England take silver in European Ladies’ Team Championship
9 July 2005

England took the silver medal in the European Ladies’ Team Championship after losing to Spain in the final.

The scoreline was 5-2 but the contest was tantalisingly tight, with three matches going to the 19th – and all ending in Spain’s favour.

England captain Beverley New said: “We are feeling pretty deflated. We have played so well all week, but this was one of those days which didn’t quite go our way.

“But overall, when you look at the week as a whole, we have to be really proud of ourselves. We beat Spain by a shot in the qualifying and then went so close today.

“It just shows how close England are to be being the best country in Europe. We are right up there with Spain and Sweden and we have proved it.”

The first blow against England fell when the foursomes match involving English champion Felicity Johnson (Harborne) and Emma Duggleby (Malton & Norton) reached the 19th green.

One of their caddies, a local golfer, touched the line of the putt, breaking the rules of golf. “Emma saw it happen, called the penalty and gave them the match,” said Beverley. “The lad was absolutely gutted.”

She went on: “We might have lost the hole anyway, we had an eight-footer to go up the 20th, but it did leave a funny feeling.”

In the singles, Emma again lost on the 19th, as did Sophie Walker (Kenwick Park). Kerry Smith (Waterlooville) lost her match on the 17th but Faye Sanderson (Heworth, Durham) provided England’s second point of the day with a 3/2 success.

England v Spain. Foursomes: Felicity Johnson & Emma Duggleby lost to Belen Mozo & Adriana Zwanck at the 19th. Sophie Walker & Kerry Smith beat Tania Elosequi & Maria Hernandez 5/4.

Singles: Johnson lost to Zwanck 5/4. Walker lost to Mozo at the 19th. Duggleby lost to Hernandez at 19th. Faye Sanderson beat Emma Cabrera 3/2. Smith lost to Elosequi 2/1.

England go for gold in European Team Championship
8 July 2005

England swept Sweden aside to reach the final of the European Ladies’ Team Championship and now go for gold against Spain.

It’s six years since England last reached the final of this competition and 12 years since they won the title – by beating Spain.

They’ve already had the better of Spain once in this tournament, pipping them to top spot after the 36-holes of strokeplay qualifying.

Now, team captain Beverley New has a simple game plan for the final against the defending champions: “We’ve just got to go out there and play like we did today. We mustn’t give anything away and we must play our socks off! We came here to get the gold and so we will try our hardest.”

England beat Sweden, the tournament hosts, 5-2 in a match which included a superb singles win for Sophie Walker (Kenwick Park) over double British champion Louise Stahle.

It was the sixth time the two players had met head-to-head and the first time Sophie had triumphed. She was seven under-par when she won 3/1, scoring the point which sealed England’s victory.

“We had a fantastic win, but I was expecting it,” said Beverley, whose team played top-class golf through tropical temperatures and high humidity in Karlstad.

Crucially, England won both morning foursomes, although Sophie Walker and Kerry Smith (Waterlooville) had to battle to the 22nd to take their point.

In the other semi-final Spain beat France 4-3 in a cliffhanger. Emma Cabrera broke the deadlock for Spain when she won her singles at the 23rd.

England results. Foursomes: Felicity Johnson & Emma Duggleby beat Louise Stahle and Pernilla Lindberg 3/2. Sophie Walker & Kerry Smith beat Sofie Andersson and Karin Sjodin at the 22nd.

Singles: Johnson beat Maria Ohlsson 2/1. Walker beat Stahle 3/1. Duggleby lost to Lindberg 2/1. Faye Sanderson lost to Sjodin 3/2. Smith beat Andersson 1 up.

England storm into European semi-finals
7 July 2005

England stormed into the semi-finals of the European Ladies’ Team Championship in Karlstad, Sweden, beating Finland 6-1.

“It was a fantastic win,” said team captain Beverley New. “We are definitely in a good mood!”

Now, her top-seeded team play the hosts, Sweden, for a place in the final. “It will be tough and there will be a lot of support for Sweden,” said Beverley. “But I think we can do it and I will be surprised if we don’t do it.”

England dominated yesterday’s match, winning both morning foursomes and four of the five singles. “We were expected to beat Finland and we just went out there and got the result we needed. It was very comfortable,” said Beverley.

The other semi-final is between the defending champions, Spain, and France.

Quarter-final results: Spain beat Switzerland 5-2. France beat Germany 4-3. Sweden beat Ireland 5-2. England beat Finland 6-1.

England v Finland. Foursomes: Felicity Johnson & Emma Duggleby beat Sohvi Harkonen & Kaisa Ruttila 5/4. Sophie Walker & Kerry Smith beat Hanna-Leena Salonen & Stenna Westerlund 2/1. Singles: Johnson beat Anna-Karin Salmen 5/3. Walker beat Ruttila 1 up. Duggleby beat Westerlund 4/3. Faye Sanderson beat Salonen 2/1. Smith lost to Satu Harju 2/1.

England are top seeds in European Ladies’ Team Championship
6 July 2005

England produced a top-class performance to lead the qualifiers for the matchplay stages of the European Ladies’ Team Championship in Karlstad, Sweden.

Superb sub-par play from English champion Felicity Johnson and international Sophie Walker helped the team overtake defending champions Spain at the top of the leaderboard.

England are now the number one seeds in the championship and today play Finland, who squeezed into the top flight in eighth place.

Sophie (Kenwick Park) shot her second successive 70 yesterday and led the individual scoring at four-under par for the 36 holes of strokeplay qualifying. Felicity (Harborne) was just one shot behind her after posting a second round 69, the joint low score of the day.

Other counting scores for England yesterday came from Emma Duggleby (Malton & Norton) who contributed a 74, Faye Sanderson (Heworth, Durham) 76 and Kerry Smith (Waterlooville) 77. The 78 of Sian Reddick (Sene Valley) was discounted.

It meant England were six-over for day and gave the team a seven-over par total for the qualifying rounds. Spain were 10-over for the day and eight-over par in total.

The two teams are well ahead of the other contenders. Germany qualified third at 23-over; followed by Sweden plus-25; Ireland plus-31; France plus-32; Switzerland plus-33; and Finland plus-37.

The second flight includes Scotland, who qualified ninth, and Wales, who were in12th place at the end of the strokeplay rounds.

Today’s first round draw for the championship flight is: Spain v Switzerland. France v Germany. Ireland v Sweden. England v Finland.

England’s hot start in European Ladies’ Team Championship
6 July 2005

England made an excellent start to the European Ladies’ Team Championship at Karlstad in Sweden yesterday, moving into second place after the first day of qualifying play.

The team was one-over par, just three shots behind the leaders, Spain, and nine shots ahead of third-placed Switzerland.

Lincolnshire’s Sophie Walker (Kenwick Park) led the way for England with a superb two-under par 70, which put her third in the individual table.

Her round contained three birdies, on the 8th, 10th and 17th, and only one blip, a bogey on the par four 5th. Sophie is just one shot behind the joint individual leaders, Maria Hernandez of Spain and Fabienne In-Albon of Switzerland.

English champion Felicity Johnson (Harborne), Sian Reddick (Sene Valley) and Kerry Smith (Waterlooville) all returned level par scores while Emma Duggleby (Malton & Norton) shot 75.

England’s sixth team member is Faye Sanderson (Heworth, Durham) whose score was discarded yesterday. Five out of the six scores count on each of the two qualifying days.

The matchplay stages of the competition start on Thursday, with the 15 competing nations divided into two flights after the qualifying rounds. The top eight countries will compete in the championship flight.

Ireland and Scotland are currently tied 8th on 21 over par, while Wales are tied 11th at plus-26.

Felicity joins England’s Euro team
5 May 2005

New English champion Felicity Johnson is in England’s six-strong line-up for the European Ladies’ Team Championship at Karlstad, Sweden, from July 5-9.

The 18-year-old from Harborne has been selected alongside Emma Duggleby (Malton & Norton), Sian Reddick (Sene Valley), Faye Sanderson (Heworth, Durham), Kerry Smith (Waterlooville) and Sophie Walker (Kenwick Park).

The non-travelling reserves are Julie Ross, 24, (Whitley Bay), Rachel Bell, 23, (Ganton) and Naomi Edwards, 21, (Ganton).

All the players are in ELGA’s lottery-funded World Class training programme.

European Ladies’ Team Championship (Started 1959)

Sophie Walker

Felicity Johnson

European Golf Association