English women's county finals at Kedleston Park

WINS FOR LINCOLNSHIRE, HERTS AND YORKS


NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH WOMEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION
Lincolnshire, Hertfordshire and Yorkshire each won their opening match on the windy first day of the 2010 finals of the English Counties’ Championship at Kedleston Park, Derbyshire. The championship is supported by Virgin Atlantic.

Six teams, each representing one of the regions of the English Women’s Golf Association, are battling it out in the round robin competition for the title of England’s champion county. The other three title contenders are Dorset, Sussex, and Northamptonshire.

Lincolnshire, from Midlands North, scored the biggest win, defeating Dorset (South West) 8-1. Yorkshire missed County Finals last year, but returned to represent the North in winning style, beating Sussex (South) 6½-2½. Hertfordshire, from the East, won a tight encounter with Northamptonshire (Midlands South) 5-4.

Lincolnshire captain Julia Sales was delighted with her team’s performance, in which they lost just one foursomes game. “Last week we lost one of our players when she turned pro and we decided to come with just a squad of seven – and they have performed absolutely magnificently. They are great girls and they all just play for each other and for the team.”

However, mid-way through the morning session there was little hint of the scoreline to come. “It was very unexpected,” said Julia. “All three foursomes pairs were well down and it was all a bit iffy, but they fought back hard and then they were remarkable in the afternoon. It’s a very good confidence boost.”

Yorkshire, who won this title five years in a row from 2004, returned to County Finals with a convincing performance. “It’s a good return, a nice comeback” said county captain Liz Haw.

Her players got off to a perfect start, winning all three morning foursomes. County champion Sara Garbutt scored the first singles point, winning on the last green despite a determined fightback from Sussex champion Aileen Greenfield. Ellie Robinson made certain of the win when she beat her opponent on the 16th. Sophie Godley added another point to the scoreline before Claire Smith – Claire Starkey until her July wedding – battled back from two down to halve her match.

“It was a good result in the end,” said Liz. “It looked a bit scary half way through the afternoon but they did very well.”

Hertfordshire came through a very tight tussle with Northamptonshire. They held a narrow advantage after winning the foursomes 2-1, but their opponents soon took the lead after big singles wins by 14-year-old international Charley Hull and Rachel Smith.

The pendulum swung back Hertfordshire’s way with good wins for Alison Franklin and Charlotte Field before Harriet Key clinched the point by sinking a six-footer on the last.

“It was very, very, very close,” said Hertfordshire captain Jackie Foster. “A lot of the games could have gone either way and we were very pleased with the win.”

Tomorrow’s draw:
Northamptonshire v Dorset
Sussex v Hertfordshire
Lincolnshire v Yorkshire
Online scoring: www.englishwomensgolf.org


Day one results
Yorkshire 6½ Sussex 2½
(Yorkshire names first)
Foursomes
Emma Brown and Rebecca Wood bt Stacey Rodger and Emma Carberry 2 and 1.
Naomi Edwards bt Aileen Greenfield and Karen Sykes 4 and 3.
Claire Smith and Ellie Robinson bt Paula Carver and Chloe Court 3 and 2. 
Singles
Garbutt  bt Greenfield 1 hole.
Edwards lost to Katherine Russell 4 and 3.
Megan Garland lost to Karen Sykes 3 and 1.
Smith halved with Chelsea Masters
Robinson bt Court 3 and 2.
Sophie Godley bt Carver 1 hole.


Northamptonshire 4 Hertfordshire 5
(Northamptonshire names first)
Foursomes
Rebecca Gee and Charley Hull beat Alison Franklin & Harriet Key 2 and 1.
Rebecca Rowlands and Rachel Smith lost to Lucy Williams and Charlotte Field 2 and 1.
 Sarah Carter and Roseann Youngman lost to Steph McEvoy and Lucy Glyn 3 and 1. 
Singles
Hull bt Charlie Douglass 5 and 3.
Rowlands lost to Franklin 3 and 2.
Gee lost to Key 2 holes.
Megan Liddington lost to Field 4 and 3.
Smith bt Lucinda Mileham 7 and 6.
Youngman bt Williams 1 hole.


Dorset 1 Lincolnshire 8
(Dorset names first)
Foursomes
Hannah Bews and Hayley Davis lost to Helen Hewlett and Holly Clyburn 2 and 1.
Melissa McMahon and Sophie Keech bt Jess Wilcox and Sophie Beardsall 3 and 2.
Georgia Hall and Kerry-Anne Haskell lost to Emilee Taylor and Helen McDougall 2 and 1.
Singles
Davis lost to Hewlett 4 and 3.
Hall lost to Clyburn 4 and 3.
Haskell lost to Wilcox 2 and 1.
Keech lost to Beardsall 4 and 3.
McMahon lost to Taylor 3 and 2.
Bews lost to Megan Illingworth 4 and 3.


Lyndsey Hewison
Press and PR Officer
EGWA website: www.englishwomensgolf

DROITWICH SISTERS ON THE MARK AT

KIDDERMINSTER

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH WOMEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION
Droitwich golfers Philippa Daniell and Trudi Humphries added to their club’s remarkable list of women’s successes when they won the handicap trophies in the Midlands South regional foursomes at Kidderminster.
The sisters are the latest players from the club to win 2010 honours after fellow lady members won through to the national finals of three major competitions.
Maryjane Shannon and Sue Amphlett played in last week’s Grand Final of the PING Fourball Betterball Tournament of England at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. The tournament is run by EWGA.
Fiona Whittock and Tracey Ward will tee up in Friday’s Grand Final of EWGA’s Australian Spoons foursomes competition for players with handicaps 21-36. They will take on five other pairs of regional winners at Kedleston Park, Derbyshire.
Maryjane Shannon has also qualified for the Grand Final of the LGU’s Coronation Foursomes, this time with Linda McKeown. They will play at St Andrews on September 20.
Meanwhile, the scratch salvers at the Midlands South foursomes were won by the Buckinghamshire pairing of Zoe Fitz-Costa and Emily Marler, who were last year’s runners-up. The teenagers, who are the joint junior captains for Buckinghamshire, had a runaway victory with a winning margin of 21 shots.
The foursomes competition was open to golfers from the six counties of EWGA’s Midlands South region: Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire & Herefordshire.


Results
Scratch salvers:
157 Zoe Fitz-Costa (Beaconsfield) and Emily Marler (Hazlemere) 78 79
178 Philippa Gunn
(Blackwell) and Diana Mucklow (Blackwell) 88 90.
Handicap cups:
Net 159 Philippa Daniell (Droitwich) and Trudi Humphries (Droitwich) 81 78
Net 161 Philippa Frost (Kington) and Anita Dart (Kington) 83.5 77.5


Lyndsey Hewison
Press and PR Officer

Kirsty  and Hannah help Highlanders to finish sixth

LEWISBURG, Pennsylvania – Freshman Kirsty Condon (Blankney GC, Lincolnshire), playing in her first US collegiate event, and team-mate Hannah Coles (Maxstoke GC, Warwickshire) helped Radford University to finish sixth in a field of 17 teams at the Bucknell Invitational in Pennsylvania. Hannah finished tied 28th and Kirsty tied 41st in a field of 90 competitors.
Also making her collegiate debut, Paige Reese, a native of RU's home state of Virginia, led the way for the "Highlanders" in a tie for 12th place with a 54-hole total of 230 (76-76-78) on Bucknell Golf Club's 6006 yds, par 70 layout. The tournament was played over two days, finishing Sunday, and both the team and individual winners were from the host school, Bucknell.

The Highlanders hit the road again this coming weekend to play in the Great Smokies Intercollegiate hosted by Western Carolina in Waynesville, North Carolina
FINAL TOTALS
Leading teams
903 Bucknell.
922 William and Mary.
929 Rutgers
931 Lehigh.
938 Marshall
945 Radford.
961 Siena.
970 Oakland.
Leading individuals
Par 210 (3x70). Yardage 6,006.
221 Katie Jurenovich (Bucknell) 73 78 70, Jeanne Waters (Rutgers) 71 78 72 (Jurenovich won four-hole play-off).
222 Minjoo Lee (Bucknell) 76 71 75
Selected totals
239 Hannah Coles (Radford) 84 76 79 (jt 28th).
245 Kirsty Condon (Radford) 80 81 84 (jt 41st).

The Scotland Schools Golf Association team for today's match against the England schools at Fairhaven. Image by courtesy of Tom Ward Photography. Click on it to enlarge.

SCOTLAND-ENGLAND SCHOOLS MATCH ABANDONED

The one-day Scotland v England annual schools golf international at Fairhaven Golf Club, Lancashire today  was abandoned after the morning foursomes because of the high winds and rain.
England had led 3-0 at the end of the girls' foursomes and 5-1 after the boys' foursomes.
Details:

ENGLAND BOYS 5, SCOTLAND BOYS 1
Max McGrail and Matt Hill lost to Scott Gibson and Bradley Neill 2 and 1.
Kieran Foster and Harry Ibbertson bt Liam Johnston and Ewan Scott 5 and 3.
Liam Cox and Andrew Scrimshaw bt Calum Stewart and Lawrence Allan 1 hole.
Ian Stirling and Dominic Moon bt Graeme Duncan and Charlie MacNeal 4 and 3.
Mark Collins and Scott Meek bt Jamie Savage and Cameron Farrell 3 and 1.
Tom Clements and Matthew Bacon bt Neil Beattie and Daniel Thompsett 4 and 3.

ENGLAND GIRLS 3, SCOTLAND GIRLS 0
Bronwyn Davies and Amber Radcliffe bt Rachael Watton and Eilidh Briggs 3 and 2.
Alice Hewson and Rebecca Heeles bt Lesley Atkins and Alyson McKechin 6 and 4.
Ellie Goodall and Meghan MacLaren bt Hannah McCook and Gabrielle Macdonald 5 and 4.

The combined South and East girls' teams at Peebles Golf Club. Image courtesy of Margaret McPherson.

Narrow Peebles win for East girls over South

South Division hosted the annual match between the South Girls and the East Girls at Peebles Golf Club on Sunday. The girls enjoyed their games, which were all played in great spirit. The sun shone and there was excellent golf played, all with the sound of bagpipes in the background, as it was Peebles Highland Games.
Thanks to all the girls who played in the friendly match that resulted in a narrow win (2 1/2-1 1/2) for the East Girls (writes Margaret McPherson).
Results:
Format – Greensomes

South Girls’ names first:


Rachel Walker and Emma Greenlees bt Keren Ward and Alexis Hutton 6 and 5.
Danielle Ker and Mirren Fraser lost to Alexandra Tait and Chloe Goadby 3 and 2.
Katie Wright and Vicky Wright halved with Catherine Small and Rosie Everett
Leanne Wilson and Lucy Bell lost to Tiffiny Wood and Catherine Goodwin 5 and

Alison Bartlett wins with an 80 at Inverness

Alison Bartlett (Royal Dornoch) won the Northern Counties Ladies Golf Association open meeting at Inverness on Sunday when the leading returns were:
CSS 76: Reduction only
Scratch
80 A Bartlett (Royal Dornoch).
83 I McIntosh (Inverness).
Handicap
Silver Division
L Fraser (Fortrose) (9) 74; M Orr (Royal Dornoch) (19), F MacDonald (Royal Dornoch) (19) 76; M. Barr (Gairloch) (11) 77.
Bronze Division
F Mackay (Muir of Ord) (21) 80; C. Waterson (Grantown) (26), P. Cronin (Forres) (26) 83.

Yani Tseng catches Michelle Wie with a 65

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
ROGERS, Arkansas (AP) — Yani Tseng was as amazed as anyone during Michelle Wie's torrid stretch early in the weekend, when Wie shot a 28 for nine holes to take command at the Northwest Arkansas Championship.
Just over 24 hours later, Tseng was the tournament's champion - after rallying to beat Wie by a stroke.
"She's just so good," Tseng said. "I just really play, one shot at a time, but if I don't make lots of birdies today, I couldn't win."
Tseng, winner of the Ricoh Women's British Open earlier this summer, made four birdies in a crucial five-hole stretch on the back nine en route to a 6-under 65 on Sunday that gave her a third LPGA Tour victory of the year. Tseng, from Taiwan, held off Wie when both players made birdies on No. 18.
Tseng finished at 13-under 200.
Wie (69) gave up the lead on the back nine - the same half of the course she played in 7-under 28 during a scintillating stretch Saturday that helped her take a three-stroke lead after two rounds. Tseng played with Wie during that round and was alongside her again Sunday, this time taking the victory away.
"Yani played great," Wie said. "Usually, if you're 12 under, it's good enough. I played good today. I had faith in myself, a couple iron shots went a little bit left today."
The 20-year-old Wie was trying for her second straight win. She won the Canadian Women's Open late last month.
Juli Inkster, who at 50 was trying to become the oldest player to win on the tour, shot 72 and finished seven shots back. She'd entered the day tied for second with Tseng and Na Yeon Choi.
Mika Miyazato (64) finished third at 10 under at Pinnacle Country Club.
Tseng has five career LPGA Tour victories, including three majors. She won the Kraft Nabisco Championship and Women's British Open this year.
She's now firmly involved in the discussion of who might take over the mantle as women's golf's next dominant player after the recent retirements of Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa.
"When I was young, I was watching them play, so I just feel like I really need to win more tournaments, to be really working hard to be chasing them," Tseng said. "Even though they're retired, I think they're still No. 1 in the world."
Tseng, who actually bought Sorenstam's home in Florida, jumped to the top of the Rolex Player of the Year race. She also is second on the money list.
Wie and Tseng were grouped with Inkster on Sunday. Wie fell into a tie with Inkster at 9 under when she three-putted No. 6 for a bogey. Wie responded with a birdie on No. 7 and led Tseng by two strokes after both players birdied the 11th.
Tseng kept the pressure on. Although Wie scrambled to make pars on Nos. 13, 14 and 15, Tseng birdied 12, 14 and 15 to take the lead.
Wie then bogeyed No. 16 to fall two strokes back, but hit an outstanding tee shot on the par-3 17th and made a birdie, one of only six on that hole all day.
That set up No. 18, a 515-yard par 5 that Wie had eagled the previous day. Tseng missed the fairway but hit a tremendous second shot from about 200 yards to the fringe, around 20 feet from the hole.
"I hit a great shot," Tseng said. "I think I got pretty lucky to bounce a little left."
Wie then missed the green with her second shot, all but ending her chances. Tseng's winning birdie came on a putt from inside 2 feet.
Tseng has played well in majors, but she struggled in some of the less prestigious tournaments. Since winning the Women's British Open, she tied for 45th at the Safeway Classic and missed the cut in Canada.
"I missed the cut last tournament and then I win this tournament," Tseng said. "It means so much difference for me - seems like I was really prepared and ready for this tournament."
The Arkansas event was only 54 holes but had a loaded field with almost every top player in the world. Inbee Park (65) finished fourth, five strokes behind the winner. Jiyai Shin (66) and Seon Hwa Lee (69), the last two champions at this event, were in a group of players another shot back.
Ai Miyazato (67) tied for ninth, and Cristie Kerr (70) tied for 32nd.
Glasgow's Janice Moodie had one of her best finishes of the season - 15th on 208, eight shots behind the leader, to earn $28,789.
Catriona Matthew missed the cut.


LEADING TOTALS
Par 213
200 Yani Tseng 67 68 65 ($300,000).
201 Michelle Wie 68 64 69 ($181,326)
203 Mika Miyazato 69 70 64 ($131,754).
Selected totals:
208 Janice Moodie 68 69 71 ($28,789) (15th).
Missed the cut
148 Catriona Matthew 73 75.

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