SHAW HILL starlet Nicola Ford has virtually guaranteed herself a trip to Sun City, South Africa, for the final of one of Britain's top junior golf tournaments.

The 17-year-old Westholme pupil is almost certain of a place at the prestigious Daily Telegraph/Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Junior Golf event after shooting an impressive one under par 73 at a qualifying event at Southport and Ainsdale.

She shot straight to the top of the leaderboard with just a week to go before the closing date - but she didn't even realise it was a qualifying event!

"Because the competition was a 36-hole comp I didn't think it would be a Daily Telegraph qualifier," said Ford, who also won the qualifying event at Lancaster with a five over par score, which wouldn't have been enough to send her to South Africa.

"But it turns out they just took the first round score - I didn't know until I was half way round. One of the lads I was playing with told me.

"It didn't make me nervous, though, because I was trying not to think about it. It turned out to be just one of those days where everything fitted together."

After securing such a good score in the first round, though, Ford found her concentration lacking a little for the second 18 holes!

"After I got the 73 in the first round I was a mess for the second. I just kept thinking 'Oh my God!'.

"I didn't get a very good score on the second round - you don't want to know what it was - but I was so excited."

Ford, who has been playing golf competitively for four years but has been 'hitting balls since I was three', has always wanted to play at Sun City.

"When I was about 10 I saw Sun City on the TV and I knew then I wanted to play there. It is one of the few places in the world I really want to go.

"My uncle lived in Kenya when I was younger so Africa has always appealed. It looks really nice. My mum and dad are both club golfers so we were always watching golf on TV."

Ford, who is also a member at Royal Birkdale, tops the Daily Telegraph leaderboard - in a four-way tie - in an event entered by almost 40,000 boys and girls from around Britain.

Justin Rose and Andrew Coltart are former winners and Burnley's Anthony Keenan qualified for the final, played in the United States, last year.

This year's final is played over 54 holes from October 29 to 31.

Ford, who has a handicap of six - down from 10 at the beginning of the year - hopes to turn professional in the future, following in the footsteps of fellow Chorley golfer Lora Fairclough, who plays on the Ladies European Tour.

"I need to keep working on it. My swing is there, I just need to work on the mental side of my game a little bit more," she said.

"I want to go to St Andrew's University which is quite fitting I thought!"

Ford hopes to study Management with French and knows getting her degree is important. "I don't know what is going to happen so I know it is important to get my degree. I could get injured or anything so it is important to have something to fall back on.

"I had to give up playing for a few weeks just before my AS exams this year and it is difficult when important competitions clash with school work but I try to work hard on everything."