England Senior Women win European Team Championship in Spain
England’s Senior Women’s team, including Sale’s Cath Rawthore and Wilmslow’s Sarah Naden, have won the European Senior Ladies’ Team Championship at Pula Golf Resort in Spain.
The first two days of competition saw England finish in third position after the strokeplay stages, with Kerry Smith, Naden and Sally Shayler all finishing in the top-14, while all six players finished in the top-31 out of the 120-player field.
Dominant matchplay performance
That result set up a matchplay quarter-final against Spain, who they thumped 4-1, before taking on reigning champions France in the semi-finals.
However, they saw off the French 3.5 – 1.5 before a commanding win in the final on Saturday over Sweden, 4-1, to take home the gold medal.
Rawthore and Tracey Williamson proved a formidable foursomes partnership for the week, winning all three of their matches together, while Smith and Shayler were unbeaten in their three singles matchplay contests.
Naden, Julia Brook and Shayler all picked up two points from three.
Captain praises winning team
Team Captain Angela Jones said:
Pula Golf Club was a wonderful place to hold the championship. It’s a great matchplay course and was presented in super condition this week.
“I knew I was bringing a good team and now I know how good they really are. Winning at the European level is the summit of senior women’s team golf and they smashed it. It is truly the best team that I’ve had the privilege to be part of.”
Sadly in the European Senior Men’s Team Championship, England went down 3-2 in all of their contests at Diamond Country Club, Austria, despite finishing fourth in the strokeplay stages.
