L to R: Judy Houlden, Ingrid Long, Jo Thesiger, Sarah Brownlee (Captain), Debbie Richards, Jo Chatwin and Fiona Ross
8 a.m on Thursday 14th March saw Debbie Richards teeing off on the 9th tee of the Red Course at The Berkshire leading the way for the team at the start of this year's competition for the Wilton Shield. In the team this year were Debbie, Ingrid Long, Jo Thesiger, Ali Jacobs, Judy Houlden, Fiona Ross and Jo Chatwin.
In the morning round the Legals were drawn against the holders of the trophy, the United Services Ladies Golf Association. There had been so much rain earlier in the week that the players had to use mats on the fairways which took a bit of getting used to but the Red Course was in lovely condition and the greens were reasonably fast and true. The weather was mostly kind with a couple of squally showers later in the morning. The standard of golf was excellent and some early wins in the morning rounds saw victory for the Legals with the later matches being called in.
Meanwhile the Ladies Medical Golf Association defeated the Ladies Parliamentary Golf Association and were delighted to find the Legals had put out their arch rivals - the Medics and United Services having shared the trophy between them for the last fourteen years.
After a delicious lunch the players set out onto the Blue Course for the final round against the Medics. The greens on the Blue course had recently been hollow tined and were considerably slower than the those in the morning so some adjustment was needed to the putting. The Blue Course was also much wetter than the Red and there was a lot of casual water to contend with as well as a few heavy showers. However this did not detract from the standard of golf which remained consistently impressive.
All the matches were tightly contested and tensions were high. The first win went to the Medics but things quickly evened out with a win from Jo Thesiger on the 16th hole and then Fiona Ross had a big win to edge the team into the lead. Debbie Richards held her nerve to bring in a win on the 18th. Debbie and Jo were both on the winning team when the Legals last won the trophy in 2010 during the captaincy of Scilla Millar.
It was difficult not to start to be hopeful as reports from the course indicated that the Legals were up in two of the remaining three matches. In the event both Ali Jacobs and Judy Houlden (in her first appearance for the team) won their matches much to the jubilation of the entire team. The final match was called in.
The Captain, Sarah Brownlee, accepted the Trophy on behalf of the team and thanked the LJGA and in particular the Chairman Ione Inman and Secretary Debbie Blackwell for the organisation and running of the event as well as all the members of The Berkshire who helped with ball-spotting and starting.
Thanks were also given to Gillie Galloway for the on-course communications and to all the trolley pullers, two of whom - Aafke Oldridge and Sue Symons - had also played on the winning team in 2010.
Many congratulations to the team for an outstanding performance, helped no doubt by the excellent team spirit, and a sterling win against the odds. Here's to the defence of the title next year.
L-R Diana Reese, Claire Gearing, Judy Houlden, Di Kyle, Ingrid Long, Jo Thesiger, Sarah Brownlee, Debbie Richards, Aafke Oldridge, Jo Chatwin, Fiona Ross, Gillie Galloway, Meg Ashby and Sue Symons
Sarah Brownlee accepting the Trophy from Chairman of the LJGA Ione Inman
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