Buckinghamshire’s women’s team maintained their dominance in the Midlands South region by qualifying for the EG County Championship for the seventh successive year yesterday.
The champions lost just three individual matches all week at Northampton Golf Club. Ellesborough’s Alice Kozlowski was making her ninth appearance for the county and has been on the winning team eight times while Megan Denis (Woburn) and England international Thalia Kirby (Harleyford) have appeared every time since the winning run started in 2014.
Captained by Janet Beal (Beaconsfield) for the first time, Bucks will tackle the likes of Surrey and Hertfordshire for the national title on home turf at Denham Golf Club (September 17-19). Midlands North, The North and the South West all hold their qualifiers in the next two weeks.
“The girls were absolutely fantastic,” said the County Captain. “They are a very good bunch. The team is made up a lot of juniors who have come through the system and over the last ten years we have worked with some very good juniors.”
Buckinghamshire make it in eight in a row
The champions started the defence of their title against Worcestershire and Herfordshire, winning 4.5-0.5, and then tackled Warwickshire in the afternoon when Janet paired 14-year-old Rosie Bee Kim (The Buckinghamshire) with 13-year-old debutant Roisin Scanlon (Woburn) to devastating effect. The teenagers won 7&6.
“They played the most amazing foursomes golf,” added Janet.
Bucks won 4-1 to end day one as the only unbeaten team in the six-county competition.
On the Tuesday they saw off Oxfordshire 5-0 and then had their closest match against the hosts. With just one singles left out on the course and the score 2-2, their hopes of maintaining their 100% record rested on the shoulders of their youngest member.
Roisin got to the 18th one up against Leah Ribano (Northampton) and both players put their approach shots close before missing their birdie putts. However the Woburn teenager rattled hers four feet past and, to the relief of her watching team-mates, did not miss coming back.
That 3-2 success assured Bucks had retained the title but they rounded things off in style with a 5-0 victory over Berkshire the following morning, debutant Ciara Egan (Woburn) finishing with a 100 per cent record as she closed things out with a 3&1 win.