England made home advantage count to make a clean sweep of the R&A Women’s, Boys’ and Girls’, and Senior Men’s and Women’s Home Internationals at Woodhall Spa.
The 106th Women’s Home Internationals couldn’t have provided a more fitting end. Three matches to determine whether England or Ireland would win the International Shield was appropriate for two evenly matched teams.
England prevailed 6-3 on the day to win for the second straight contest and the 64th time outright since the competition began in 1895 when England won at Royal Portrush.
However, the result could easily have been the other way round. After a 3-3 split in the morning singles, England’s women won all three afternoon foursomes to top the four nations table with three points from three victories and a 21½-5½ match points total for the week. Ireland had two points, while Scotland came third with one point thanks to an 8½-½ final day victory over Wales.
With thunder and lightning threatening the afternoon play, a decision was taken to reverse the order of sessions to play as many points as possible. That decision was justified when a crack of thunder sounded above Woodhall Spa shortly after the pairing of Hannah Screen and Amelia Jane Williamson had defeated Lauren Walsh and Sara Byrne 2&1 to ultimately seal the victory. The lead pairing of Annabell Fuller and Charlotte Heath took care of Beth Coulter and Annabel Wilson 3&2, with Emily Toy and Caley McGinty defeating Aine Donegan and Anna Foster by the same score.
It heralded double joy for England in the space of a month after victory in the European Ladies’ Team Championship, with English captain Jennifer Henderson bringing five members of that winning side to Woodhall Spa.
Scotland took third place thanks to a strong closing performance against Wales. The Scots laid down a statement of intent with a 6-0 morning singles victory, before taking the foursomes session 2½-½. The Welsh pairing of Kath O’Connor and Ellen Nicholas helped Wales avoid a final day whitewash by halving with Shannon McWilliam and Hazel MacGarvie.
It turned out to be a clean sweep for England at Woodhall Spa in a year when women and men, boys and girls played together for the first time.
England’s juniors won three points out of three to top the points table, with Scotland finishing second with two points, and Ireland placing third with one and Wales finishing bottom.
The English Senior Men and Women also topped the points table to make it triple celebration for England.
