England won the Men’s & Women’s Home Internationals at Woodhall Spa – with the team featuring Yorkshire’s Lily Hirst, Tom Osborne and Jake Sowden.
On the final day in Lincolnshire, England edged a tight clash with Wales 12-9 to complete a clean sweep of all three matches.
England reclaimed the trophy from Ireland, making it three wins from four events since the amalgamated tournament began in 2022.
“Home Internationals week is always a challenge as the players across all four home nations seem to get stronger and stronger,” said team captain and manager Jenny Henderson. “All the players did a great job in promoting England Golf and themselves, and it was a great result in the end to add to the Girls & Boys win.”
On a final day full of drama – the Men’s, Women’s and combined trophies were all on the line.
Following wins over Scotland (13-8) and Ireland (11.5-9.5), England were leading the standings in the men’s and combined events, and were sitting second in the women’s event.
After a 5-2 foursomes win over Wales, things were looking promising, but a dramatic final putt for Ireland on 18 secured the women’s title before all focus turned to the other titles.
With leads toing and froing, the combined trophy was secured when Lindrick-based Tom completed a 2&1 win, before debutant Jamie Van Wyk sealed the men’s triumph on 17 with a clutch birdie putt.
Men’s manager Ben Gorvett said: “For the men, it was an up and down week, and we didn’t always start well, but our true quality shone through. It was fantastic to see some new blood in the team, and you would expect them to be nervous, but not these boys. They came up trumps. The men and women showed true resilience throughout, especially as we were at home, and we’re really pleased with the result.”
England’s men have now won five of the last seven tournaments, with four of those in their last five.
Individually, Eliot Baker and Sophia Fullbrook were the stars for each side, each winning five points out of a possible six.
