Ladies spoon up the prize

YORKSHIRE golfers Jane Butler and Carole Morris scored a runaway win in the national final of the Australian Spoons at Frilford Heath Golf Club in Oxfordshire.

The pair from Doncaster Golf Club defied torrential rain to score 36 points in the foursomes competition, which was run as part of England Golf Week – and they won the trophy by seven points.

It’s a dream come true,” said Jane, who plays off 23 handicap. Carole, a 28-handicapper, added: “We are over the moon, really, really excited that we have won. We just kept saying, ‘We can, we will’ and now we have!”

Jane had proved herself something of a foursomes specialist over two days. The previous day, with a different partner, she took second place in the Yorkshire ladies’ county foursomes – and then travelled straight to Frilford for the Australian Spoons.

She and Carole had come through club and north regional qualifying rounds to reach the final where they took on pairs from England Golf’s five other women’s regions. England Golf Week was a five-day festival of handicap golf, featuring the national finals of a host of individual and team championships for club golfers.