US Open spot for Meadow

Royal Portrush's Stephanie Meadow has clinched a place in next month's US Women's Open at Pinehurst from June 19-22.

The University of Alabama star, named as the 2014 Elite 89 Award recipient for the 2014 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships last week, got in as an alternate on Wednesday having finished third in a Sectional Qualifier at Oak Valley Golf Course in California on May 14.

Before she gets to Pinehurst, Meadow will tee it up for Great Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup at St Louis Country Club in Missouri from June 6-8.

The Ulster star said goodbye to her collegiate golf career in the NCAA Div 1 finals held at the Tulsa Country Club in Oklahoma last week, finishing tied fourth in the individual standings.

But as defending champions, her University of Alabama team could only finish sixth behind winners Duke, who will take in new scholarship students Lisa and Leona Maguire from Slieve Russell later this year.

As for Meadow, she is ranked seventh in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and clearly a talented student too.

The Elite 89 award she received was founded by the NCAA  and presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the NCAA finals.

Meadow was competing in her fourth NCAA Championships after a season that brought two tournament victories, taking her Alabama career tally to a record nine.