Sheelah Creasy Semi Finals Report

                         The losing Churston and Bovey Tracey Captains with County Captain, Alison Hilton

With finals day only a week away the Creasy semi finals were going to be played today even if the ladies were in Wellington boots & snorkels! Happily when I got to Axe Cliff Golf Club, the sun was shining - if a little breezy. Well OK, more than just a bit breezy - but only a few trolleys were being blown over! Besides, with exfoliating granules in skin products being phased out - we needed the cosmetic scrub the “breeze” would give us!

Axe Cliff looked fab! All credit to the green staff, fairways & greens looked superb. The kitchen was busy serving bacon rolls and already on site sorting the presentation table & flowers was Margaret Kenchington, Lady Captain. Confession time -the DCLGA table cloth had not made the transition from the North & East Foursomes to myself - the DCLGA flag was deputised.Did the players notice? - probably not. By the time the flowers and trophies were laid out - no-one commented.

By now my referee had arrived. I was very fortunate to have Claire Dowling as my referee today. Claire is a former Curtis Cup player, England Golf Level 3 tournament referee - & a great lady to boot.  After a brief chat to the ladies - klaxon goes because of thunder, mark ball & come in, call if you need a referee, play well - it was time to start.

Made of tough stuff, the weather forecast was not enough to worry the first players as they lined up on the first tee. Okehampton were playing Bovey Tracey and soon the first ladies were being greeted and started by our President Ann. An uphill first hole gave an indication of the terrain to follow which would challenge the ladies. Good drives, great seconds & we were off.

Often on such days, former DCLGA Captains materialise out of the bushes - today was the same.  Past Captain Barbara Cummings (in perfect Axe Cliff pink) stationed herself on the 5th tee to monitor play on the cross over between holes. This speeded up play allowing matches to flow. As the ladies tackled the back nine, still no results. County Captain Alison was up watching the matches to see first blood go to Okehampton, followed by a second match. Bovey Tracey ladies were not giving up however & the three matches on the 16th, 17th & 18th could go either way. Eventually Okehampton took a third match - and it was down to the result of the match on the 18th. Not an easy hole at the best of times & with both ladies realising the state of the match, a nerve wracking battle until Okehampton clinched the win - and their place in the finals. It was a match played in great spirit & friendliness and the result didn’t reflect the closeness of the individual wins.

In the second match, Churston were playing Fingle Glen. Another close battle was unfolding. First win went to Fingle, but this was followed by a win for Churston - one all. We were kept in suspense for a few more holes before another win for Fingle.  Then Churston equalised again - two all. With the remaining matches tightly in the balance - Fingle were up in some, Churston in the others it was a close match. Fingle took a third win to edge into the lead & by now we had the last of the players stacking up on the 17th & 18th. With a steep climb to the elevated 18th tee, ladies were not going to walk up unless it was necessary, so I had 2 ladies watching the battle on the 18th green, clubs in hand, but not making the climb just yet! However, with the match in front being all square and going to the 19th, up they climbed to complete their own match. Before they could finish however, Fingle took their fourth win on the 19th & so won through to the finals - to meet Okehampton.

All that remained was for thanks to the ladies and staff at Axe Cliff for all their hard work and for Alison to present the trophies to the semi-finalists Churston and Bovey Tracey.

Pam St Leger

PS - it really was Fingle Glen’s day - because just before we left news came through that Michelle Underwood & Tara Welland had won the Australian Spoons!

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