County Ladies Championships

Junior golfers dominated the prize giving in the 2019 County Ladies Championships with the two main trophies going to Kettering duo Ashleigh Critchley and Gracie Murray at Overstone Park GC.
Fourteen-year-old Critchley was crowned Ladies Champion for the first time after beating her friend, and fellow teenager, Leah Ribano (Northampton) on the 18th hole in the knockout final.

After coming through strokeplay qualifying with the joint-leading score, alongside Ribano, of nine-over-par 155, Critchley progressed into the final with contrasting wins in her opening two knockout rounds.
The 2018 County Girls Champion had few problems beating Alison Irvine 6&5 in the last eight, but needed one extra hole to get the better of past Ladies Champion Claire Lindsay in the semi-finals.
It was a similar story for 14-year-old Ribano as she recorded a comfortable quarter-final win against new County Girls Team Captain Katie Amos (Northampton) before being taken to the 17th hole by club-mate Roseanne Youngman in the last four.

Critchley’s Kettering club-mate Gracie Murray, meanwhile, also displayed her strength of character as she lifted the Swannell Salver by beating Gill Hodgson (Overstone) on the second extra hole of their final.
In a knockout event for the players who finished just outside the top eight in qualifying, 15-year-old Murray defeated Pauline Hurley (Elton Furze) 3&2 in the quarters, before edging her semi with Lorraine Gilder (Northampton) on the first extra hole.
Murray came into the event in great form after winning the Girls Spring Cup in April.