National charity title for Cumbrian club
The ladies of a Cumbrian golf club hit top form with a string of spectacular scores to win England Golf's national competition in support of its charity for girls' golf.
Caption: Pat Wimpress (left) and Annette Milburn (right) are pictured at the annual meeting with outgoing England Golf President Pam Benka.
Cockermouth Golf Club ladies' section was named as the winner of the 2013 EWGA Trust Stableford Competition at yesterday's annual meeting of England Golf. They beat over 180 other clubs to claim the trophy and a laptop computer.
Each year, ladies' sections are invited to fundraise for the EWGA Trust at a stableford competition. They are asked to make a donation based on the points scored by the top 10 players in their competition and nationwide they raised over £3000.
In Cockermouth's nominated competition the top 10 players together amassed a superb 402 points and they finished four points clear of their closest rivals, Coombe Wood in Surrey and Tiverton, Devon.
"We had a real purple patch that day," said Pat Wimpress, the ladies' secretary and vice-captain. The section's top scorer scored 47 points - and cut her handicap from 19 to 16 - while four other players also scored in the 40s. The lowest counting scores were a pair of 35s.
"Normally 35 or 36 points would be a winning score," said Pat, who contributed one of the counting 35s over a course which boasts spectacular views of the Solway Firth.
"We are quite a small club and winning this is fantastic for us, just wonderful," she added. "That's why we decided to travel to Woodhall Spa for the presentation." Pat joined ladies' captain Annette Milburn to make the journey to the home of England Golf to receive the trophy.
The Cockermouth ladies' section are regular supporters of the EWGA Trust and also proud of their own, improving girl members.
The EWGA Trust was founded about 30 years ago and makes grants to help girls start and stay in golf. Over the decades it has supported countless girl golfers and helped them benefit from playing the sport. Information about the Trust and this year's competition is available by clicking here
Notes for Readers:- England Golf is the governing body for amateur golf in England.
England Golf was formed on 1st January 2012 following the merger of the English Golf Union Ltd. and the English Women's Golf Association and is one of the largest sports governing bodies in England looking after the interests of over 1,900 golf clubs and 770,000 men and women club members.
Responsible for the training of the country's top amateur golfers, England Golf also organises all the major English amateur championships. England Golf works to actively encourage new golfers and increase the continued interest and participation in golf through its golf development initiative 'Get into Golf'.
England Golf is a member of The England Golf Partnership (EGP) together with the PGA and supported by the Golf Foundation and Sport England. Their Whole Sport Plan for golf identifies how England will achieve its vision of becoming 'The Leading Golf Nation in the World by 2020' from grass roots right through to elite level.