England won the women’s home international golf series at Dunbar Golf Club today for the third year in a row. They finished with a 100 % record at the end of the three-day programme, clinching the championship by coping with some stout resistance from Ireland who were eventually beaten 5 ½-3 1/2.
And England did it without the services of one of their key players, Melissa Reid, who had an injured wrist. The English had the "MVP" of the tournament in young Rachel Jennings who gained 5 1/2pt out of a possible six. Next best for England were Naomi Edwards, Kerry Smith and Elizabeth Bennett, all with 4 1/2pt each.
Scotland, who have not won the title since 1991 at Aberdovey, finished runners-up by beating Wales 6-3. The Scots won the foursomes 2-1 but at one stage in the afternoon trailed in five of the six singles. However, they finished strongly and eventually won four of the singles.
Scottish champion Jenna Wilson (Strathaven) lost for the fourth session of play in a row, going down by 2 and 1 to Tara Davies in the top singles tie. Jenna, who had been three down at the turn before getting a bit of a recovery going, finished with 1 1/2pt out of a possible six.
Pamela Pretswell (Bothwell Castle) went down by 4 and 3 to Lucy Gould after winning the fourth and fifth but trailing by two holes at the turn. Pamela finished with 2pt out of a possible four.
Friday details:
SCOTLAND 6, WALES 3
Foursomes: J Wilson, M Thomson lost to S Evans, T Davies 2 and 1; L Murray, P Pretswell bt S Hassan, R W Thomas 6 and 4, E Ogilvy, C Booth bt L Hall, L Gould 2 and 1 (2-1).
Singles: Wilson lost to Davies 2 and 1, Booth bt Hassan 1 hole, Murray bt R Harries 2 and 1, Ogilvy bt Hall 3 and 1, Pretswell lost to Gould 4 and 3, Thomson bt Evans 2 holes (4-2).
IRELAND 3 1/2, ENGLAND 5 1/2
Foursomes: T Delaney, N Kitching lost to N Edwards, K Smith 6 and 5; D McVeigh, M Riordan halved with R Bell, E Bennett; M Morrin, G O’Leary lost to R Jennings, D Montgomery 6 and 4 (1/2-2 ½).
Singles: K Delaney bt Edwards 2 and 1, T Delaney bt Bell 3 and 1, McVeigh lost to Smith 3 and 2, Riordan lost to Bennett 3 and 2, O’Leary bt Montgomery 3 and 2, Morrin lost to Jennings 7 and 6.
HOW THEY FINISHED
1 England 3pt, 2 Scotland 2pt, 3 Ireland 1pt, 4 Wales 0pt.
Thanks go to Gillian Kirkwood for the report