Barker secures debut win, but Hampshire too strong for Oxfordshire

23 March, 2026

First Team Friendly versus Hampshire. 
North Hants GC. 
22 March 2026. 
Result: 4-1 win for Hampshire 
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Our annual friendly fixture versus Hampshire took place on a lovely day in late March. Played as three singles and two foursomes matches, we had players from Frilford, Henley, Tadmarton and The Springs representing us. There was a spread of ages from junior to senior golfers, but all with handicaps of six or below.

The singles produced excellently fought, close golf matches, with Sue Barker who made her Oxfordshire debut securing a win. Our two junior players Charlotte Gosling-Evans (0.8) and Lara Murphy (1.9) battled to narrow defeats by strong plus-golfers.

These friendly matches give us an opportunity to trial future foursomes partnerships. That we did, and despite a slow start, both pairings showed promise, and every player battled hard throughout the match. Sadly, neither was able to turn around the slow start, and Hampshire took both foursomes matches.

This was a better performance by the Oxfordshire squad than last season, against (on paper) a significantly stronger Hampshire squad.
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Above: photo of North Hants Golf Club clubhouse. Creator: OLLIE RASTALL. Copyright: OLLIESHOTS