Last year, Tina and Helen, from West Hill Golf Club, qualified for the Grand Final and they decided to renew their partnership for the 2017 competition. They missed out on a Grand Final place on countback but made the most of their Plate Final opportunity. Their play dovetailed and they loved the championship experience: "It makes you feel special," said Helen. "We’re not professionals but the treatment makes you feel like a ‘proper’ golfer." Helen, who plays off 11, has been a golfer for eight years, while Tina, a 27-handicapper, returned to the game three years ago after an absence of 21 years, stopping when her daughter was born. Runners up Jane Monk and Karen Cook came very close to pulling off a remarkable double – for Jane’s sister, Lynn Lambert, was the 2015 Plate winner with Marcella Tuttle, also from The Links, Newmarket. But Jane made sure it was an event to remember with her first hole in one in practice, with a six iron on the 138-yard third hole. "It was a real slam dunk," she laughed. "We have had a really, really good time." Karen added: "And we’ll be back!" The remaining prizes were decided on countback after the next four pairs all tied on 40 points. Third place went to Emily Faldon and Claire Watson of Broke Hill, Kent. Fourth were Anne Armitage and Erica Rigg of Elsham, Lincolnshire; fifth were Eileen McMullan and Lynda Thorpe of Richmond, Yorkshire; and sixth place went to Annie Goodchild and Sue Kreft of Northampton Golf Club.
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