Ladies Win At Whittington

The Mail on Sunday is an amateur national knock-out competition. It is based on 5 single matches decided by handicap match play over 18 holes and is the first year that Wishaw Ladies have entered. We were drawn against Whittington Heath, Staffordshire in Round One. The team consisted of Sue Franklin, Kerry Pace, Jayne Proud, Barb Kelsey and Vicki Haden. We played in appalling conditions of strong winds, continuous rain , puddle-soaked fairways and eventually puddle-soaked greens.  It was a fiercely fought competition and that did not include who could stay the driest and warmest the longest. Sue went out first and played against a young girl who plays off 5. Sue did tremendously well to halve the game. Jayne was the next to go out but was beaten on the back nine (6-5). Again against a person with a much lower handicap of 10 and so did extremely well. As so did Kerry, who was third out, losing only by 3-2 following a very close battle . Kerry was having to play off 24 (maximum handicap) so was already two shots down before having to play against a handicap of 11. Barb was out fourth and as the closeness of the handicaps proved (Barb receiving two shots) she managed to win 3-2 after being 3 down at one stage. This left Vicki who volunteered to go out last, as being the fifth player she had to play a sudden-death handicap match if the scores were tied. Vicki won her match 1 up on the 18th and so had to continue, eventually winning for the team on the 20th hole. You cannot say that we enjoyed the game but we certainly enjoyed the result. Thanks to the ladies at Whittington Heath for their hospitality on a cold and very grey Sunday morning but a huge thanks to the 5 ladies from Wishaw who went out there despite the odds being against them in more ways than one. Roll on Round Two – the girls are up for anything now.