ESSEX, GLOUCESTER MOVE AHEAD IN ENGLISH COUNTY FINALS

NEWS RELEASE FROM ENGLAND GOLF Essex and Gloucestershire both won their matches today at women’s County Finals at East Devon Golf Club and extended their lead at the top of the table. Essex, who are playing in the Finals for the first time in 20 years, defeated Lincolnshire 6½-2½. Gloucestershire, meanwhile, beat Buckinghamshire 8-1.  The results mean the two teams are neck and neck in the hunt for honours, with 2½ points apiece from the three matches played so far this week.  Lancashire and Surrey, who halved today, both have 1½ points; Lincolnshire have 1 point and Buckinghamshire have yet to score. Gloucestershire captain Karen Rix was delighted to see her team’s youngsters came to the fore in today’s win. Victoria Wakeley-Jones and Alex Saunders played when more senior members were rested and were part of the clean sweep in the singles. This was the first match of the week for 15-year-old Victoria, in her first County Finals; while Alex, 17, made her debut only last year. “It’s a long week and I decided to rest some of the senior players,” said Karen. “It paid off and I am really, really pleased that the youngsters stepped up to the mark.” Surrey’s Nicola Taylor produced a touch of magic to halve her match – and help her team to their halved result. Nicola was two down with two to play, but won both remaining holes when she chipped in for an eagle three on the 17th and hit the pin on 18 en route to a tap-in birdie. Surrey captain Ann Gems said: “It was terribly exciting and it kept us going. Some of the other matches were down and it picked us up.” Her verdict, that a halved match was a fair result, was shared by Lancashire captain Val Moran. “It was an incredibly exciting day and some of the golf has been spectacular. I’ve got a great bunch of players and they did incredibly well,” she said. Essex may have been absent from County Finals for two decades but they’ve made an impact on their return. “We’ve got a very good team at the moment and we’re doing what we hoped to achieve,” said county captain Amanda Colegate-Herbert. They got off to the best possible start, winning all three foursomes, and then produced a strong singles performance to take their point.  Their team includes Charlotte Thompson (Image © Leaderboard Photography), who played in the Ricoh Women’s British Open last week and who today held her opponent to a half. However, Lincolnshire’s Emily Slater produced a highlight for her team – with a hole-in-one on the 131-yard 4th which helped her to an individual win. Results   Gloucestershire 8 Buckinghamshire 1   Foursomes Hannah Barwood & Jo Hodge beat Luan Skeates & Charlotte West 4/2 Alexandra Saunders & Alison Kelly lost to Denise Goodacre & Susanna Mitterer 1 down Shelby Smart & Bethan Popel beat Zoe Fitz-Costa & Shamiso Hatchard 7 and 5 Singles Barwood beat Gallagher 4/3 Kelly beat Carole Weir 4/3 Victoria Wakeley-Jones beat Skeates 2/1 Jemima Gregson beat West 3/2 Saunders beat Goodacre 2/1 Smart beat Fitz-Costa 4/3 Surrey 4½ Lancashire 4½    Foursomes Inci Mehmet & Annabel Dimmock beat Elizabeth Stebbings & Sophie Powell 2/1 Tana Churchill & Louise Tarn lost to Eloise Healey & Sophie Lamb 2/1 Samantha Fuller & Lisa McGowan beat Gemma Batty & Nikki Foster 4/3 Singles McGowan lost to Catherine Roberts 5/3 Nicola Taylor halved with Stebbings Fuller beat Powell 4/3 Katie Fewster lost to Lamb 2/1 Dimmock lost to Healey 2 down Mehmet beat Batty 3/2 Lincolnshire 2½ Essex 6½ Foursomes Emilee Taylor & Sophie Beardsall lost to Gabriella Cowley & Paige Kemp 2/1 Helen Hewlett & Jessica Wilcox lost to Ashleigh Greenham & Sophie Madden 2/1 Emily Slater & Emma Tipping lost to Daisy Dyer & Charlotte Thompson 2 down Singles Hewlett halved with Thompson Taylor beat Greenham 5/4 Wilcox lost to Dulcie Sverdloff 1 down Beardsall lost to Madden 3/2 Slater beat Kelly Martin 3/1 Megan Illingworth lost to Dyer 3/2 -ENDS- For further information please contact: Lyndsey Hewison Press Officer England Golf pr@englandgolf.org 07825 752 193 EDITORS’ NOTES England Golf is the governing body for amateur golf in England. England Golf was formed on 1st January 2012 following the merger of the English Golf Union Ltd. and the English Women’s Golf Association and is one of the largest sports governing bodies in England looking after the interests of over 1,900 golf clubs and 770,000 men and women club members. Responsible for the training of the country’s top amateur golfers, England Golf also organises all the major English amateur championships. England Golf works to actively encourage new golfers and increase the continued interest and participation in golf through its golf development initiative ‘Get into Golf’. England Golf is a member of The England Golf Partnership (EGP) together with the PGA and supported by the Golf Foundation and Sport England. Their Whole Sport Plan for golf identifies how England will achieve its vision of becoming ‘The Leading Golf Nation in the World by 2020’ from grass roots right through to elite level.

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