Yorkshire club Malton & Norton overcame a gutsy performance by Gosport & Stokes Bay to claim victory in the Mail On Sunday Classic, at El Rompido in Spain.
Yorkshire club Malton & Norton overcame a gutsy performance by Gosport & Stokes Bay to claim victory in the Mail On Sunday Classic, at El Rompido in Spain.
The Yorkshire outfit had plenty of support and looked unstoppable in the world’s largest golf club team event after beating Accrington & District 5-0 in the semi-finals on the North Course, but tiny Gosport & Stokes Bay came close to causing an upset.
They led in three of the five matches after eight holes and were all square in another. The Hampshire club, which have just 29 members and only eight eligible for the competition, knocked out Oxford Ladies in the semi-finals when Sarah Greenaway won at the first extra hole. Mo Browne, playing off 16, secured the first point for Gosport by winning 3&2, but tricky windy conditions and fast greens saw Malton’s experience turn the tie around to triumph 31/2-11/2.
Gosport’s Greenaway, playing off 18, went two up after three holes in her match with former GB & I player Emma Brown. But the plus three-handicapper crept back at the ninth and momentum took over until she eventually won 5&3.
Greenway said: ‘Emma hits the ball better than any pro. It’s the accuracy. She wants to get to the pin not the green.’
Malton’s other points came from Carol Simpson, who had a miraculous second shot at the 16th, when she thinned it out of the bunker on the par three. The ball was heading for the Marismas, the salt marsh that surrounds parts of the course, but the flag unravelled in the wind, caught hold of it and it dropped straight down, half an inch from the hole gifting her a 3&2 victory.
‘That was my highlight,’ said the five-handicapper. ‘I’m never going to say again I don’t get any luck. It is moments like that that make it special. I knew then it could be us.’
Malton had reached the ninth round of the tournament on three previous occasions, but they had an inkling it might be their year after they had an away win at local rivals and previous champions Ganton in the first round. ‘We’ve seen the trophy there and we wanted to win it,’ said Brown.
