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Thursday, April 26, 2007

DAY OF UPSETS IN ENGLISH SENIOR
WOMEN'S MATCH-PLAY

Surrey’s Sue Stradling led a day of match-play upsets at the Senior Ladies’ English close amateur championship at Delamere Forest in Cheshire.
The Worplesdon player beat defending champion Christine Watson (Beaconsfield) by one hole in the first round and then knocked out the former Curtis Cup player, Carole Caldwell of Sunningdale, by 3 and 2.
Sue’s wins marked a successful comeback to seniors’ golf after a four-year absence when she concentrated on Surrey duties, where she has been county captain.
“When I saw the first round draw I thought how nice it would be to be beaten by the current champion,” she joked. In fact they battled round to reach the 18th tee all square and Sue went through when she parred the hole. “It was a surprise, a big surprise,” she said.
In the afternoon she took on another seniors’ international when she met Carole Caldwell. Sue’s attitude was “to think about my golf and nothing else” and it quickly moved her ahead in the match.
She was four-up twice and withstood a fightback from the Sunningdale player on the back nine, before closing out the match with a half in 3 on the 178-yard 16th.
Meanwhile, Ferndown’s Sue Ellis reached the semi-finals when she beat Geraldine Bray, the reigning seniors stroke-play champion from Littlestone.
Sue won the last three holes, finishing with a birdie on the 18th, and said: “I had nothing to lose – and it was a cracking match.”
Top seed and local hope, Sue Dye of Delamere Forest, was another player to suffer an upset. She was beaten in the first round by 16th qualifier Felicity Coulter (Banstead Downs) who went on to defeat Elaine Elliott (Whitley Bay).
In the other quarter final Hilary Smyth from Pannal, a member of England's 2005 seniors’ home international team, beat Rozalyn Adams (Addingon Court) 3 and 2.
Friday's semi-final line-up is:
Felicity Coulter v Hilary Smyth, Sue Stradling v Sue Ellis.
In the championship’s Division B, the top qualifier, Elaine James (Aspley Guise & Woburn Sands), was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Deborah Backhouse (Aldeburgh).
Semi-finals: Deborah Backhouse (Aldeburgh) v Judy McCairns (Oxford Ladies’). Frances Lindley (Minchinhampton) v Christine Stokes (Clitheroe).

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