Olivia Mehaffey among favourites for British Girls Championship

Katie Ahearne Ciara Casey will also be flying the Irish flag at Kilbride

Olivia Mehaffey will start as one of the favourites for the British Girls Championship that gets underway at West Kilbride this morning.

The 17-year-old Vagliano Trophy player from Royal County Down has enjoyed a brilliant season and victory in Scotland would be the icing on the cake. She has already won the Welsh and Scottish Open stroke-play titles and the Irish girls' crown and is strongly fancied to make a serious impact this week in this toughest of tests.

The 144 players complete 36 holes of stroke-play after which the leading 64 go forward to the knock-out stages culminating in the 18-hole final on Friday afternoon. Katie Ahearne from Waterford Castle and Hermitage's Ciara Casey will also be flying the Irish flag at Kilbride.