Regional finals 2006
Grand final 2006
View all photographs from the final .
| PLAYER 1 | H/C | PLAYER 2 | H/C | CLUB | SCORE | + / – |
1st Place (Best Back Nine Holes)
| Mrs S Kay | 22 | Mrs J Knight | 13 | Matlock | 65 | -7 |
2nd Place
| Mrs S Spencer | 4 | Mrs P Davies | 15 | Whittington Heath | 65 | -7 |
3rd Place
| Mrs J Fletcher | 6 | Mrs J Day | 13 | New North Manchester | 66 | -6 |
Results 2006
Derbyshire pair win ELGA’s new PING tournament
Matlock’s Shirley Kay and Jenny Knight stormed home to become the first winners of ELGA’s new competition for club golfers, the PING Ladies' Fourball Betterball Tournament of England.
The Derbyshire pair claimed their crown with a net score of seven-under par 65 in the grand final, which was played over the Thonock Park course at PING’s Gainsborough Golf Club in Lincolnshire.
They won by the narrowest of margins, beating Staffordshire’s Sue Spencer and Patricia Davies on countback – thanks to a remarkable performance on the back nine.
Shirley, who plays off 22, and Jenny, a 13-handicapper, came home in a net score of six-under 30, courtesy of a net eagle and four net birdies.
“I didn’t realise we were doing so well until our playing partners told me our score as we left the last green. I was quite staggered,” said Shirley. “We knitted together very well.”
As their victory sank in Jenny added: “I could do a back flip, I am so chuffed. It’s just out of this world. We scraped through our club round and through the regional final and I had no idea we could possibly do this.”
Both women are PING fans and Jenny, who holed out for a net birdie on the 18th green, said: “No-one has enough money to take my PING putter away from me!”
Meanwhile Sue Spencer, a Staffordshire county player, and Patricia Davies were left counting the cost of the 13th, where they both had a shot but could manage only a net bogey five. “That’s dismal in this format,” said Patricia.
It was the only dropped shot of the day for the Whittington Heath pair, who were four-under on the front nine and three-under on the homeward half, helped by a net eagle two on the 15th, where Patricia holed a 45-footer. Sue, a former county champion, plays off four while Patricia is a 15-handicapper.
Third place went to Jane Fletcher and Janet Day of New North Manchester who scored net 66. Jane, who plays off six, had the additional handicap of a bad back but was determined to compete in the final and said: “Janet did all the work on the back nine when I flagged.”
The pair made a quick start to the final when Janet, who plays off 13, had a gross birdie on the first hole and Jane chipped in on the par five 6th for a gross eagle three. They finished with matching halves of net 33.
The betterball medal format of the tournament proved a great hit with competitors. “It’s brilliant,” said Shirley Kay. “It’s lovely for ladies because we don’t get many opportunities to play fourball betterball.”
Patricia Davies added: “I think it’s a great format because it allows you to be a bit more aggressive.”
The tournament attracted an initial entry of thousands of pairs from 800 clubs across England. Over 330 clubs were represented at the four regional finals and 48 pairs qualified for the grand final.
John Clark, the managing director of PING Europe, said: “We are thrilled. This tournament has exceeded all our expectations in terms of the numbers of clubs and the numbers of golfers who took part. It has been a fantastic event.”
Clare Tyler, ELGA’s marketing, press and PR officer, added: “We have worked with PING to create a competition for everyone to take part in. This is something we are able to offer to all our members across the handicap range.”
The winners hold the PING Fourball Betterball Trophies for a year. They also each received a memento and a choice of clothing from PING Collection's exclusive ladies’ range, or PING ladies' golf clubs to the retail value of 500 (less the value of any prize won in an earlier round). The runners-up and the third-placed players each received prizes to the value of £100. All the finalists received a pair of ECCO shoes and a PING Collection shirt.
During the grand final competitors also had the opportunity to tour the PING factory and visit the PING fitting centre to try out clubs.
They could also take part in a putting competition to win a PING G5i putter, and a nearest the pin challenge, where their shots were plotted by PING’s state of the art “TrackMan” radar system. The winner of the challenge received a PING G5 driver.
Information about the 2007 tournament will be sent to clubs in January.