Sara Spencer of Heswall became the first player, male or female, in Cheshire to win the junior, adult and seniors championships of the county when she claimed the 2026 Cheshire Senior Ladies Championship at Hale.
Tiff Fielden, the Captain of Cheshire Senior Ladies, together with Hale Golf Club had a stunning success in hosting the Senior Ladies Championships over the May Bank Holiday weekend.
The players were charmed by the reception they received and a course in fabulous condition.
For those who had not played at Hale before they were surprised by the uniqueness of each hole and challenged by ‘every hole having an out-of-bounds and so many tricky greens’. The second proving to be tougher to hold the green than the fourth for all but the best players.
Tiff said: “I thought that the weekend went very well and both players and guests were very complimentary about the course and the welcome they got from Hale GC.
“The green keepers had done an amazing job considering that two weeks earlier we had to come off the course in a match with Cheshire Senior Men because of waterlogged greens.
“Some players were even saying it had got too bouncy and found the pin positions very challenging.
“I owe a big thank you to Fiona Walton and Sue Hughes the Cheshire organisers and the referees led by Phil Long.”
The first day saw the qualifying round to reduce the field to 16 for the two knock-out days.
The second day saw the Round of 16 and the quarter finals played to get down to the last four for the final day.
Going through to the semi-finals were Sara Spencer (Heswall) v Jill Peters (Sandiway) and Barbara Jamieson (Heswall) v Caroline Berry (Royal Liverpool and Bromborough).
In contrasting semi-finals Sara breezed through by 7/6 and in the other match it went to the 20th hole before Caroline won to set up a gripping final.
Sara took an early lead and from then on it was nip-and-tuck in a real cliff-hanger going to the 18th green where a stunning chip set up Sara to take the Champions Trophy.
Pic (top) finalists ready for action on first tee with Seniors President Nancy Lane
Copy & images: Geoff Garnett
