Essex club professional Jack Clarke and his partner Charlotte Austwick from Fulford became the third mixed pair to win the coveted Sunningdale Foursomes title after beating the all-pro pairing of Matthew Southgate and Simon Wakefield on the 18th hole of Sunningdale’s Old Course on March 13.
Jack Clarke is the head professional at The Rayleigh Club in Essex, while Yorkshire-based 23-year-old amateur Austwick graduated from university in 2013, and has her eyes on joining the professional ranks this year.
Clarke and Austwick raced into a three-hole within the first five holes of the final against Southgate and Wakefield, but were pegged back to all square by the 11th. The mixed team then went one up when Austwick holed from 10 feet for birdie on the par-three 15th, and then after losing the 16th, regained the lead once more on the 17th when their opponents three-putted from the fringe. A 50-yard up-and-down for par at the last sealed the match for the unproven pairing, who reached the third round in 2014.
“It’s hard to believe we’ve won,” Austwick said. “We have both been struggling with our games recently, so this has been a bit of a surprise. I changed my coach after a series of poor performances and that seems to have done the trick. It’s fantastic to get our names on a trophy that has been won by so many great players, and I’m sure it will give us both a big boost heading into the new season.”
The winners had started the week as long shots in a field studded with experienced tour professionals, including the likes of Kenny Ferrie – who reached the semi-finals playing alongside his wife Lisa – while former PGA Championship winner Andrew Oldcorn was also in the starting line up, alongside fellow former European Tour players such as Andrew Sherborne, Jamie Spence, Steve Tiley and Benn Barham.
The all-star pairing of Dame Laura Davies and Barry Lane made a brave run for the title, but their route to glory was ended at the quarter-final stage by the Ferries. The all-amateur pairing of Marco Penge (Goodwood) and fellow England Elite squad player Luke Johnson reached the semi-finals, before being knocked out the eventual winners 3&1.
Among the many recognisable names in the initial starting line up was former Ukranian footballer Andriy Shevchenko, who teamed up with Sunningdale’s Keith Maxwell, but took an early bath after losing to Worthing’s Peter Tarver-Jones and Ben Martin in the first round.
For a full list of results from the 2015 Sunningdale Foursomes, click here.
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