Hertfordshire overcame a slow start to win their first East Region Women’s England Golf County Championship qualifier since 2014 at Stoke by Nayland.
After losing to Suffolk on a rain-affected first day and then drawing with Cambs & Hunts, the Denise Fiori-captained squad won their remaining three matches to overhaul Norfolk and hosts Essex, who they beat on the final morning.
Herts, who came so close to winning the title in 2019, put former England strokeplay champion Rebecca Earl (Bishops Stortford) out in the singles five times and on each occasion she delivered. However unfortunately she is one of six Hertfordshire squad members who will be in America when the County Finals are played in September (16-18). That includes the injured Ellen Hume (Mill Green), the England Amateur champion. She could not take part but was in attendance to support her county team-mates.
The format of the competition was changed to make it shorter so instead of one match per day via three foursomes and five singles, it became two per day (two foursomes and three singles).
Bad weather on day one (Friday) caused a rapid reshuffle of the schedule which ultimately led to many of the competitors having to play 45 holes on the Saturday.
One who was unaffected by the difficult circumstances was Suffolk champion Alice Barlow (Bury St Edmunds), who led her team to an unlikely victory against Herts on the first morning. She beat Mawgan Vater (East Herts) and would also go on to win all her five ties.
Finals points totals
Herts 7
Norfolk 6
Essex 6
Beds 4,
Cambs & Hunts 4
Suffolk 3
There was then some controversy in their afternoon fixture with Cambs & Hunts, which ended 2.5-2.5 having concluded the following day. Herts were forced to concede their opening foursomes after Zainab Jeppe (Mill Green) and Ellie Farwell (Sandy Lodge) were not told the game was starting on the tenth tee and, because they were just over five minutes late getting over there from the first, had to forfeit.
With just one point from a possible four, Herts had to win their remaining trio of matches to give themselves a chance and hope unbeaten Norfolk, who had opened with victories over Essex and Bedfordshire, slipped up.
The comeback started with a 4-1 victory over Bedfordshire and then came the even better news that Norfolk had lost to Cambs & Hunts.
Another 4-1 success followed in the afternoon (against Norfolk) to set up a winner-takes-all showdown with Essex, who beat Bedfordshire and Suffolk on the Saturday.
The next day Essex took the top foursomes tie and halved the second but Hertfordshire’s singles players delivered, led by Earl, who beat home star Harriet Lynch (Thorndon Park) 6&5. County champion Emmanuelle Hewson (Mid Herts) saw off Megan Henry (Chigwell) 2&1 and Honor Keilty (West Herts) halved with Georgia Gilling (Rochford Hundred) for an overall 3-2 success.
The only down side for the champions was captain Fiori was not there to see them do it as she had to dash home because a family member had contacted Covid 19.