Date: May 14, 2007
Author: Alistair Hogg

Who will go home with Gladys?

The nation&aposs best female golfers have their eyes set on Geelong for the 2007 Australian Women&aposs Interstate Teams Matches at Barwon Heads Golf Club. Beginning Monday 14 May, the most talented female players from Australia&aposs six states will battle it out over five days for the Gladys Hay Memorial Cup. Each state plays against each other in round-robin format with two foursomes and five singles matches each day determining the winner of each interstate contest. The first interstate match was played in 1897 and in 1933 the series became the Gladys Hay Memorial Cup to honour Miss Hay and to perpetuate her great contribution to the game both as an administrator and player. South Australia is defending champion and four of last year&aposs successful players will be returning with hopes of keeping the trophy in Adelaide. However, they will not be able to romp away with the title if any of the other states have anything to say about it. Victoria, led by Golf Australia National Squad members Emma Bennett and Kate Combes, will be doing their best to lead their state to glory on home soil. The Vics have not won the trophy since 1996 and look to have a team capable of taking the Cup. New South Wales however, is always a consistently-strong performer. They have won five of the last eight interstate series and their 2007 team is shaping as one of the strongest in recent times. National Squad member, Frances Bondad, will look to lead her state with the form that carried her to victory in the recent WA 72-Hole Stroke Play at Lake Karrinyup, Perth. Bondad finished strongly to pip Australian team-mate, and Australian Amateur runner-up Bennett by one stroke. The pair is currently in South Africa preparing for the Commonwealth Cup beginning on Monday 7 May. Joining them is South Australian Stephanie Na as well as Bondad&aposs NSW team mates Helen Oh and Sunny Park, who is also the Australian Amateur Champion. The strong international competition they experience in Johannesburg will stand them in good stead when they return home to face Australia&aposs best – including matches against each other. Australia is aiming to win its fourth consecutive Commonwealth Trophy and we can expect the girls&apos confidence to be sky high should they return with the silverware. The 2007 Australian Women’s Interstate Teams Matches will be held at Barwon Heads Golf Club in the club&aposs centenary year. The undulating women&aposs par 73 course is set on the sandy dunes alongside Bass Strait and although not a particularly long course, Barwon Heads will challenge competitors with strategically placed hazards and potentially volatile weather coming in off the southern ocean. Players will be able to practice on Saturday 12 May before the competition officially gets underway on Monday 14 May. Click here to download the media release including team listing Click Here to view scores and results