PING GRAND FINAL GLORY FOR DENISE AND SARAH

Yorkshire golfers Denise Page and Sarah Dawson kept a promise to themselves when they won today’s Grand Final of the PING Fourball Betterball Tournament at Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. Last year the pair from Willow Valley finished sixth at the Grand Final and vowed that they would return and do better. “We came back with the intention of trying to do better – and shocked ourselves!” they laughed.    They opened their account with a birdie on the first and scored 43 stableford points. They were two points clear of their closest challengers, Cheryl Shepperson and Pat Holloway of Derbyshire and another Yorkshire pair, Val Swales and Pauline Bramley. They came through an initial entry of around 17,500 women from 825 clubs who entered this year’s competition, which is run by England Golf. The top 60 pairs in the country qualified for the Grand Final while the next 72 pairs went through to yesterday’s Plate Final. “It hasn’t sunk in,” said Denise, who has cut her handicap four shots this year to 15. “It’s a great achievement and one which will last for a long time,” added Sarah, a six-handicapper who played for Yorkshire and England as a girl. She took a break from golf for eight years to bring up her family, before returning to the game two years ago.   All Grand Finalists received a PING golf bag, a pair of ECCO shoes and a PING Collection voucher while the winners will received prizes to the retail value of £400, the second placed players to the value of £200, third placed players £100, fourth placed players £75, fifth placed players £50 and sixth placed players to the value of £30. “The prizes are very generous,” said Denise. “But even if you don’t win you have a wonderful day and receive great gifts.” Caption: Denise Page (left) and Sarah Dawson (Image © Leaderboard Photography) Prize winners 43 Denise Page and Sarah Dawson (Willow Valley) 41 Cheryl Shepperson and Pat Holloway (Ormonde Fields), Val Swales and Pauline Bramley (Hallamshire) 39 Karen Lindsey and Beverley Dolman (Gorstyhill) 38 Kathy Donohoe and Sang Porter (Chichester), Lynda Thorpe and Carole-Ann Lennon (Richmond, Yorkshire) For full scores visit www.pingchampionship.com -