Pyle and Kenfig women complete Welsh Teams double double
Pyle and Kenfig proved themselves the dominant force in Welsh club golf as their women’s team added the team title to the one won by the men’s team the week before.
It was the second time in three years the club had won both Welsh Teams Championship titles for men and women, the first club to do the double double after Llandudno/Maessdu had first managed the feat in 2006.
Fauve Birch delays retirement
It also meant that Bridgend solicitor Fauve Birch will put off her planned retirement from top level competitive golf after the 29-year-old also reached the final of the Women’s Welsh Amateur Championship and then won the Women’s Victory Shield alongside Elin Tynan this season.
She led Pyle and Kenfig to the Welsh Women’s Team Championship at Clyne, along with Cerys Mitchell, Ffion Tynan, Cheryl Western, Sofia Benitez and Chloe James, beating Mold in the final. Birch, Tynan, James and Mitchell all went through the Championship unbeaten.
Key quarter-final victory over Newport
The key victory came in beating Newport, the defending champions, in the quarter-finals with those two clubs having dominated the Welsh Women’s Team Championship in recent years.
Mold beat hosts Clyne in the semi-finals, with Cardigan, Glamorganshire, Creigiau and Derllys completing the quarter-final line up, Newport going on to win the Margaret Wood Plate for teams knocked out in the first two rounds.
“This is a big achievement for the club, after the men’s side had won last week,” said Birch. “It was nice to go out and bring it home, especially after we had won the Women’s Victory Shield two weeks ago as well, so the club is over the moon.
“It was a good final and we all played really well, we just battled all the way through. We knew the match against Newport would be a big hurdle in the earlier rounds, so it was good to get through that one with some close games.
“Then the teams in the other side of the draw were unknown quantities to us, so it made the final interesting as well.
“It has been quite a season for me, I was not planning to do so much. I was thinking of retiring from competitive tournament golf after this year, but after reaching the final of the Welsh Amateur and winning these with the girls I had better put that off.
“I turn 30 in November so I was thinking of just playing social golf after that, but this will make me keep going.
“We are in contention to win the Glamorganshire League as well so we will be going for that in a couple of weeks.”
Remarkable achievement for club
Wales Golf Competitions Co-ordinator Rebecca Hawke added,
Congratulations to Pyle and Kenfig, an incredible achievement for the women to win this following on from the men’s victory last week.
“It means Pyle and Kenfig have won both the Welsh Team Championships twice in the last three seasons, a remarkable achievement for the club.
“Clyne were superb hosts as well, the staff and volunteers played a major role in helping the event be such a success, with congratulations to Newport for winning the Margaret Wood Plate.”
