East Region County Match Days
28 -30 June 2024

What a fantastic 3 days at Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club! Suffolk welcomed the other 5 Counties in our region for 3 days of matchplay.  After all the rain and wind that we have had lately, everyone’s fingers were very firmly crossed for some good weather …… and we were rewarded!  Days 1 and 2 were mostly sunny with, as always at Felixstowe, a varying wind but nothing too extreme.  Day 3 saw a few splatters of rain and a slightly chillier note but for the most part the weather held out for us.

The Martello Course was in fabulous condition, a little fiery and firm as a links should be, with true greens and tricky pin positions to challenge the golfers – thank you Glen Rayfield and your team for all your hard work both leading up to and during the event.  The Club managed our event impeccably from start to finish, led by Ben Tawell, General Manager, and his team and Linda Whybrow, Ladies Captain, and a vast array of volunteers – MANY, MANY thanks to everyone.

What a great standard of golf was on show and, for those who came to support and spectate, we are sure that they were treated to some excellent matches and nail-biting finishes!  Congratulations to all the players; they did their Counties proud.

Norfolk won the event but, as the results show, it was an exciting last morning with 3 Counties able to take the trophy.  Norfolk needed win to ensure victory and the players duly delivered fighting off a determined Bedfordshire, who also could have secured the trophy with a win.  3 – 2 to Norfolk, it could hardly have been any closer.

Suffolk made an excellent showing on the first day, beating Essex 4 -1 in the morning and securing a draw with Cambs & Hunts in the afternoon to find themselves at the top of the leader board.  Unfortunately, Day 2 proved more tricky and they lost to Norfolk 4 – 1 and Bedfordshire 3 – 2 but some of the matches went to the last hole or two and our players showed a real tenacity and fighting spirit.  Suffolk finished with a flourish, beating Hertfordshire 3 – 2 on the final morning.

There is a lot that the Suffolk players can be proud of this week. Everyone battled hard and there was a real team spirit, everyone supporting each other throughout.  It

 is fantastic that we are seeing younger players coming up through the ranks with 4 of the team being juniors and they were ably supported and encouraged by the more experienced.  All bodes well for the future of Suffolk ladies golf.  When adding up the matches won, we were only 3 behind Norfolk.  Our coaches, Andrew Robinson and Sam Forgan, have done a great job in helping the team hone their skills over the winter – so, as they say, the future looks bright!

Congratulations to Tanya McGregor, County Captain, for a great job done steering the team to higher achievements.  We are now looking forward to the rest of the season and to next year’s County Match Days which will be held at John O’ Gaunt GC in Bedfordshire, 30 June – 2 July.

Vicki Hunt
President

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Felixstowe Ferry GC.   28th June – 30th June.

Method of Scoring

Match points:
Winning County 2 match points
Halved match 1 match point for each County
Losing County 0 match points

Game points, (games in each Match):
Winning County 1 game point
Halved game 0.5 game point each County
Losing County 0 game points