard.
Although her performance remained as rickety as it was in the first round, Stupples sought to do fine on Friday. She was through the first three holes when the winds started to play havoc and it became virtually
impossible to drive the ball without the winds moving it on the greens.
The English star, who won the event back in 2004 at Sunningdale, said that after shooting a birdie on the par-4 second hole, the ball started moving with wind and it marred her score on the par-4 third as she
ended up carding a double bogey.
She said that she was brimming with confidence when she kicked off the round and wanted to atone for lapses she made in the opening round.
“It just sat there and just kept moving and I had to call for an official to come and figure out what the ruling was with that, and she said, 'Hit it. Even if it's oscillating, you can hit it.' I'm like, "Really?’
“It's quite disconcerting, because how do you hit a moving ball? Because it can wobble a little bit, and you catch it not quite where you used to. I don't know, it can affect everything, and it did. I've seen
balls roll because of a wind gust, but not a continual just blowing constant".
Some players have expressed their concern over the second round being declared null and void by the officials, but Susan Simpson, the Head of Golf Operations for the Ladies’ Golf Union, had her reasons to defend
the decision.
Simpson said that since the match started at 7 a.m. in the morning, officials had no idea that the weather conditions would get worse. She said that cancelling the second-round scores was the right thing to
do as all the players will restart the play in calm conditions on Saturday.
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