England internationals Marco Penge and Sophie Lamb proved they’re a partnership both on and off the course with a convincing win in the Sunningdale Foursomes.
England internationals Marco Penge and Sophie Lamb proved they’re a partnership both on and off the course with a convincing win in the Sunningdale Foursomes on their first competitive outing together.
They won yesterday’s final on the 14th when Penge chipped in to seal the 5/4 win. Afterwards Lamb tweeted a tribute to her boyfriend, remarking “best partner, on and off the course.”
Their win was even more impressive when it emerged that Penge had been suffering from a tummy bug during the last day’s play.
“He was sitting down between shots and he was really struggling, but he did really well,” said Lamb.
The couple don’t get much chance to play golf together so they decided to grab the opportunity provided by the Sunningdale Foursomes. “We came here this week to have a bit of fun and we’ve certainly done that,” said Penge (Golf at Goodwood). “We ended up playing pretty good.”
Lamb (Clitheroe) added:
“We caddie for each other quite a lot but it’s been nice to actually play together. It’s the first time we’ve played competitively together. It has been great and to win obviously makes it even better.”
The couple arrived at Sunningdale straight from the Spanish amateur championships and were given their biggest test in the first round of the foursomes, when they were taken to the 20th.
After that, they scythed through the tournament with a string of excellent wins. Notably they were six-under par in one day, playing round four and the quarter final.
Along the way they defeated Patrick Ruff & Henry Sheridan Mills (20th); Chris Rodgers & Barry Monks (4/3); Jon Baker-Odlin & Alex Beckett (7/6); Charlie Strickland & Harvey Byers (4/2); Tom Shadbolt & Tomasz Anderson (6/5); John Kemp & Mark Wharton (3/2); and finally Lewis Atkinson & Scott Marshall (5/4).
Afterward, Penge recalled the chip-in which ended the match and remarked:
“That was hard on them because they had hit a good shot onto the green, but it’s nice to get a good break because you get more than enough bad ones as well.”
This was Lamb's first appearance in the tournament but Penge has been close before, twice reaching the semi-finals with Toby Tree, and he added: “It’s nice to get my hands on the trophy.”
Penge won the 2015 England Boys’ Order of Merit having won two junior titles and the Scottish men’s stroke play championship. This season he has tied fourth in the Portuguese amateur and been sixth in the South American Amateur.
Lamb was runner-up in the 2015 England Girls’ Order of Merit and sixth on the women’s table. She was also runner-up in the ANNIKA Invitational Europe 2015 in Sweden. This season she has been England’s leading scorer in the Portuguese women’s amateur and reached the quarter finals of the Spanish amateur.
Credit- England Golf
