England’s girls win European gold
9 July 2005

England are the golden girls of European golf – snatching victory in the European Girls’ Team Championship in Lucerne with a stunning fight back.

They beat Sweden 3-2, despite trailing in all three singles matches as holes began to run out. “It was an absolutely fantastic victory,” said ELGA’s national coach Pat Smillie.

The teams shared the honours in the two morning foursomes but the Swedes quickly took the upper hand in the singles. After 10 holes Melissa Reid (Chevin) was three down and Jodi Ewart (Catterick) was two down. After 12 holes Kiran Matharu (Cookridge Hall) was also two down.

Then the fight back began. Jodi birdied 14, 15 and 16 to square her match and parred the difficult short 17th to go one up. But, with adrenaline pumping, she over hit into 18 and the match went into extra time. The 19th was halved but the Yorkshire girl settled matters with a birdie on the 20th.

Melissa also made up ground but was eventually beaten 2/1 – and went straight back out to caddy for Kiran. The 16-year-old birdied 14, 16 and 17 to go one up and then won the 18th for a two up score line.

“All of sudden we had pinched it and the Swedes were absolutely speechless,” said Pat Smillie. “It was just a fantastic team effort.”

This is England’s first victory in this tournament and they are only the fourth nation to put their name on the trophy, following Sweden – the defending champions - Spain and Germany.

“This says that we can now compete at European level and that the training and lottery funding is paying dividends,” said Pat.

The England team was completed by Emma Sheffield (Newark) and all four girls are members of ELGA’s Sport England, lottery-funded World Class training programme.

England vs Sweden (England names first). Foursomes: Kiran Matharu & Melissa Reid beat Linn Gustafsson & Anna Dahlberg-Soderstrom 3/2. Jodi Ewart & Emma Sheffield lost to Camilla Lennarth & Anna Nordqvist 4/3. Singles: Reid lost to Nordqvist 2/1. Ewart beat Gustafsson at the 20th. Matharu beat Lennarth 2 up.

England in first final of European Girls’ Team Championship
8 July 2005

England crushed Wales 4½-½ to reach the final of the European Girls’ Team Championship for the first time.

Now, they bid for the gold medal against defending champions, Sweden, who were equally convincing in their semi-final, beating Denmark 4½-½.

England made no mistakes in their match in Lucerne, Switzerland. They won both morning foursomes and conceded just half a point in the singles.

Match results (England names first). Foursomes: Kiran Matharu and Melissa Reid beat Kimberley Boulden and Tara Davies 1 up. Jodi Ewart and Emma Sheffield beat Donna Jones and Sahra Hassan 5/4.

Singles: Melissa Reid beat Hassan 2/1. Ewart beart Boulden 3/2. Matharu halved with Davies.

England sweep into semi-finals of European Girls Team Championship6 7 7 July 2005

England swept past Scotland to reach the semi-finals of the European Girls’ Team Championship in Lucerne, Switzerland.

The team defied a persistent downpour to deliver a 3½-1½ victory and set up a semi-final clash against Wales.

England quickly took the upper hand against Scotland, winning both morning foursomes by the comfortable scoreline of 3/2. Then Catterick’s Jodi Ewart sealed the win with a magnificent 4/3 singles success.

The girls’ play won the praise of their captain, Pat Skelton. “They have been brilliant,” she said. ELGA chairman Jenny Clink, who is also accompanying the team, added: “It was fantastic, a really great team effort.”

The other semi-final is between defending champions, Sweden, and Denmark.

Quarter final results: Sweden beat France 3½-1½. Denmark beat Norway 4-1. England beat Scotland 3½-1½. Wales beat Spain 3-2.

England v Scotland (England names first). Foursomes: Kiran Matharu & Melissa Reid beat Carly Booth & Sally Watson 3/2. Jodi Ewart & Emma Sheffield beat Krystle Caithness & Kelsey MacDonald 3/2. Singles: Matharu halved with Booth. Ewart beat Watson 4/3. Reid lost to Caithness 3/2.

England v Scotland in European girls’ team championship
6 July 2005

England qualified in fourth place for the top flight of the European Girls’ Team Championship in Lucerne, Switzerland – and play Scotland.

The team made their way comfortably into the matchplay stages of the tournament at nine-over par for the two strokeplay qualifying rounds.

Yesterday, Kiran Matharu (Cookridge Hall) and Melissa Reid (Chevin) both shot one-over par 74s while Jodi Ewart (Catterick) added a 76. The 78 of Emma Sheffield (Newark) was discounted.

Jodi leads the English scoring and was 10th in the individual table at the end of qualifying. Her two-round total was a one-over par 147.

The eight qualifiers for the top flight are: Spain 420, Sweden 431, Norway 436, England 447, Scotland 448, Denmark 449, France 451, Wales 454.

Today’s first round matchplay draw is: Sweden v France; Norway v Denmark, England v Scotland; Spain v Wales.

England’s girls lie fourth in European championship
6 July 2005

England are lying fourth after the first day’s play in the European Girls’ Team Championship at Lucerne in Switzerland.

Jodi Ewart (Catterick) was England’s top scorer with a two-under par 71 and she helped the team to a four-over par total of 223 for the first qualifying round.

The 17-year-old is just one shot behind the individual leaders, Lene Krog of Norway and Carlota Ciganda of Spain, who both returned scores of 70.

England’s Kiran Matharu (Cookridge Hall) and Melissa Reid (Chevin) each shot 76, while the score of Emma Sheffield (Newark) was discounted yesterday.

The strokeplay qualifying continues today, before the 17 competing countries are divided into flights for the matchplay stages of the tournament. Norway are the overnight leaders on three-under par, followed by Spain, on two-under, and Sweden, two over.

European Girls' Team Championship 2005
5 May 2005

Teenagers picked for European Girls’ Championship
England has named a team of top teenage golfers for the European Girls’ Team Championship at Lucerne, Switzerland.

English girls’ champion Melissa Reid, 17, (Chevin) and Faldo Series girls’ champion Kiran Matharu,16, (Cookridge Hall) have been selected alongside Jodi Ewart, 17, (Catterick) and Emma Sheffield, 17, (Newark).

The non-travelling reserves are Joanne Hodge, 18, (Knowle) and Florentyna Parker, 15, (Royal Birkdale). The championship takes place from July 5-9.

The girls are all in ELGA’s lottery-funded World Class training programme.

5 - 9 July 2005 held at Lucerne Golf Club, Switzerland

European Golf Association,
Place de la Croix-Blanche 19,
CH-1066
Epalinges,
Switzerland.

Tel: 00 41 21 784 3532

E-mail: info@ega-golf.ch
website: www.ega-golf.ch

Previous winners