Shropshire’s Susie Lawson wins for Lancashire

Susie Lawson, who lives in Nesscliffe but is at university in Liverpool, survived Saturday’s heavy rain at Abergele to get her hands on the trophy with a 21-9 victory over Alyson Evans of North Warwickshire in the final.

The green at the club on the North Wales coast, with a postal address of Water Street, had to be swept clear of puddles before play could start. But that did not bother the 20-year-old who is playing for Ormskirk three times a week and Lancs during her time studying for a degree. In fact Lawson – a prolific winner of junior titles in Shropshire in her younger days – was never really troubled as she won her first two games 21-10 and 21-11 before beating Gillian Greenbank (North Midlands) 21-12 in the semi-finals.

It made for a great double for the Lawson family as her dad Rich, who was on hand to see her triumph, was recently crowned County Merit champion for the first time.

Shropshire representative Sonya Lucas won her first game but then lost 16 to Greenbank in the last eight while North Shropshire’s Joan Groom fell 21-10 first game to Yorkshire’s Lynn Carter.

The six finalists in this year’s Dennis UK-Sisis Shropshire Best Kept Green Competition will be judged again later this month.

Having emerged from the regional judging rounds, the sextet will be under scrutiny again on Tuesday, August 22,

The clubs getting ready are Castlefields (No.1 green), Edgmond, Tilstock, Trench, Whixall and Worthen & Brockton. “All the regional judging has been done, the results are in and six greens are going forward to the final stage of judging on August 22,” confirmed county secretary Dawn Gray.

“We really appreciate all the hard work and effort that’s gone into maintaining your bowling greens and surrounds so congratulations to all six clubs.”