Buckinghamshire won all five of their matches to be crowned champions of an entertaining Women’s County Finals at King’s Lynn Golf Club in Norfolk.
At the six-team finals, Yorkshire finished second after three wins and a draw while Essex came third and Dorset ended fourth after three draws.
A thrilling second day saw a battle of the two unbeaten teams to that point, with Dorset looking to upset Bucks’ winning run, and despite Bucks being down 3-2 for most of the afternoon, the final foursomes match engrossed over 100 followers in a dramatic finish.
Dorset were two-up through eight, but Bucks pair Lulu Leetham and Ellie Lichtenhein turned things around to be two-up after 15. However, a magnificent tee shot from Harriet Teversham allowed partner Jane Southcombe to birdie the 16th and a Bucks mistake on the 17th meant the match was all-square going down 18.
Two good tee shots meant a tie was looking likely to take it down to the last day, but a poor approach from Dorset saw them slip and Bucks celebrated victory with Sunday still to play.
Despite nobody being able to catch Bucks on the final day, they were looking to make it a clean sweep and they did just that with a fourth 4-1 win, this time against Sussex. Ella Butteriss made it five singles wins from five while Megan Dennis battled Sussex’s Emma Carberry in what was going to end one of their unbeaten weeks, having both won four out of four singles games going into the contest Dennis came out on top after a sensational -4 through seven holes to win 4&3, as only Dennis and teammate Butteriss won all five matches at the finals.
Day one of the tournament saw Bucks dominate with 4-1 wins over Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, while remarkably, three of the other matches finished in draws. Essex meanwhile beat Sussex 3-2 despite Heather Tidy holing out for an eagle from 120 yards in one of Sussex’s foursomes victories.
Saturday played host to a number of matches which went to the wire. Bucks won 4-1 for the third time, this time defeating Essex, while Yorkshire beat Lincolnshire by the same scoreline. Dorset tied their match with Sussex, meaning that, along with Bucks, they were the only other unbeaten team in the tournament heading into round four, and the only team that could stop them from winning the trophy.
Despite Megan Dennis’ 9&7 win, the biggest of the tournament, and Ella Butteriss’ 6&5 triumph, Bucks were down in the other three matches and looked set for their first defeat. However, with the scores at 2-2, the terrific foursomes match between Southcombe and Teversham (Dorset) and Leetham and Lichtenhein (Bucks) followed with the Bucks pair sealing a tense win.
Elsewhere, Yorkshire enjoyed a fine day with another 4-1 win over Sussex, which looked set to be 5-0 when the in-form Amy Staveley was four-up with eight holes to play. However, Sussex’s Carberry had other ideas as the Sussex star won the next four holes before sealing an incredible 2&1 win to end Staveley’s unbeaten run at the tournament.
Essex beat Lincolnshire 3.5-1.5 with the shot of the day coming from Dani Day (Essex) who holed out from 134 yards for an eagle on the par-four 7th to help win her foursomes match.
The final day saw Yorkshire see off Essex 3.5-1.5 while Lincolnshire enjoyed their first win of the tournament by beating Dorset 4-1 and Bucks completing their wonderful week with another 4-1 win versus Sussex.