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Leading pair defy the winds at English
senior championship
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Derbyshire’s
Lindsey Shaw and Cheshire’s Caroline Berry led the way on a wind-tossed
first day at the English senior women’s amateur championship at
Woodhall Spa.
They both returned impressive scores of four-over par 76 on a day when, for most players, the wind was definitely the winner.
It
gusted at over 40 mph and buffeted the players as they made their way
round the Bracken course, with only four competitors managing to break
80.
And, with more bad weather forecast for tomorrow, the start sheet
for the second round has been revised for a two-tee start.
Shaw
described herself as ‘battered’ after her round, but confessed the wind
had not bothered her unduly. “It was difficult, but I had one of those
days when it runs for you and my short game was pretty tidy.”
She
chipped in for a birdie on 15, on her way to a level par inward half.
She also putted steadily on the challenging greens, although she
laughed: “I don’t think anyone in the field will have avoided a
three-putt. I had two doubles with three-putts in the wind, I could
hardly stand up!”
Shaw
(Chevin) arrived at Woodhall Spa – the home of England Golf – in good
form, having been runner-up in the recent Spanish senior amateur.
“It
got me kick-started for the season and it made a difference to play in
the sunshine in good conditions.”
Caroline
Berry (Bromborough, image © Leaderboard Photography), is a past winner
of this title - and is also on form. She has just won the Cheshire
senior championship at Royal Liverpool, where the wind on the Hoylake
links was nowhere near as strong as today’s experience.
Her
response to the conditions was patience. “It was almost like playing
links golf and it was difficult to get near the pins, so you had to be
very patient.
“I
started off a little nervously but I had two good birdies on the 7th
and 8th to settle me down and then played fairly steadily on the back
nine, with another birdie on the 14th.”
Defending
champion Julie Brown (Trentham) and Jo Shorrocks (Bigbury) both shot 79
to share third place. “The wind tested you on every single shot, even
the 2ft putts,” said Brown. “The greens are very tricky, with lots and
lots of borrows and, with the wind, you couldn’t just tap in.”
She felt she could have improved on her score but, at the end of a testing round, remarked: “I’ll take it!”
After
tomorrow’s second round the top 16 players will go forward to the
championship matchplay and the next 16 will contest flight two.
For full scores and tee times please click here
-
Lyndsey Hewison Press Officer England Golf pr@englandgolf.org 07825 752 193 |
Labels: Senior ladies
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