Tough First Day at Windy Cumberwell

Although the day dawned bright and still, the clouds soon rolled in on a strong wind, and conditions at the fantastic Cumberwell Park were exceptionally tough as Wiltshire took on one of the firm favourites Gloucestershire in their first match of the SW England Golf County Qualifier.

The format is straightforward - two foursomes and 3 singles matchplay, round robin over 5 sessions against the other 5 SW Counties and the winner will represent the region at the England Golf Finals in the autumn.

First out Alex Patton and Melissa Schroeder suffered a heartbreaking 1 down defeat, but Niamh Cripps and Claire Smith battled back to take a hard-earned half. So, everything went down to the singles, and when Liv Bannon won two up an upset was on the cards, but despite battling bravely both Sofia Corredor-Escalante and Rosie McGrane were defeated, and Gloucestershire triumphed 3.5 - 1.5.

So to the afternoon session, and Cornwall (who had defeated Devon 4-1 in the morning). The foursomes were shared, 1 match apiece, with special mention going to Ellie Webster and Rosie McGrane who came back from 3 down after 3 to triumph 2 up. And so to the singles…again! With two singles matches completed the overall score was 2-2, Liv Bannon winning and Melissa Schroeder coming up against a relentless opponent. In the final match Alex Patton was 4 down with 6 to play, and managed to drag it back to 2, but a half on 17 meant a defeat, and Cornwall now lead the standings,

This short-form matchplay format is exceptionally difficult, especially in the ridiculously tough weather conditions today. One bad bounce, one gust of wind can turn a match, and put you behind the 8-ball. Wiltshire has an extremely young team and they deserve a huge amount of credit for how they battled today - indeed had one or two things gone their way, the story could have been very different.

If you can, come along tomorrow and support the girls - it will be hugely appreciated!

You can follow all the action from the link on the left hand side of the website Home page.

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