Yorkshire golf: Waterlooville is destination as White Rose ladies seek England county title

YORKSHIRE captain Dawn Clegg will take a strong team to Waterloovile, in Hampshire, next week in search of the county's 12th success in the English Women's County Finals.
Captain Dawn Clegg, seated, pictured with Yorkshire during their success at Northern Counties Match Week at Penrith.Captain Dawn Clegg, seated, pictured with Yorkshire during their success at Northern Counties Match Week at Penrith.
Captain Dawn Clegg, seated, pictured with Yorkshire during their success at Northern Counties Match Week at Penrith.

The side includes Woodsome Hall's Curtis Cup player Rochelle Morris and Olivia Winning, of Rotherham, the Scottish open stroke play champion who helped England’s women become European team champions this summer.

Lining up with them are Yorkshire champion Megan Garland (Selby); Cleckheaton's Megan Clarke, who retained her girls' county title at Otley in May, and her club-mate Olivia Hamilton, former Yorkshire Under-18 champion; county championship quarter-finalists Hannah Holden (Lightcliffe) and Melissa Wood (Woodsome Hall); and Hickleton's Alison Knowles, highest-placed White Rose competitor in the English Women’s Amateur Championship in July.

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Yorkshire's five competitors at Waterlooville include Norfolk, who will make their first appearance at the final for 42 years when they represent the East region. Staffordshire, from Midlands North, return after an absence of 15 years, Gloucestershire will represent the South West, Surrey the South, and Buckinghamshire the Midlands South.

Waterlooville Golf Club, in Hampshire, will stage the English Womens County Finals from September 12-16.Waterlooville Golf Club, in Hampshire, will stage the English Womens County Finals from September 12-16.
Waterlooville Golf Club, in Hampshire, will stage the English Womens County Finals from September 12-16.

Yorkshire represent the North after winning the Northern Counties Match Week title at Penrith.

Staffordshire will be their first opponents on Monday, September 12, followed by Surrey (Tuesday), Buckinghamshire (Wednesday), Norfolk (Thursday) and Gloucestershire (Friday).

The title of English Women’s County Champions is one of the most sought-after and keenly contested in the calendar and county pride will be fiercely on display during the five-day round robin tournament, which starts on Monday, 12 September.

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The players will be challenged by the fast greens and tight fairways of Waterlooville’s parkland layout. This will be the first time the club has hosted a national championship and president Stephen Millett said: “The members are very excited that our course has been selected by England Golf and we will be pulling out all the stops to make it a truly memorable occasion.”

Waterlooville Golf Club, in Hampshire, will stage the English Womens County Finals from September 12-16.Waterlooville Golf Club, in Hampshire, will stage the English Womens County Finals from September 12-16.
Waterlooville Golf Club, in Hampshire, will stage the English Womens County Finals from September 12-16.

Ladies’ captain Allison Bolam added: “This is a great compliment to our club. The prestige of the County Finals is growing every year and it will be thrilling to watch some of the best amateur golfers in the country competing for the title on our fairways - and to see how Waterlooville is meant to be played.”

Two of the youngest players competing will be Surrey’s Annabell Fuller, 14, and Gloucestershire’s Ffion Tynan, 13.

Fuller is a girl international and the winner of the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters, while Tynan is the English Under-14 girls’ champion.

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Norfolk’s team includes girl international, Amelia Williamson, 16, while Surrey’s Martha Lewis is an Under-16 international.

Inci Mehmet, of Surrey, and Bethan Popel, of Gloucestershire, have both represented the England women’s team while Norfolk's Jo Ashmore has been a senior international.