October 9, 2023

The culmination of 5 of our County knockout matchplay events run throughout the playing season took place yesterday (8th October), kindly hosted by Berkhamsted GC, one of the most revered and respected golf courses in the county.

County Finals Day 2023

THE SHIRE LONDON – MEN’S HERTS TEAM CUP WINNERS 2023

The day saw 3 x Women’s events and 2 x Men’s events in an inclusive and eclectic mixture of golfers from around our county. Our Mixed Greensomes KO final is set to be played later this month due to a clash with one of the competitors also in another final played on the day.

The weather on the day was sensational with the indian summer conditions of late still in situ, with temperatures in the low 20c’s, sunny, bright and with some light breezes. All in all a perfect day for golf.

The first final out on the course was the Women’s Powell Cup, a scratch foursomes ko played between clubs. This year’s final was between Essendon, represented by Riya Chandaria and Sarah Marley, against Sandy Lodge, represented by Darcy West and Gemma Brinkworth. A tight match ensued which the straighter hitting Essendon pair eventually edged out the longer hitting Sandy Lodge pair by the margin of 2&1.

Next out on the course was the Men’s Members Cup final, a singles matchplay ko played off handicap between representatives of clubs. Defending champion Louis Leveson of South Herts once again made the final, this year against Gary Bridgeman of Batchworth Park. Gary had cut short a family holiday in order to make the match, returning that morning, but sadly for him his preparation therefore was not as it was as he would of wished and on the day he struggled badly. Louis played some very solid golf and the match ended on the 10th green by the margin of 9&8.

The Women’s De Paula Cup played next, a singles matchplay ko played off handicap for female golfers of handicap 12.5 and above as of time off entry. This saw a previous runner up in this event, Janet Akers of Brickendon Grange, take on Ashley Coe of Hadley Wood. An evenly matched game ensued as expected in part as both players held handicaps within 0.1 of each other. This match would need extra holes to resolve and went all the way to the 20th before Janet edged out her opponent.

A new event for this year was next with the final of our Women’s Fourball knockout, in a high/low partners format. The final saw Emma Goss and Danielle Alexander of Porters Park take on Liz O’Hare and Jane Kitchen of Welwyn Garden City. The Porters Park pair held a narrow lead at the turn and then extended through the next feew holes and would eventually run out as winners by a 4&3 margin.

Finally we saw the Men’s Team Cup final take to the course, always keenly contested and enjoyed by our clubs. This is a fourball betterball matchplay KO played off handicap. This year saw The Shire London and the Manor of Groves contest the final match, both first time finalists in this event. A series of matches played in great spriit took place which saw The Shire London run out winners by 3 wins to 1. The Shire London Team Captain Tim Evans-Jones graciously recieved the trophy and thanked his counterpart Peter Fitch for their great company and competition on the day.

Our thanks to Berkhamsted GC for their hospitality and in hosting us on the day and allowing us access to the course on a Sunday afternoon.

Congratulations again to all the winners on the day and well done to all who made the finals day event.