GOLF - Women's Varsity Match
Saturday 20 March 2010
21st University Golf Match Ladies’ Varsity Match
Ladies Victorious At Porthcawl
On the back of a strong season, expectations for the Cambridge ladies were high at Royal Porthcawl this year and, as the first match of the week, a win would set the tone for the matches to follow later in the week. The Ladies obliged, winning a hard-fought contest the came down to the last match on the course.
In the morning foursomes, the Cambridge top pair of Louisa Tarn and Michaela Bacon winning the top match comfortably, and Olivia McBride and Katie Taylor doing likewise in the bottom game. Oxford’s top pair were played out second and defeated former Cambridge captain Leanne Mullen and Hilary Crowe.
Oxford again juggled their order in the afternoon singles order, meaning that although captain Louisa Tarn claimed her match by a commanding 9&8 margin, there was hard work to be done by those further down the Cambridge order. Crowe and Mullen both had tough matches and lost despite some good golf. That left the match tied with three games on the course, and Cambridge needing to secure at least two points to earn the victory, as Cambridge reserve Lucy Akrill lost a heartbreaking game down the last in reserve match, which would serve as the tie-breaker.
The bottom of the Cambridge order responded. McBride, four down at one stage in her match, staged a brave comeback, winning the last three holes for a well-earned, and vital, half against her strong Oxford opponent. In the fifth game, Katie Taylor hung onto her lead down the last to earn an equally vital full point for Cambridge. That left Michaela Bacon on the course needing at least a half to see Cambridge retain the title they had held for three years. A brave five on the tricky 16th hole set up a dramatic par down the long 17th. Although she would go on to capture the full point, that par assured Bacon, and Cambridge, the half point needed to win the Ladies’ match for the fourth consecutive year. The final score was 5.5 - 3.5 and the week begins with some light blue on the board.
