The morning round featured the top 16 who made the cut after the initial 36-hole stroke play event. Day two and three are the knockout rounds played in match play format. Each match was hard fought and produced some tight finishes. In a county that possesses a number of high quality low handicap players predicting the eventual winner is always difficult. This year results of the first round ran to form with the exception of one pairing. In an incredibly hard match Marsha Button (last years County Captain) put out current County Champion Hannah Coles. However this was not until the 23rd hole. The pair fought an epic battle producing some excellent shots. With customary grit and determination Marsha used her wealth of match play experience to finally put out the talented youngster.

The morning results were as follows:

1. Felicity Johnson beat Paula Winwood ? 8 and 6

2. Marsha Button beat Hannah Coles on the 23rd

3. Claire Howells beat Paula Bargewell - 4 and 2

4. Tracy Atkin beat Anne Parry - 3 and 2

5. Lisa Barton beat Pam Evans - 4 and 2

6. Sue Westall beat Pat Hale - 5 and 4

7. Bev Belcher beat Emma Stodart - 2 and 1

8. Claire Downing beat Jane Jones - 5 and 4

The afternoon pairing were:

1. Tracy Atkin vs Claire Howells

2. Lisa Barton vs Sue Westall

3. Claire Dowling vs Bev Belcher

4. Felicity Johnson vs Marsha Button

The first pairing out was always going to be a tough match. Tracy Atkin in superb form built a commanding lead being 4 up after 10 holes. Claire Howells must have thought she had a chance when Tracy drove into the trees on the testing par four 11th. This was not to be. Chipping the ball out ?through the eye of a needle? as Pat Hale observed, Tracy gave herself a 9 iron into the green. The ball landed no more than 12 inches from the pin. Hole conceded, Tracy 5 up! After that her form continued with solid consistent play. Claire certainly fought well but struggled to find her putting stroke. The match ended with Tracy recording a 6 and 5 win.

Lisa Barton and Sue Westall had an altogether different match. Lisa got off to an efficient start winning the first two holes. This didn?t last long. Sue soon found her stride and the match continued with some high quality golf where there was never more that 2 holes in it. Playing up the par five 18th with the match all-square Sue hit a great drive down the middle of the fairway. Shooting slightly off line Lisa was forced to play her second shot out of the trees. This gave Sue the break she needed. A truly excellent second shot put her pin high with Lisa needing to make up ground on her third shot. Although she executed this well Sue managed to chip and putt out scoring the birdie that finally clinched a very exciting match.

Claire Dowling coming off her recent victory at Whittington Heath was inevitably going to be a tough competitor to beat. But this didn?t faze Bev Belcher, County Second Team Captain. The match was of the highest quality with Bev, on paper the underdog, never giving in. Although Claire was 3 up after 8 holes Bev responded by winning the difficult par three 9th with an excellent shot to the green. They both then halved the 10th and 11th notoriously difficult par 4 holes. Continued consistent play by both competitors resulted in halving every hole until the 15th. Claire won this with a par to go 3 up and 3 to play. Halving the 16th meant an overall 3 and 2 win for Claire.

Marsha must have felt that she had somehow wronged the golfing gods. With both her knockout matches drawn against juniors, one the current County Champion and the other a scratch member of the Junior English Elite squad this was always going to be hard going! Recovering remarkably well with very little break after her epic win in the morning Marsha held Felicity at all square after 7 holes. However Fliss shot par, birdie, birdie on the 8th, 9th and 10th respectively leaving Marsha 3 down. The battle continued with awesome consistency the only flaw being a shot by Fliss that hit the greenside bunker on the 13th. This let Marsha reduce the deficit. However Felicity regained her composure and powered through relentlessly to achieve a 4 and 3 win.

Predictably this first round of the knockout stages produced some golf of the highest standards. With the line up tomorrow this can only get better:

The morning semi-final matches:

9.15am Felicity Johnson vs Tracy Atkin

9.30am Sue Westall vs Claire Dowling

Forget those playing next door ? if you want to watch some really excellent golf in your home county come and support the best of Warwickshire Ladies!