GLOUCESTERSHIRE LITTLE SPOTS TAKE PART IN SW JUNIOR INTER-COUNTIES - DAILY REPORTS

It's the turn of the Gloucestershire Girls (Gloucestershire's Little Spots) to take part in a SW event and on Sunday we will be travelling down to Teignmouth GC to compete in the SW Junior Inter Counties Champs which start on Monday, 7 August through to Wednesday 9 August.

The format is the same as the Ladies Inter-Counties Champs with 2 Foursomes matches and 3 Singles matches, but the Girls event is handicapped, so the players will give and receive shots depending on the handicap differences in their matches.

We visited Teignmouth GC for an additional practice round last Sunday and it is definitely a 'hidden gem' on top of the bay overlooking the town of Teignmouth and across to the River Exe estuary, Dawlish and Exmouth and beyond.  We were lucky with the weather, although it was windy, but the locals said that was nothing compared to how it can be, so fingers crossed the sun shines and the wind drops when we're down for the competition!

The results will be posted on the South West Women's website and we will be posting additional news reports on here and the GLCGA facebook page

GOOD LUCK LITTLE SPOTS!

The Final day of SW Junior Inter-Counties 

Wow, what an early start, plus we had to check out of our hotel, so it was a bit of a challenging start to the day, but the girls were ready in the hotel reception for 0630'ish (Millie was counting them all in and making sure they weren't too late!!) and then it was over to the Club for breakfast and warm up before teeing off at 0800 hours in our final match against the defending champs Cornwall.

Unfortunately Liz Robbins our Vice-Captain had to go home the previous day as she was unwell, but we still had 8 players left to choose from for our final day's team and Millie said she was happy to rest, so our team was:

Mariella and Rosie 

Neve and Molly 

Taylor 

Sophie Williams 

Sophie White

In the first foursomes, Mariella and Rosie were giving 10 shots but they fought so hard and only lost on the 16th 3&2. Neve and Molly had to give 13 shots to two young girls who definitely played well below their handicaps, and they lost on the 14th, 6&4. In our singles matches, we gave the two Sophie's the opportunity to play singles and Taylor led the way. Taylor had to give 4 shots, Sophie Williams - 3 shots and Sophie White, 2 shots.

Taylor was up very early on in her round and always kept a good margin, eventually winning on the 16th, 3&1. Sophie White who was in anchor position won her match on the 14th, 6&4 and so all the girls were congregating around the 15th as Sophie Williams by this time was 3 down and needed to win the 15th to take her game to the 16th. Yes you've guessed it, that annoying hole meant she had to give a shot to her opponent and she lost her match on the 15th, 5&3.

The final match result was a 3:2 loss to us, but the girls did Gloucestershire proud and even though Cornwall had won all their matches in the tournament, we certainly pushed them all the way.

Our final position was 4th, which was an improvement on last year, so we're trending in the right direction and hopefully with the experience we gain over the next 12 months, we should be able to move up the table. Fingers crossed!

Cornwall Golf were the 2023 winners, so they successfully defended their trophy and we congratulate them. The whole tournament was extremely well organised by Devon Golf, everyone at Teignmouth Golf Club, the management, the hospitality staff, the green keepers, the ball spotters, the professional team and the members were exceptional and other than the weather disruption on day 2, the event was a fantastic success.

Team Glos, you were all brilliant and you represented Gloucestershire so well and you should all be very proud of your performances. In our tournament camouflage tops, everyone said you looked soooo good and on the final day we mixed it up even more with our neon pink polo shirts with the Jenny May Gloucester Old Spot logo on our backs. One thing for sure wherever you were on the course, you could see a neon pink golfer!

Thank you to Karen Rix, our starter and Sandra Gibbs who were with us every day and to Alison Kelly and Brian who supported us on the first two days. To all the parents who dropped the girls off, to the parents who stayed down in Devon and spurred the girls on every day - thank you - it's always great to have this support and if we needed any last-minute running around it's good to know that all we have to do is ask and it will be done - big thank you to Maria and Christy Douglas for sorting out the luggage logistics! 

To Chris Douglas, our match manager and Molly Douglas, our Junior Captain, what can I say, a big thank you for everything you did before and during the event and to our WaterBoy and Tidal Wave Monitor, Jack Douglas - you were brilliant. 

Next year Wiltshire Golf are hosting at Cumberwell Park GC between 4 - 7 August 2024 - I think we'll be recovered by then!

DAY 2 MATCH REPORT

Team Gloucestershire arrived at Teignmouth GC to fog – there was fog everywhere and when you could see 100 yards in front of you it was a short-lived view as more fog swept in across the landscape. With limited vision, the start times were delayed by 30 minutes and then gradually all the matches were out on the course, but there was patchy visibility and with Gloucestershire and Dorset going out last, our last match got to halfway down the 9th and then the dreaded klaxon was sounded. By this point, we were down in 3 of our matches, up in 1 and a/s in the other.

Our foursomes teams of Taylor and Millie and Sophie Squared were -1 and a/s respectively and our singles players, Mariella, Rosie and Molly were -2, -3 and +4. So with balls marked we all traipsed back to the clubhouse, which in fairness for us wasn’t too far with the 9th green/10th tee box just across the road from the entrance to the golf club. Food was consumed and the decision was then made to complete the morning session as soon as the fog had lifted, which took about 90 minutes and then follow this straight on with a two-tee start to complete the afternoon session.

So once the fog had cleared Team Gloucestershire went back out on the course and completed our morning match, eventually finishing at 1540 hours and we then had to get the girls back to the 10th tee to start our afternoon session against Devon, but not before we had selected the pairings and singles players and submitted the sheet to the tournament office. The only problem was that four of our morning matches all went to the 18th, which literally meant, we had to wait for Mariella who was our first singles player, to finish her match, as she was in the first foursomes pairing for the afternoon session. The decision was made that we would have to delay our start time by 20 minutes, to give her time to breathe!

So the results for the morning session were:

Taylor & Millie halved

Sophie & Sophie halved

Mariella lost 1 dn

Rosie lost 4&2

Molly halved

So we lost to Dorset 1.5 : 3.5

For the afternoon session against our hosts Devon, we mixed it up a bit and our team was Mariella & Rosie, Sophie & Sophie in the two foursomes matches, and then in the singles, it was Millie, Neve and Molly.

With Devon having a few high handicappers playing, we were giving shots in all the matches. We had to give +4, +6, +1, +15 and +14 shots respectively. It was a real challenge for some of the girls but with true grit, they kept going until they ran out of holes and it ultimately resulted in a halved match. Mariella and Rosie halved their match, Sophie Squared won 4&3, as did Millie and then Neve unfortunately lost to an in-form player 8&7 with Molly also being pressed all the way until the 17th, when she lost 2&1.

So the overall result was a halved match.

Today was an incredibly long day for all the players – as ever the parents supported them across the day and the roast chicken meal that was waiting for us all when we came off the course at 1945 was extremely welcome.

One special anecdote from the day, was when several of the players said they found it soooooo difficult to play in the fog because their range finders/dmd’s wouldn’t work and how could they work out their yardages! These youngsters have so much to learn – goodness knows how they would cope as well, if they didn’t have their gadgets!

I feel a bit like a proud mum, as today was a challenge, but in true “Little Spots” style they fought all the way to the bitter end and they came off the course with smiles and showed true determination and spirit – we’re hoping for a nice day tomorrow to play the defending Champions Cornwall, who have already won all their matches. Hopefully, it won’t be as bad as today as it was pretty miserable and if the sun’s out or even peaking out from the clouds, it means there won’t be any fog and the girls dmd’s will work! Fingers crossed!

SOUTH WEST JUNIOR INTER-COUNTIES – DAY 1
Day 1 of SW Junior Inter-Counties saw us playing Wiltshire in the morning and Somerset in the afternoon.  With an early start the team enjoyed breakfast at the club before getting prepared to go our and do battle against Wiltshire.
First to play were Molly and Neve who had to give 15 shots to the Wiltshire pairing.  However, even though they were a little daunted to have to give so many shots, they soon found their rhythm and were 3 up through 9.  With steady play, they found themselves winning on the 15th which was a great achievement.
Sophie Williams and Sophie White now to be called Sophie Squared also had to give 11 shots and they steadily won several holes in the early stages of their match to be 3 up through 4.  However the Wiltshire pairing fought back and Sophie Squared were pegged back to 1 up by the 13th hole.  They continued to focus and they secured a 2&1 win on the 17th.
In the first of the singles matches, Taylor was motoring and it was obvious she didn’t want to spend too much time out on the course, even though the weather wasn’t too bad!  She had to give 3 shots, but by the time she got to the 9th she was 2up.  She then decided to step up the pace and was dormie 5 up and went on to win on the 15th hole.  
Behind her Knowle’s Millie Gait had to give 2 shots. Like Taylor she wanted to get back in to the clubhouse and was 3 up through 9.  She then won the 10th and then won another 2 holes to win 6&4.
Rosie who was playing in her first inter-counties tournament, came up against strong opposition and even though she had to give 3 shots she fought right to the end, but eventually lost on the 16th.  
With the way Teignmouth course is rated, holes 14 and 15 have stroke indexes of 3 and 1, so when you’re giving quite a few shots, you need to make sure you have a bit of a buffer, as both these holes are challenging.
Overall we came out the victors in this match against Wiltshire, winning 4:1

The afternoon we faced our county neighbours Somerset and we knew this was potentially going to be a tough challenge.  We decided to keep the foursomes the same and whilst Molly and Neve had a very good 6&4 win, Sophie Squared had to battle every hole with neither team going more than 1 shot up/down in the match.  They ended up going down the 18th, 1 down and that was the final result. 
Behind them in the singles, Taylor started very strongly, but her opponent fought her all the way to the 18th,  pegging her back and ultimately they halved their match. 
Millie came up against an in-form player who pushed her all the way, plus she had to give her 3 shots.  Millie was up in her match by the 3rd, but then they were halving holes until Somerset went 1up by the 9th and then won another 2 holes on the back 9, to win 3&1. 
Mariella who was also playing in her first inter-counties plotted her way around the course.  She’s always dead straight and steady and gives nothing away and even though she found herself 2 up through the first  holes, her opponent fought back and it was nip and tuck throughout her round.  Mariella ended up going to the 18th, where her match was halved.
With one win and two halves, we just fell short of winning, but this was one of the tightest matches played on the day and Team Gloucestershire never gave up.
The final result was a loss to Gloucestershire 2:3.

We’re lying in third place behind Cornwall and Somerset, so all to play for tomorrow when we face Dorset in the morning and Devon in the afternoon and we hope the weather forecast isn’t correct, as it looks like we could get some rain – fingers crossed!
 

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