Red Rose golfers off to flying start

Lancashire golfers marked their return to the English Senior Men's County Finals with a hefty 8.5-0.5 win over Worcestershire at Chpping Sodbury on Tuesday,
Crowther - in fine form for LancashireCrowther - in fine form for Lancashire
Crowther - in fine form for Lancashire

Titleholders Berks, Bucks & Oxon endured a nervy spell before clinching their 6-3 win over Devon,

The four teams, each representing one of the England Golf men’s regions, are playing for the title in a round robin tournament in perfect autumn weather in Gloucestershire.

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Lancashire won this title in 2014 but missed out on a place in last year’s county finals.

They came back in style with today’s unbeaten performance which began with three very comfortable foursomes wins, courtesy of Ian Crowther and Gary Byrne; Bill Bromilow and Robert Fox; and Tony Holt and Trevor Foster.

Crowther and Fox both represent Royal Lytham and St Annes.

They went on to power through the singles, led by Crowther, also an England senior international, who scored their first point with his 2/1 win.

“We were all square through nine and it could have gone either way, but I just managed to scramble through at the end,” Crowther said.

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He was quickly followed by Foster who has just joined senior ranks after playing 108 times for the Lancashire men.

“I’m loving it,” he said after recording his 3/1 win. Byrne,

Ian Westwell and Holt added their points to the tally before Worcestershire’s Bryan Swain stopped the whitewash.

He finished birdie, par to win the last two holes against Alan Gillespie (St Annes Old Links) and grab a half point for his team. “I was determined to get that,” he said afterwards.

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Lancashire’s manager Mike Grey said: “We’re very pleased, the team has performed to all our expectations and we’ve achieved our first aim. But we will take each of the sessions as they come.”

On Wednesday Lancashire play Devon while BB&O play Worcestershire.