English County Championship 2016

Six teams will go head to head next week when they contest the final of the women’s English County Championship at Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire.

The grand finale brings together Buckinghamshire from Midlands South, Essex from the East, Gloucestershire from the South West; Lancashire from the North; Nottinghamshire from Midlands North; and Sussex from the South.

They will play off in a five-day round-robin, starting on Monday, September 14, and four of the teams will be seeking their first win.

Only Lancashire, who have been champions 10 times, and Essex, the three-times title-holders, have previously been successful.

Two of last year’s finalists will be at Frilford Heath: Buckinghamshire and Gloucestershire, who have played at County Finals for the last five years. Nottinghamshire are making their first appearance since 2000, while Sussex last played in 2011. Sussex ended the reign of the 2014 champions, Hampshire, at the South Region County Match Week.

The championship is one of the highlights of the women’s amateur calendar with great displays of team spirit and extremely competitive golf.

Among the players are a number of internationals, including Lancashire’s Hollie Muse and Eloise Healey, who recently helped England win the Girls’ Home Internationals for the eighth successive year.

Muse, fellow Lancashire player Sophie Lamb, and Gloucestershire’s Bethan Popel are all representing England in this week’s women’s Home Internationals.

The Essex team includes the English U14 champion Lily Humphreys, while senior international Katherine Russell is in the Sussex side, alongside Aileen Greenfield, the runner-up in the English senior women’s stroke play championship.

The teams will play on Frilford Heath’s Green course which will create an exciting matchplay setting with four outstanding par threes and a tough homeward stretch. The club recently hosted England Golf’s first and very successful Golf Week and will be staging women’s County Finals for the third time, having previously held it in 1973 and 1989.

Pictured: Frilford Heath Golf Club (© Leaderboard Photography)

The teams:

Buckinghamshire
Captain: Phillipa Cook
Georgina Bowers
Jess Burrows
Megan Dennis
Clara Leathers
Chloe Li
Thalia Kirby
Alice Kozlowski
Luan Skeates
Lizi Sweetnam
Charlotte West
Denise Goodacre

Essex
Captain Louella Hitchcock
Cassandra Cunningham
Amanda Colegate-Herbert
Ashley Lara Croft
Holly Haslam
Lily Humphreys
Emily Irons
Kelly Martin
Hannah Moul

Gloucestershire
Bethan Popel
Becky Gibbs
Alex Saunders
Ebonie Lewis
Lucy Quinn
Alison Kelly
Grace McLoughlin
Alex Giles
Caley McGinty
Charlie Hiatt
Corrinne Durber (Captain)
Andra Knight

Lancashire
Captain: Brenda Flett
Catherine Roberts
Louisa Brunt
Georgia Coughlin
Beth Garton
Eloise Healey
Nicola Rawlinson
Anna Dawson
Sophie Lamb
Hollie Muse

Nottinghamshire
Rachel Boulton
Emily Cheshire
Vicki Forecast
Esme Hamilton
Kathryn Horberry (Captain)
Carol Houghton
Emma Howie
Emily Lyle
Laura Morris
Emma Newlove
Glenys Priestley
Lauren Spray

Sussex
Chelsea Masters
Chloe Court
Aileen Greenfield
Karen Sykes
Jelina Fernando
Katherine Russell
Penny Brown
Paula Carver
Sophie Kennard

Order of Play

Monday 14 September
Gloucestershire v Sussex
Nottinghamshire v Lancashire
Buckinghamshire v Essex

Tuesday 15 September
Nottinghamshire v Buckinghamshire
Sussex v Lancashire
Essex v Gloucestershire

Wednesday 16 September
Lancashire v Essex
Gloucestershire v Buckinghamshire
Nottinghamshire v Sussex

Thursday 17 September
Gloucestershire v Nottinghamshire
Sussex v Essex
Buckinghamshire v Lancashire

Friday 18 September
Buckinghamshire v Sussex
Essex v Nottinghamshire
Lancashire v Gloucestershire