KirkwoodGolf: WOMEN'S HOME INTERNATIONALS

Thursday, September 14, 2006

WOMEN'S HOME INTERNATIONALS

ENGLAND v WALES FOR TITLE BUT SCOTLAND
SHAKE UP THE CHAMPIONS IN THE SINGLES

It will be England versus Wales for the women's home internationals title at Frilford Heath on the final day after England beat Scotland 5-4 and Wales came from well behind to draw 4 1/2-4 1/2 with Ireland.
If only Scotland could their act together in the foursomes! They were whitewashed 3-0 by the English in the morning when there was a 45min suspension of play following a torrential downpour which temporarily flooded some of the greens.
In the afternoon singles, it was a "different" Scotland team - one that got the better of England in head-to-head individual play. The Scots won the singles 4-2, which means that if they had been able to win just one foursomes they would have beaten England 5-4 instead of vice versa.
Heather MacRae had a great 3 and 1 win over Kerry Smith who played so well to be runner-up in the European women's individual amateur championship last weekend.
Then Jenna Wilson found the form that has won three 36-hole open tournaments this past summer. She beat Sophie Walker by one hole.
Then Louise Kenney beat Florentyna Parker by one hole. And a fourth Scotland singles triumph was provided by Krystle Caithness who also won on the 18th green, against Rachel Bell.
The two youngsters in Scotland's singles line-up, Roseanne Niven and Sally Watson, lost heavily in the singles to Melissa Reid and Felicity Johnson respectively. But their time will come.
Wales were trailing Ireland by 2pt after the foursomes but, like Scotland, won four of the six singles to draw the overall match.
Welsh left-handed champion Stephanie Evans lost the top sinigles by one hole to Irish champion Tricia Mangan but then followed wins for Breanne Loucks (2 and 1 over fellow Curtis Cup player Claire Coughlan), Sahra Hassan (3 and 2 over Maura Morrin), Tara Davies (8 and 7 over Niamh Kitching) and Rebecca Harries (3 and 2 over Curtis Cup player Martina Gillen.
Deirdre Smith pulled Ireland out of a nosedive that could have ended in Wales winning overvall. Deirdre won the last singles by 4 and 2 over Katherine O'Connor.

Day 2 scoreboard

SCOTLAND 4, ENGLAND 5
Foursomes: 0-3 (Scroll down for the morning details).
Singles: Heather MacRae bt Kerry Smith 3 and 1; Jenna Wilson bt Sophie Walker 1 hole; Louise Kenney bt Florentyna Parker 1 hole; Roseanne Niven lost to Melissa Reid 7 and 6; Sally Watson lost to Felicity Johnson 6 and 5; Krystle Caithenss bt Rachel Bell 1 hole (4-2).

WALES 4 1/2, IRELAND 4 1/2
Foursomes: 1/2-2 1/2 (Scroll down for the morning details)
Singles: Stephanie Evans bt Tricia Mangan 1 hole; Breanne Loucks bt Claire Coughlan 2 and 1; Sahra Hassan bt Maura Morrin 3 and 2; Tara Davies bt Niamh Kitching 8 and 7; Rebecca Harries bt Martina Gillen 3 and 1; Katherine O'Connor lost to Deirdrie Smith 4 and 2 (4-2).

HOW THEY STAND
England 2pt (two wins).
Wales 1 1/2pt (one win, one halved match).
Ireland 1/2pt (one halved match, one defeat).
Scotland 0pt (two defeats).

FINAL MATCHES
England v Wales
Scotland v Ireland