The beautiful Bovey Castle was the venue for this year's Tyler Trophy Match, where the Girls' Under 18s team take on the Women's 2nd team. Thankfully the weather was kind and we played the matches in glorious sunshine!
The format for the day was 4 Ball Betterball Matchplay.
The first pairing was Susie Carr (Team Captain) playing with Martha Massingham in her debut performance for Devon. They played Lorna Elliott (2nd Team Captain) playing with Rosie Jago also making her debut for Devon. The match was nip and tuck all the way, with the women 1 down playing the 18th, after losing out to a birdie from Susie on the 17th. Rosie fought back and sunk her put to win the hole and tie the match - a good result for such a well played match.
Second out were Georgia Denega & Tommasina Miali representing the girls, playing Carys Morris and Rosie Arnold playing for the women. Carys and Rosie both are recent graduates from the under 18's themselves! Despite their young age the girls held their own in this match which again was taken to the 18th hole, this time with the girls making the winning putt to win 1-up.
Third out were Belle Tarr & Isla Schofield playing against the experienced pair of Helen Chivers & Sally Underwood. The girls were clearly on form in this match and, despite the women playing very well, they couldn't quite match the fantastic scoring of their opponents. It was a bit of a birdie fest and the girls won the match 4 & 3.
Last out was Edith Morris & Hannah Reynolds playing Laura Colman & Emily Coombes, again another debut performance for Emily. Hannah was kindly loaned back to the girls for this match as a last minute reserve, being the youngest of the women's team. It was another very good scoring and hotly contested match, ultimately finishing in the girls' favour with another 1-up win.
And so the girls retained the Tyler Trophy with a 3½ to ½ win.
The course was in absolutely fantastic condition, all credit to the green keepers for their hard work - it certainly proved a good test for both teams.
The hospitality we received on the day was first class and I would like to give a big thank you Rob Selley and his team for their warm welcome and looking after us so well on the day.
Thanks to all those that played and of course to all the parents for your constant support of the Girls' Team.
The next fixture for the U18 Girls is the Wessex Salver at Honiton Golf Club on Sunday, 29th September. 8 girls are selected to represent Devon, 4 in the 10-18 handicap bracket and 4 in the 18-36 handicap bracket, each playing individual stableford with the 3 best scores from each creating the team score. We entered this for the first time last year and lost out on first place by 1 point so we are looking to take first place this year on home turf.
The Women's Second team are in action on the same day at Tiverton in the Second Team County final playing Wiltshire. All supporters are very welcome, the tee times are from 9am in the morning and 1:30pm in the afternoon.
Hannah Stephens
Under 18s Girls' Manager