Warwickshire Golf
LIZ HAYCOCK IS THE CHAMPION
Day Three of County Championship - Saturday 6th May 2017
Semi Finals
Day 3 at Maxstoke Park GC had the Semi Finals and the Final scheduled, with the County Champion eventually being crowned after 3 very gruelling days of golf.
The first match, commencing at 9.15 a.m. was between the 2016 Champion Lisa BARTON (Coventry GC) and Gemma BRADBURY (Coventry Hearsall GC).
Gemma was first to win a hole to go 1 up after 2 holes which stayed the score until the 9th when she managed another win. Lisa However came back with a birdie on 10th to win the hole but then Gemma pulled one back on the 11th. After the 14th, Gemma had pulled forward to being 4 up with both players then scored birdies on the 14th before Gemma won the match on the 15th, 5 and 3. The score maybe does not show how close this match was and as Lisa commented after the game, chipping and putting were key and Gemma was just better in those department today.
Match 2 was between Liz HAYCOCK (Ladbrook Park GC), a previous Champion in 2008 when she was just 18 and newcomer to Warwickshire County golf, Emma GRIFFIN (The Warwickshire). This match was a real ding dong affair, with Liz taking first honours on the first hole and then with a birdie on the 2nd, she went 2 up. After 5 holes Liz had managed to get to 4 up but then Gemma faught back on 8th and 9th to pull 2 back. Liz had got the bit between her teeth and birdied 10th to go 3 up, then 4 up after another birdie on 15th. On the Par 3, 16th Emma was in the right hand bunker after tee shot, with Liz bouncing over left hand bunker with hers. After a great chip close to the hole, Liz finally won the match 3 and 2.
After the match Emma said that she was really surprised she had got this far in her first Warwickshire County Championship but had thoroughly enjoyed the three days. About this semi final, she commented that Liz had played just too well.
Final
The way that Gemma and Liz had played in the semis, we realised that this final could be very well contested and boy we were not wrong!
A bit of a nervous start by both players, Liz won the first with a bogey and then halved the next two holes. After a monster drive on 4th Liz was on the green for 2 and taking 2 putts to complete, she went ahead to 2 up. Both girls were on the green for 2 on 5th, but Liz went on to birdie the hole to go 3 up, followed by another birdie on the short 6th to go 4 up. Gemma then put on a spurt and after the 9th had pulled back to being 2 down. Her drives, although long had a tendency to go right leaving her difficult shots to the green but both halved the 10th and 11th holes and then Liz won 12th before Gemma won 13th. Wow this was really a good match in progress!
Holes 14, 15 and 16 were halved before Liz went on to win 17th with a par after 2 excellent shots into the green, winning the match 3 and 1.
An excellent final played in very good spirit gave us a second time winner in Liz HAYCOCK (Ladbrook Park GC)
CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL ROUNDS OF MATCH PLAY:
Prize Presentation
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2017 CHAMPION Liz HAYCOCK |
2017 RUNNER UP Gemma BRADBURY |
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2017 SENIOR CHAMPION Pat HALE |
VERA CLAYTON TROPHY Lisa BARTON |
SILVER DIVISION MEDAL Barbara WOOLLEY |
Lady Captain, Barbara WOOLLEY of Maxstoke Park Golf Club gave a much belated welcome to all who had played and those at the presentation. She commentated how honoured Maxstoke Park was to hold the 2017 Championship and hoped that everyone had enjoyed the three days.
County Captain Margaret SHEEPY responded stating how everything had worked out so well over the three days which was mostly due to the members at Maxstoke who had helped during the three days and she thanked them sincerely for everyone's help.
Following the speeches, County President Caroline LASSEN presented the prizes from Thursday's Stroke play and then the Match play over the following two days. The following prizes were presented:
Longest Drive - Liz HAYCOCK (Ladbrook Park GC)
Nearest Pin - Paula WINWOOD (Stratford-on Avon GC)
Nearest Pin in 2 on 5th Hole - Gill THORPE (Leamington & County GC)
Silver Medal Runner Up - Yen PHAM (Shirley GC)
Silver Medal Winner - Nett 70 on Round 1, Day 1 - Barbara WOOLLEY (Maxstoke Park GC)
Pictured with County President - 2nd Row, 3rd picture
Vera Clayton Runner Up - Yen PHAM (Shirley GC)
Vera Clayton Winner - Gross 150 on Rounds 1 and 2, Day 1 - Lisa BARTON (Coventry GC)
Pictured with County President - 2nd Row, 2nd picture
Senior County Champion - Pat HALE (Edgbaston GC)
Pictured with County President - 2nd Row, 1st picture
Beaten Semi Finalists (Match Play) - Lisa BARTON (Coventry GC) and Emma GRIFFIN (The Warwickshire GC)
County Champion Runner Up - Gemma BRADBURY (Coventry Hearsall GC)
Pictured with County President - 1st Row, 2nd picture
County Champion - Liz HAYCOCK (Ladbrook Park GC)
Pictured with County President - 1st Row, 1st picture
Day two of County Championships – Friday, 5th May 2017
Morning Matches
Another bright sunny day with a chilly wind awaited the 16 qualifiers for the Championship. The course was looking good in the sunshine and the players keen to commence. Talking to green staff, greens were going to be quicker than yesterday and it is obvious that they have worked very hard on the course to present it in such good condition.
First match saw Lisa Barton (reigning champion) (Coventry GC) begin her defence against Hilary Dixon (Olton GC). A steady start by both saw Lisa 1 up after 8 holes but she increased her lead to 3 up by the 10th finally winning 6/5.
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| Lisa BARTON | Hilary DIXON |
Annabel Edmonds (Coventry GC) was next up draw n against home player Sheila Cardwell (Maxstoke Park GC) with Sheila being 1 up after 8 holes and then level after 10. Sheila eventually claiming the win on the tricky 17th after Annabel found the water in front of the green.
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| Annabel EDMOND | Sheila CARDWELL |
Claire Howells (Moor Hall GC) then had a real battle against Kelly Knight (Stonebridge GC) with Kelly holing a bunker shot followed by a near hole-in-one on the 6th hole but by the time they reached the 8th it was all square. Kelly was 2 up after 10 but Claire managed to square the match on 17th and eventually taking the win on 18th.
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| Claire HOWELLS | Kelly KNIGHT |
Gemma Bradbury (Coventry Hearsall GC) was in sparkling form with great iron play and quality putting which saw complete of win over Skye Furnace (Stratford on Avon GC) 7/5
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| Gemma BRADBURY |
Skye FURNACE |
Yen Pham (Shirley GC) had another good match against Michelle Poulson (Leamington & County GC) who was 1 up after 8 but 1 down after 10. The match continued tp 17th with Yen winning 2/1.
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| Yen PHAM | Michelle POULSON |
Emma Griffin (The Warwickshire GC) played Vicky Brewer (Ladbrook Park GC). After 8 holes Emma was 2 up increasing her lead to 3 up after 10, eventually she won the match 3/2
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| Emma GRIFFIN | Vicky BREWER |
Elizabeth Haycock (Ladbrook Park GC) was on good form against Gill Saker (Coventry GC) taking 6 of the first 8 holes and eventually winning 7/6.
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| Liz HAYCOCK | Gill SAKER |
The final match was between Maria Toledo Bailey (Walmley GC) and Vice Captain Julia Burton (Moor Hall GC). Julia took an early lead being 2 up after 8 and won the match 2/1.
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| Maria TOLEDO BAILEY | Julia BURTON |
Afternoon Matches
With the wind increasing and cloudier skies the quarter-finals got under way in the afternoon. Lisa playing Sheila was 1 up after 7 holes, going 3 up after 11 before Sheila fought back by winning 13th. Lisa eventually winning 3/2.
Gemma continued her great iron and putting display to go 3 up after 8 holes increasing to 4 after 11. Claire continued to pressure Gemma claiming a hole back by 13th. Gemma winning 3/2
Yen was finding the conditions tricky with Emma being 3 up after 8 increasing her lead to 4 after 13 and after winning 14th completed her match 5/4.
The final match saw Liz playing Julia. After Julia took an early lead Liz was 1 up after 8 then being 3 up after 13 she eventually won 4/3.
The Maxstoke Park course is proving very challenging in the conditions so the semi-finalists are hoping for a slightly calmer breeze. The first match will start at 9.15am.
To view Match Play results and tee times CLICK HERE
Day One of County Championships - Thursday, 4th May 2017
Thursday 4th May saw the start of Warwickshire Ladies' County Championship which was held at Maxstoke Park Golf Club.
On a sunny and breezy day a total of 52 ladies competed in three competitions. The qualifying rounds for the championship were played over 36 holes and the leading 16 players having the best gross scores qualified for the knockout rounds during Fridayand Saturday, until the Champion for 2017 is found.
The Silver Division Medal competition was played over 18 holes by all competitors and was awarded to the player with the best nett score of the day. The Senior Championship (over 50 years of age on the day of the championship) was also played over 18 holes with the winner being the player who returned the lowest gross score..
The green staff at Maxstoke Park had worked very hard to present the course in excellent condition.
All prizes for today's event will be presented on Saturday 6th May at approximately 4.30 p.m. when the 2017 Champion will also be crowned.
To view the DRAW for the Matchplay, commencing Friday at 9 a.m. CLICK HERE
To view the FULL results of the Championship Qualifying Competition, Silver Division and Seniors CLICK HERE
To view a Slideshow of the event CLICK HERE:
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