Oxfordshire V Northamptonshire

Tuesday 24th June 2008

Morning Foursomes

What an amazing match we had in the opening foursomes, where Samantha Round and Tilly Holder had a great battle with Roseann Youngman & Georgina Dunn. The Oxfordshire pair were All Square playing the last and produced a solid par on the extremely difficult 18th to win the hole and match 1up. Lauren Jupp and Sarah Arnold had another good match but could never get ahead of their opponents Sarah Carter and Mary McLaren and lost 4 & 3. In the final match, Katherine O’Connor & Jane Binning had a very tight game with Rebecca Gee and Megan McLaren, but just losing out 2 down.

Samantha Round was again first out as County Champion and had another great match with Alex Banham gaining an early start, however Alex got the early holes back and then went three ahead with three to play. Sam wasn’t giving up without a fight a managed to take the match down the last. Pars on the last by both players meant that Sam trailed by just one hole. In the second match, Jane Binning was playing Sarah Carter and got off to a fabulous start which continued to be extended. Jane’s solid and consistent golf didn’t give Sarah a chance to get back into the game and went on to win 6 & 5. In the third match, Katherine O’Connor played the young Charley Hull and both players produced some wonderful golf. Charley however was one up playing the 17th hole and then produced a great birdie by pitching to two foot. In the fourth match Narelle Ives and Mary McLaren had a great game, but unfortunately Mary remained ahead for most of the match and eventually finished the match on the 16th hole. Next out was Tilly Holder who never managed to put the pressure on Roseann Youngman and lost on the 16th hole 4 & 2. Last out was Annie Gowing playing Georgina Dunn, who had one of the best matches of the week so far. It was so close throughout with both players never getting ahead by more than 2 shots. The match remained All Square for most of the back nine and down the last it was a battle of the nerves as approximately eighty spectators followed the game down the 18th hole. After quite a long rule clarification, Annie remained focused and managed to halve the hole under immense pressure winning her first point towards her County Colours. The team are again very disappointed with the result and the start of this year’s County Week, but they know the matches have been so close and therefore could be turned around quickly. We therefore look forward to tomorrow’s game against Warwickshire who are so far undefeated.

Northamptonshire win 6 1/2 to 2 1/2