Well what a difference a year makes…. Last year we were struggling with rain delays, this year it was the possibility of sunstroke! Hopefully next year we will have a happy medium!
Quite surprisingly {for me!} I reached the final 16 again….. and again my excitement was short lived, having drawn Chloe Walkington. I did point out to Chloe that if hadn’t been off scratch she would have given me 9 shots, and I would have beaten her…… However, it was off scratch and she beat me soundly 4&3. There were some tight matches in the last 16, and sadly 1 retirement. Katherine Irving’s back was simply not up to another 18 holes after the 36 holes in the searing heat on Thursday.
Katy Lansley beat Kate Courtnadge 7&5
Sue Peberdy beat Gayle Kennedy 3&2
Sarah Heath beat Debbie Ranwell 2&1
Jane Sly beat Sally Collier 6&5
Tess Samuels beat Charlie Keenan 7&6
Linda Hunt w/o vs Katherine Irving {retd}
Tracy Crew beat Sheree Dove-Wilde 4&3
We then moved on to the quarter finals
Katy Lansley beat Sue Peberdy 7&5
Sarah Heath beat Jane Sly 2&1
Linda Hunt beat Tess Samuels 2&1
Chloe Walkington beat Tracy Crew 8&6
So we were left with our 4 semi-finalists, all of which are in the County Match Week squad which bodes well. They returned on Sunday with a first tee time of 08.00. What a difference a day makes…. The wind had changed direction and was coming from the North and it was COLD! I was acting as starter and was actually wearing a woolly hat, only 2 days after I had been lathering myself in suncream!
Sarah and Katy’s match was a very tight affair with Sarah, last year’s finalist, prevailing, 1 up.
Chloe beat Linda 4&3, but it was a great achievement for Linda, our only senior in the semifinals.
The final tee’d off at 12.30. The weather had improved slightly but was still quite chilly. The spectators were well wrapped up!
It was a very tight start to the match, each taking it in turns to win holes… Sarah got to 2 up, but at the turn it was Chloe in the lead, 1 up. Sarah then played some super golf, winning the next 2 holes. The 12th saw the first halved hole of the match, with both players making birdies. Despite Chloe hitting some gargantuan drives on the back 9, it was Sarah who prevailed 3&2. As Berkshire County Champion, Sarah will go on to represent the County in the National Finals.
It was a fantastic match played in great spirit.
It was great to have so much support for the match, thank you to all those that came out to watch.
Thank you also to all the staff at Calcot Park for making us so welcome. And a big thank you to all the members for giving up their course, it really is appreciated.
Many thanks to Margaret Berriman for co-ordinating the whole event and thank you to our referees, Elspeth Cooper and Fran Campbell for keeping everyone on the right side of the rule book.
Jules Tarr
Berkshire County Captain
Champion Sarah Heath (Goring & Streatley)
Runner – Up Chloe Walkington (Castle Role)
Semi Finalist Linda Hunt (Newbury & Crookham)
Semi Finalist Katy Lansley (Easthampstead and Calcot)