Mendip member Davina Xanh has won the English Girls’ Amateur Stroke Play Championship. A spectacular birdie on the first hole of the play-off against Abbi Rowlands from Foxhills meant that she was crowned champion at Sandy Lodge in Hertfordshire on Thursday, August 27. It was a competition full of drama; rain wiped out a whole day’s play on Tuesday and more rain and thunder caused the final round to be abandoned partway through. This caused the tournament to be reduced from 72 holes to 36. As the course flooded and the final round was abandoned at 5 pm on Thursday, it was announced that the Championship would revert back to the scores after 36 holes. This put Xanh and Rowlands tied for the top spot on level par and luckily, after a lot of hard work from the greenkeepers, they were able to head back out for the playoff at 7.15 pm. “We were a bit unsure of what was going to happen when we were all called back in,” admitted Xanh. “We didn’t think we were going to get to do a playoff, to be honest, but the great greenkeepers here were able to get the course ready for us." Tuesday also saw the Women’s Amateur Championship at West Lancashire abandoned due to rain (we thought it was mean to be August?). The play-off took place on the par-3 18th hole, and it saw Xanh land her tee shot 10 feet from the pin. Hitting the middle of the hole with one smooth stroke then confirmed she would be crowned as champion. In fact, her short game had been very strong throughout the competition. She said: “My putting has improved a lot since I last played, it’s a really important factor and it makes such a difference when you can putt well. “It’s the biggest achievement of my career so far, I’m really happy to have won.” Well done Davina from all at Mendip Spring Golf Club!
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