A roasting hot John O’Gaunt welcomed the counties of Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Bedfordshire and Cambs/Hunts to Women’s East Region County Match Week.
Matches of x3 Singles & x2 Foursomes were contested against all the opposing counties over 3 days.
Monday morning, with temperatures quickly rising to 30 degrees, Hertfordshire were up against last year’s winners Norfolk. Already knowing we were in for a tough contest, it was quickly added to when first match out for Norfolk, Nellie Ong from England’s Women’s Squad and fresh off her victory for GB&I in The Vagliano Trophy against Europe appeared on the tee. Mawgan Vater gave her a great match and just came up short. Norfolk ran out 3.5-1.5 victors in the end, with our points coming from a half for Tala Clarke in the Singles and Kelly Cooke/Debbie Lear gaining a win in the Foursomes.
Not to be despondent from a morning loss, the team picked themselves up to defeat Cambs/Hunts in the afternoon with a fine 3 – 2 victory. Points coming from a thrilling and tense 1up victory for Mawgan, Kelly gaining a comfortable win and Tala partnering Amiya Raja to a 3&2 Foursomes win.
Day 2 and the thermometers were still on the rise. Fresh from victory the evening before, Herts were all ready to take on hosts Bedfordshire. Herts welcomed Darcie West to the team and she headed out first, contesting a hard fought match, recovering from 3 down to gain a half on the 18th. Although Mawgan went down to Welsh international Luca Thompson, Tala gained herself another victory in the 3rd Singles.
Both Foursomes went the way of Herts with Kelly and Debbie gelling beautifully for their second win and Amiya also gaining another win, this time partnering Jackie Foster to result in a 3.5 -1.5 victory for Herts.
Thoughts of a great comeback were on the cards, but knowing the strength of the Essex team, it was clearly going to need some great golf to overcome them.
Optimism was high early on as Tala went out first and destroyed Irish international Zoe Mclean Tattan 6&5 to gain her 3rd victory. However early optimism soon fell away as tiredness started to show on those that had already played 3 matches in the extreme heat and humidity. Essex, with a deep, experienced yet youthful squad had been able to rest players and gained convincing wins in matches 2,3&4 but in match 5 Amiya had her 3rd Foursomes partner in 13 year old Ava Gadsby and they battled valiantly, finally losing on the 17th. A 4-1 victory put pay to any hope Herts had of overall success.
Day 3 was to be a battle for 3rd between Herts and Suffolk. The weather was the polar opposite to the first 2 days, a lot colder and wet, umbrellas were being used to keep off the rain rather than the sun.
Darcie went out first but ran into a steam train as Suffolk’s Jasmine Points reeled off 5 birdies to gain an early victory.
In match 2 Tala was caught up in a ding dong battle with neither player able to get more than 1up, in the end the halved match seemed a fair outcome. The same A/S result for Mawgan in match 3 left us 2-1 down. Kelly paired up with Sarah Jane Dalgliesh to gain a resounding win and Kelly’s 4th but unfortunately we went down in match 5 to lose 3-2.
With results going against us, unfortunately we dropped down to a lowly 5th position and in the battle of the giants, Norfolk defeated Essex to retain their title.
Although it is a team game, individual contributions were recognised and both Tala Clarke and Kelly Cooke secured 4 out of 5 points with Tala remaining undefeated over her 4 Singles and 1 Foursomes matches, Kelly picked up 4 victories and a solitary loss from her 2 Singles and 3 Foursomes matches. Kelly deservedly received the Mary Oliver Brooch from Team Captain Aly Nedza.
Although the end result was disappointing, it was not for the lack of effort from all those involved. The players absolutely gave their all in very trying conditions and when not playing were out there caddying for their team mates. Volunteers were also there in numbers helping with caddying duties and keeping everyone regularly hydrated and fed as well as supporting pre and after round. County President Jane Walters attended all 3 days in support and then there was Superwoman Aly! Not only had she spent an entire year planning the week but once again she was here, there and everywhere attending to everybody’s needs and requests and if anyone deserved a medal it was Aly, we are very lucky to have her!Â
