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Deborah Austin wins Midlands North regional medal final
02 May 2010
Shropshire’s Deborah Austin swept into the inaugural EWGA Grand Medal Final when she won the Midlands North regional final with net 65 at Brocton Hall, Staffordshire. The competition series is run in association with Volvo.
Deborah, who finished six shots clear of the field, leads 10 qualifiers for the Grand Medal Final which will take place at The Worcestershire Golf Club on 26 June.
“I’m looking forward to that very much,” said Deborah, who is a member at Wrekin. She returned to golf last summer after an absence of 20 years when she devoted herself to her two children.
She came back last June with a handicap of 26 and by the time she teed up at Brocton Hall she had reduced to 19. Now, a further cut is on the way which will help her pursue her current goal: “Last December I set myself the target of getting down to 15 by the end of May.”
Deborah is enjoying her second-time-round at golf. “Now I’ve come back I don’t let myself get irritated or upset by silly little shots. I just enjoy the game of golf.”
Her caddy at the regional medal final was her father, Paul Austin, who originally introduced her to golf. She had two gross birdies and four pars during her round and scored 14-over gross 84. “I’ve had a marvellous day, everyone at Brocton Hall was so welcoming and the competition was very well organised by EWGA,” said Deborah.
This was the first of six regional medal finals which are contested by players who each returned the four best medal scores at their club during 2009.
Leading net scores
SSS 70, CSS 72
65 Deborah Austin (Wrekin, hcp 19)
71 Diane Lea (Trentham Park, 4), Julia Gibson (Wallasey, 8), Cora Edwards (West Essex, 14), Anne Hollman (Bromsgrove Golf Centre, 16) Angela Smith (Little Aston, 16), Gillian Edwards (Doncaster, 18).
72 Bridget Locke (Brocton Hall, 10).
73 Lesley James (Robin Hood, 15), Sara Bowden (The Shropshire, 18), Chris Westrup (Astbury, 9)
Full details and hole-by-hole scoring: www.englishwomensgolf.org
