Great Britain and Ireland made a disappointing start to their defence of the Astor Trophy at Grange Golf Club, Adelaide in Australia - losing 4-3 to New Zealand after leading from the morning foursomes.
Great Britain and Ireland made a disappointing start to their defence of the Astor Trophy at Grange Golf Club, Adelaide in Australia.
The Ladies Golf Union team lost 4-3 to New Zealand after leading 1 1/2-1/2 from the morning foursomes. The Kiwis made up their deficit by winning three of the five afternoon singles.
GB&I looked certain to achieve at least an overall draw when Hayley Davis was four up on Alan Campbell with six holes to play in the final singles. But, unfortunately, Hayley astonishingly lost all six holes to finish two down. That unexpected turnaround gave New Zealand their 4-3 victory.
Bronte Law was a double winner for GB&I. She partnered Chloe Williams to a 3 and 2 success in the foursomes, then followed that up by winning the lead-off singles tie 2 and 1. Bronte was the only GB&I winner in the singles.
Charlotte Thomas gained a halved match but Connie Jaffrey, who did not play in the foursomes, Chloe Williams and Hayley Davis all lost their singles ties.
Team captain Elaine Farquharson-Black has retained the same GB&I pairings for the Day 2 foursomes against South Africa.
The Aberdeen planning solicitor summed up the first day: "Yes, the result was disappointing, given that we were leading 1.5 to .5 at lunch. Even then we were one up playing the last in the second foursomes.
"In the afternoon we just made too many unforced errors. Whilst we made more birdies than NZ over the day's seven matches, they made more pars/fewer bogeys. At this level the matches are so close that there simply isn't room for slack shots. The team will regroup and refocus and come out fighting again tomorrow. We played a lot of good golf out there."
DAY ONE RESULTS
GB&I 3, NEW ZEALAND 4
FOURSOMES (1 1/2-1/2)
Bronte Law and Chloe Williams bt Munchen Keh and Julianne Alvarez 3 and 2
Hayley Davis and Charlotte Thomas halved with Chantelle Cassidy and Wenyung Keh
SINGLES (1 1/2-3 1/2)
Law bt M Keh 2 and 1
Williams lost to Alvarez 5 and 3
Connie Jaffrey lost to Cassidy 3 and 2
Thomas halved with W Keh
Davis lost to Alana Campbell 2 holes
CANADA 2 1/2, AUSTRALIA 4 1/2
FOURSOMES (1 1/2-1/2)
Naomi Ko and Grace St Germain bt Shelly Shin and Hannah Green 1 hole
Alisha Lau and Jaclyn Lee halved with Becky Kay and Gennai Goodwin
SINGLES (1-4)
Ko lost to Shin 5 and 4
St Germain lost to Green 5 and 3
Jaclyn Lee bt Kay 3 and 2
Michelle Kim lost to Jenny Lee 1 hole
Lau lostg to Goodwin 1 hole
HOW THEY STAND
Australia 1pt
New Zealand 1pt
GB&I 0pt
Canada 0pt
Still to play: South Africa
DAY 2 MATCHES
GB&I v SOUTH AFRICA
Foursomes
Bronte Law and Chloe Williams v Bertine Strauss and Ivanna Samu
Charlotte Thomas and Hayley Davis v Eleonara Gelletti and Lora Assad
AUSTRALIA v NEW ZEALAND
CREDIT CAL CARSON GOLF AGENCY
