Sussex will represent the Southern region in the Women’s County finals for the first time in eight years after a dramatic ending to the qualifier at Sundridge Park.
FORMAT: Five-team round-robin playing 2 foursomes & 3 singles
Three counties – the other two were Hampshire and reigning champions and hosts Kent – went into the final round of matches in with a chance of coming out on top.
And it was nip and tuck all the way with Kent edging out Hampshire 3-2, Millie Thompson (Sittingbourne & Milton Regis) holding off English Senior Women’s Amateur champion Kerry Smith (Waterlooville) on the final green.
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Behind them the Middlesex v Sussex match was equally as tense and it eventually came down to a see-saw encounter between Enfield’s Isabella Brunskill, who won 16 and 17 to go one up over Chartham Park’s Sasha Gardiner.
With all the teams congregating around the final green, Gardiner took the 18th to halve the match and secure a 3.5-1.5 victory. It also meant with Kent and Sussex both gaining six points, the outcome was decided on individual match points with the champions having gained 11.5 across their four matches while the hosts managed 11.
It was also a special moment for county captain Jane Covey. In her previous spell (2010/11), Sussex won the event both years and she returned to the job in November, the year after serving as county president.
Winning Sussex team:
• Heather Tidy (Bognor Regis)
• Chloe Briance (Bognor Regis)
• Maisie Hassall (Nevill)
• Salysa Mason (Rustington)
• Ellen Nicholas (Ham Manor)
• Sasha Gardiner (Chartham Park)
• Elodie Yates (Ham Manor)
• Madelaine Harris (Dyke)
“Unfortunately we hadn’t a vice-captian and because I had the experience I volunteered to take role on,” said Covey, who will hand over the baton this autumn to her vice-captain Pat Codd.
Her knowhow proved crucial while experienced county performer Gardiner held her nerve as the realisation, everything hung on this match, dawned on the two players as they played the final hole.
Unfortunately for the Middlesex golfer, who was just short of the green at the par five in two, she mishit her chip and then three-putted for a bogey while her opponent laid up with her second, pitched to 25 feet and was able to two-putt to win the hole and halve the match.
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Covey added: “Sasha has played for the county for many years and I think her experience was a huge advantage in terms of not being in awe of all those people standing around the green.”
Earlier Welsh international Ellen Nicholas (Ham Manor) was a convincing winner in her singles, making it four out of four across the tournament.
In partnership with club-mate Elodie Yates, she was the only one to gain a point as Sussex opened with a 3.5-1.5 defeat to Kent but they fought back brilliantly, seeing off Hampshire (3.5-1.5) and 2021 national champions Surrey (3-2) on Tuesday before finishing the job off yesterday morning.
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Unfortunately for Covey, Nicholas, along with Yates and Maisie Hassall (Nevill), will not be available for the national final at King’s Lynn in September (22-24). There they will meet Midlands North champions Lincolnshire, Midlands South winners Buckinghamshire, Northern champions Yorkshire and the winners from the East and South West qualifiers, which take place next week (July 3-5).
“We will have to bring in the stalwarts,” added Covey.