Our County Finals Day took place yesterday, Sunday 4th October, with the playing of 7 finals to determine winning players, pairs, teams and clubs across our various knockout matchplay events, as well as added into proceedings for the first time the final match up in the Womens Scratch League to determine our overall League Champions.
The event was kindly hosted by Stocks Golf Club, located in the far west of the county and is an undulating parkland course with fabulous views across the Herts/Bucks borders.
A rather misty and murky morning, which delayed the club members activities somewhat first thing!!, eventually gave way to a stunning autumnal day, with mild temperatures, wall to wall sunshine throughout and barely a breath of wind. Perfect conditions for golf.
The first final on the course was for the Womens Powell Cup, played as a club event with a scratch foursomes matchplay format. The final was played between Porters Park, represented by Jane Bellis & Mawgan Vater, and Ashridge, represented by Bridget Andreas & current Womens County Champion Janet Proudfoot. The Porters pair got off to a strong start and led into the turn. The Ashridge pair fought back but to no avail and the Porters pair won the match and the title with a few holes to spare.
The next match was in the Womens De Paula Cup, a singles handicap matchplay event for female golfers with Handicap Indexes between 9.4 and 24.4. The final was contested between Tracey-Lee Wingrove of South Herts and Belinda Mobbs of Verulam, with Tracey-Lee receiving 2 shots in the match. On the day Tracey-Lee proved too much for Belinda who struggled and the match finished mid way through the back nine with victory for Tracey-Lee.
Next on the tee were the 5 x scratch singles matches for the Division 1 final in the Golf Holidays Direct Womens Scratch League for 2026, this year between Harpenden A, captained by Debbie Nichols and Old Fold Manor, captained by Palita Moore. The 1st match ended in a tie, so proceeded to go into sudden death to provide a winning player, but the hole was never completed as news from behind meant that Harpenden had already amassed the necessary 3 points required for victory and clinched the overall championship title and the coveted Ovaltine Trophy.
The Mens Members Cup final followed onto the course, which is a handicap singles matchplay event, and the final was contested between Colin Wing of Letchworth and John Hair of Hanbury Manor, with John receiving 3 shots in the match. A very convivial and friendly match ensued with John emerging the victor and they enjoyed the company and the course so much, they continued the golf in for the remaining holes, despite the match being over.
The Mixed Greensomes ko final followed, which is played as the title suggests off handicap. The final was contested between Peter Uri & Max Bourn of Porters Park taking on Wayne Batchelor & Emma Duckworth of Knebworth, with the latter receiving 3 shots to be taken against the red tee stroke indexes. A tight match ensued with some good steady golf, but a rare loose shot from Peter on the par 5 16th hole gave the Knebworth pair some breathing room and would press home the advantage to win the match on the 17th green to take the title.
The keenly contested Mens Herts Team Cup final was next which saw Hadley Wood Artisans take on South Herts. The format is 4 x fourball betterball matches played off handicap for players between 5.5 and 20.4. The match was a tight affair and was eventually decided by a putt on the 18th green by Hadley Wood Artisans in the 3rd match out which guaranteed the Artisans victory as they could no longer be beaten.
The last match on the course was the Womens Fourball Betterball KO final, played in the aforementioned format and with one player in the pair being 18.0 Handicap Index or less, and one player in the pair being 18.1 Handicap Index or more.
The final was played between Simmi Ciccone & Christine Harrison of Hadley Wood against Danielle Alexander and Emma Goss of Porters Park. The match remained tight until into the back 9 when Simmi & Christine pulled away and would not be caught and would claim another win on the day for the Hadley Wood club.
All of the matches were played in great spirit and despite the results, it seemed like everyone thoroughly enjoyed their day.
Our thanks to Stocks for hosting the event and allowing us access to the facilities on a weekend day.
Next years County Finals Day will be held at Harpenden (Hammonds End) Golf Club on the corresponding date, Sunday 3rd October 2027.
