Monday 23rd June AM

The tournament started on a bright and blustery day at Coxmoor Golf Club. Leicestershire and Rutland were drawn against Shropshire.

Tracy Bourne & Ellie York were our first foursomes pairing. They played some fantastic golf, and the game was very close with only 1 hole in it all the way round and the game finished All Square. Karen Haynes & Jo Morris-Bourne were 4 down at the turn but the fought back and dug deep to bring the match back to just 1 down and took the game to the 18^th were they unfortunately lost 2 down.  Caz Parkes-Walley led our singles and played some great golf but unfortunately lost out against ex-professional Alex Ling 5&3. Eleanor Parkinson was making her singles debut and played a great match narrowly losing out when her opponent holed an exceptionally long birdie putt from just off the green on the 18^th hole. Beth Swain from Ullesthorpe played in the final singles game, this was Beth’s debut playing for the 1^st team and she played some incredible shots throughout the round, the match was remarkably close but unfortunately, she lost on the 17^th hole 3&1.

The overall result was Leicestershire & Rutland ½ and Shropshire 41/2.

Monday 23rd June PM

In the afternoon we faced Lincolnshire with an unchanged Leicestershire team from the morning match. Jo Morris-Bourne and Karen Haynes led the team out in the first foursome’s match. The wind increased and weather conditions were extremely difficult, the pair fought hard against some very tough opposition but unfortunately lost 4/3. Ellie York and Tracy Bourne played together in the second foursome’s game. They were 2 down after 12 holes and won the next 3 holes, eventually finishing All Square. Caz Parkes-Walley led the singles and played more fantastic golf, taking her game to the 18^th hole and narrowly missing out on the win to a birdie on 18. The match finished 1 down. Eleanor Parkinson came up against a very tough opponent in the afternoon, playing some brilliant golf but losing out to birdies on a number of holes. The match finished 4 & 2 loss. Beth Swain was our last singles match out and played some excellent golf in a very tight game, showing true Leicestershire determination, taking her game to the 17^th where she narrowly lost her game to a birdie. The game finished in a 2 & 1 loss.

The overall result was Leicestershire & Rutland ½ and Lincolnshire 41/2.

Tuesday 24th June AM

Leicestershire and Rutland got off to a flying start against Derbyshire, Jo Morris-Bourne and Rachel East led the team out in the first foursomes match and came up against a very good young pairing and lost 5&3. Tracy Bourne and Eleanor Parkinson both from Willesley Park Golf Club went out next and proved to be a really good pairing, they gelled together and brought home a win on the 18^th hole. Karen Haynes from Luffenham Health Golf Club started our singles, she came up again Imogen Rafferty, Karen played some great golf and also secured her win on the 18^th. Caz Parkes-Walley started very strongly and was sinking some great putts and won 6&5. Ellie York, our final singles player out on the course had a fantastic game against Grace Harrison, Ellie had 4 birdies and an incredible eagle on the 16^th which helped her to a 2&1 victory.

The overall result was Leicestershire & Rutland 4 and Derbyshire 1.

Tuesday 24th June PM

As a team we went into the afternoon match against Staffordshire with great momentum from the morning win. At the halfway point Staffordshire were 4up in a singles match and a foursome’s match and A/s in the second foursomes’ match. We matched that as Karen Haynes was 5up after 9 in her singles match and Ellie York was 2up and our Willesley duo, Tracy Bourne and Eleanor Parkinson were A/S. We had everything to play for on the back nine, Karen Haynes continued to play regulation golf and won 4&3. Unfortunately when playing the 8^th hole (which was the 17^th as we teed off on the 10^th) Beth and Beth hit a great drive up by the green on a blind hole which no-one found until after the 3 minutes were up and the first foursomes Staffordshire pairing won 3&1. Caz Pakes-Walley came up against some very tough competition and lost 5&4, Ellie York dug deep and carded 4 birdies to win her match 1up. Eleanor and Tracy played some fantastic foursomes golf together but lost their match 2down on the last. This was our closest match of the tournament so far.

The overall result was Leicestershire & Rutland 2 and Staffordshire 3.

Wednesday 25th June AM

Our final match of the week saw us take on Nottinghamshire under much-improved weather conditions. Clear skies and calmer winds set the stage for some excellent golf from both sides in a closely fought contest. At the halfway point there was nothing between the two teams. We were A/s in 2 singles matches, 1 down in the final singles match, 1 down in a foursomes and 3up in the first foursomes match. Tracy Bourne & Eleanor Parkinson secured our first point winning 4&2, Beth Johnson and Beth Swain came up against some fantastic golf on the back nine with their opponents carding 3 birdies in 4 holes and the pair lost 5&4. Caz Parkes-Walley had a great game slotting in a few birdie putts herself to win 3&1, Karen Haynes had a very tight and exciting match against Maddie Smith but lost 2&1. Everything went down to the final match, Ellie York (Vice Captain) had an extremely tough draw against Nottingham’s strongest player who plays for England U21 Amelia Wan, Ellie played some superb golf and made some awesome birdies and narrowly lost on the 17^th 2&1.  Notts edged the win 3–2.

The overall result was Leicestershire & Rutland 2 and Nottinghamshire 3.

Leicestershire & Rutland finished 5th overall this County Week. While it wasn’t the outcome we hoped for, every player gave it their all and we couldn’t be prouder of the team’s performance throughout the week, with the standard of golf from the Leicestershire team being exceptional!

To everyone who came out to support us - thank you! Having familiar faces out on the course truly lifted the team’s spirits.

Here is to County Week 2026 at Shifnal Golf Club, Shropshire – we cannot wait!

The Leicestershire & Rutland Ladies' County Golf Association have recently developed links with the PING Performance Research Centre based on LUSEP, Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park and co-located with the Sports Technology Institute. The centre is a £15 million facility dedicated to research into the golf swing and golf equipment, in order to master the game.

The Centre was opened by John K Solheim, President of PING, and founder of the women's Solheim Cup in 2022. 

Lindsey Leg, based at the centre,  has been carrying out research for her PhD which looks into the female golf swing. Our County Captain, Rachel East was part of the pioneering study and promoted participation into the study to specific female demographics within the county. 

As a result of this participation the L&RLCGA began to build a relationship with the Centre. 

We have been so fortunate to have the opportunity to send our first team squad members to the facility and to work with Sven Nielson the resident professional. 

The team have all used the sessions and the technology to accurately record their distances, gapping, flight paths and consistent misses. This information has then been shared with The County Captain and Vice-captain to inform foursomes pairings and partnerships. Ready for the start of the season. 

The whole experience has been unbelievable and extremely valuable to us as a squad. 

We cannot thank Jonathan Shepherd and his team at Ping enough. 

Leicestershire & Rutland Ladies 1^st Team V Leicestershire & Rutland Senior Men

This is a great match which was established during Carolyn Parkes- Walley’s Captaincy as while she was The Leicestershire & Rutland Ladies Captain her Dad was the Senior Men’s Captain.

The fixture is always played 2 or 3 weeks before the Ladies County Championship on the Course selected for the Championship, which gives the Ladies first team players an opportunity to play the course prior to the County Championship.

Each Team fielded 12 players for the 4BBB match play with handicap. There was a fantastic atmosphere on the tee and Paul Lowe (Senior Men’s Captain) introduced all the players on the tee, Peggy Remington (County President) wished the players luck at the start and came out onto the course to watch the games, it was lovely to have her support during the match.

We had 3 debuts for the Leicestershire & Rutland Ladies first team, Sally Jee (Luffenham Heath GC) and 2 juniors, Emily Wolverson L&R Junior Captain (The Leicestershire GC) and Edie Spiers (Cosby GC). Sally and Emily played together and won their match on the 17^th, Edie played with Rachel East (County Captain) and after being 5 down fought hard to eventually loose on the 17^th.

Ellie York (Vice Captain) & Eleanor Parkinson had a great game and won by the biggest margin of all the matches winning 3/2.

There were some very close matches Jo Morris-Bourne & Karen Haynes, Beth Swain & Beth Johnson and Tracy Bourne & Lisa Porter all took their games to the 18^th hole very narrowly missing out on a win.

The final score was 4 – 2 to the L&R Senior Men.

Thank you to Paul Lowe for organising the venue and the meal afterwards. 

LEICESTERSHIRE & RUTLAND LADIES’ COUNTY GOLF ASSOCIATION

2025 Match Sheet

DATE: Sunday 13^th April                   

HOME TEAM: Senior Men                           AWAY TEAM: Ladies

WINNING TEAM:  L&R Senior Men

Leicestershire & Rutland V Northamptonshire Friendly Match 6.4.25

This year we reinstated the friendly match against Northamptonshire County Ladies 1st team. We decided upon a slightly different format in order to establish and experiment with new foursomes partnerships. This proved highly beneficial for both teams as we played foursomes in both the morning and the afternoon sessions, neither team could field the same pairs in the afternoon each player had to be with a different partner.

The match was away at Collingtree Park Golf Club, the weather was beautiful but the wind proved to be very tricky, the course was in superb condition and the greens were rolling nicely. Only a few of our ten players had played the course before and after the morning session we were 3 – 2 down to Northamptonshire. Two of the matches went down to the wire and finished with a friendly half on the 18^th.

In the afternoon our foursomes pairings were strategically formed using the yardage data from Ping and placing pairs together to be able to play the same way as they had in the morning, therefore even though you were with a different partner you were teeing the same holes. That way you could use any knowledge about yardages on Par 3s that was gained in the morning to our advantage.

During the afternoon session we did not loose a match, Ellie York and Beth Johnson along with Lisa Porter and Tracey Bates halved their matches which gave Northamptonshire their 1 point and all the other three matches won securing Leicestershire & Rutland 4 points.

The overall score was 6 – 4 to Leicestershire & Rutland.

All of the matches were played in great spirit and there was a brilliant team atmosphere, this fixture was a huge success for both teams and will continue next year 2026.

DATE: Sunday 6^th April                   

HOME TEAM: Northamptonshire     AWAY TEAM: Leicestershire & Rutland

WINNING TEAM:  Leicestershire & Rutland 6 - 4

On Thursday 20th March, we had our final range night of the winter programme at Cosby Golf Club. 

Once again we had a great turn out of players from the 1st team, 2nd team and the juniors. 

The range nights have been a great vehicle for players to get to know each other better, to practice together and to have some fun competition.