Warwickshire Golf
Warwickshire Girls Championship provides some amazing scores!
The Warwickshire Girls Championship was played on 20 August 2024 at Coventry Hearsall Golf Club with 6 girls entering the 36 Hole Championship and 8 the 18 Hole Championship. Entry is restricted to girls with maximum handicaps of 36.4. There are 7 trophies to compete for and the competition was a competitive as ever!
Coventry Hearsall is so supportive of girls golf and we were delighted to host it there this year and very grateful for the support of Ian McCairns, the General Manager and Lesley Duff, our very own County Secretary and stand in Lady Captain on the day. Both Ian and Lesley were at the club all day ensuring everything ran smoothly. The course was in wonderful condition and our thanks go to all the Ground staff and the Professional. The caterers and bar staff provided a constant supply of beverages but I must also thank all the members who gave up their course for much of the day.
The day started wet and windy for those playing 2 rounds but by lunch time the sun had come out so all was well! My thanks to Stewart Church and Jayne Hales who acted as referees and I have never seen 2 people quite so wet when they came in at lunch time!
It was encouraging for the girls to meet Sharon Butler, WLCGA Chair who took over from Lesley as starter at lunch time and was delighted to have the chance to meet so many of our girls.
Thank you of course to Alison, our CJO, at her first Girls Championship. I really appreciated her help and energy and I know how much the girls and their parents enjoy having her at these events.
As ever my thanks to Elizabeth Earnshaw who ensures results are accurate and prompt and bestows an air of calm upon me!
Ian had very kindly donated golf balls for Nearest the Pin on all the par 3 holes and winners were Arianna Virik, Arisha Virik, Isabelle Toon and Ruby Litwinko-Smith.
The County Champion is the girl who has the best gross score after 2 Medal rounds and our three low handicap girls of Arianna Virik (last year's holder), Maisie Halstead (2020 Champion) and Serafima Taylor are all more than talented enough to win.
Maisie had the round of the day in the morning with a superb 70 gross (par 71) with Arianna lying 2 behind. In the afternoon round, Arianna played another excellent round of 2 over par and after the 36 holes became our County Girls Champion for the 2nd year running winning the Edgbaston Trophy. Serafima was quietly producing 2 very steady rounds and won the Gross runner-up Stratford Trophy with Maisie having struggled a little in the afternoon.
The 36 Hole Estelle Goodman Net trophy was won by a delighted Arisha Virik, pipping her sister by 1 shot! She had scores of 72 and 70 nett resulting in a Level Par score over 36 holes -what fantastic golf at a young age!
The Pam Large Trophy (for those not having played 36 holes) is presented to the 18 Hole Gross winner and this was won by a delighted Erin Thompson! Erin is having a superb season and her gross score of 89 playing off a course handicap of 22 was testament to this! Not only did she win this trophy but also the 18 Hole Harborne Net Trophy with an incredible 4 under par 67!
It didn't end there, as she was also the net winner in both the under 16 and under 14 category! Congratulations Erin, this was quite an achievement!
The winner of the Sylvia Evans under 16 gross trophy over 18 holes was Arianna Virik and the winner of the Jane Dennick under 14 gross trophy over 18 holes was Serafima Taylor. Huge congratulations to both of them as multiple trophy winners!
Arisha, Serafima, Arianna, Ruby, Erin, Isabelle
The Elizabeth Earnshaw Trophy for the best combined gross score over 18 holes from a girl and boy at the same club was presented to Arianna by Elizabeth. Coventry Hearsall was looking the likely winner from the start as Lennon O'Neill-Knibbs had already posted a 75 gross at the Boys Championships and with the club also being Arianna's home club, with her score of 72 gross the result was a ‘fait accompli'!
Arianna will represent Warwickshire at the England Golf Champion of Champions event at Woodhall Spa in September and we wish her well at that.
Those with the best gross scores over 36 holes are entered into the three age categories at the Midland Champion of Champions event which will be played at Stourbridge GC this year. Maisie is the under 18 Champion, Arianna the under 16 Champion and Serafima the under 14 Champion. Unfortunately for us but not for her, Arianna cannot compete as she has been invited for England Golf regional squad selection which we are delighted about. Maisie is waiting to hear whether she will get an invite. Serafima has been entered for the Midland and we know she will represent us well.
Maisie with the best gross and nett score of the day has had her scores forwarded to the Justin Rose/Telegraph competition where the best 12 gross scores throughout the year play at the finals in Portugal in December. We are keeping our fingers crossed for her!
Aside from some wonderful scores, it was a wonderful day and the camaraderie between all the girls is something we are very proud of. The future looks very promising.
Pat Hale
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