Bishop Auckland’s Jamie Birkbeck and Jess Hall repeated their 2017 triumph in winning the Durham County Mixed Foursomes at Crook.
Their 3&1 victory over Houghton-le-Spring’s John and Joanna Ellison sealed the club’s sixth success in the championship, the first coming in 1958.
They had to wait until 1980 for their next win, when two Bishop teams made it to the final. They doubled up in 1986 and 1987, before Jamie and Jess won the club’s fifth title in 2017 – beating Beamish Park in the final.
In this year’s semi-finals, the duo defeated the Billingham pair 6&4 while Houghton narrowly beat Heworth 1up to reach their second final in a row after losing to Hobson in 2021.
The win was Bishop’s second at county level this season following victory in the County Teams Handicap Championship at Ravensworth – where they fielded a team led by manager Gerry Johnson alongside Cameron Hamilton (18), Ben Mawson (14) and Finley Hall (13).
