The Royal North Devon Golf Club
The Ladies win Kyocera matchplay finals in Spain
What a journey! The Kyocera match play team competition began in April 2025. We had a bye in the first round, proceeded by 6 qualifying rounds to reach the finals in Spain. Never in our wildest dreams did we expect to get that far!
So in February 2026 we travelled to Cadiz where the semi’s and finals took place at the Montecastillo Golf resort. Only 4 ladies and 4 men’s teams qualified from over 600 teams who started from England, Scotland and Wales.
Unfortunately the weather in Spain was horrendous, red weather warnings, floods, thunder and lightning and the course absolutely saturated. Practise rounds were nonexistent and we went into the semifinals having not even played the course. Buggies were compulsory and only on the paths, so there was a lot of walking onto the fairways with a multitude of clubs and extremely slippery conditions!
Our semi final opponents were Brocket Hall and a 5 1/2 hr round produced a terrific 4 - 1 win. We were in the final! Saturday provided unreal weather and no golf at all. Thankfully Sunday, for the finals, it stayed dry. We were up against Dundas Park, a very competitive team from Scotland and we knew it was going to be tough. A nail biting finish resulted in a magnificent 3 - 2 win for RND. We’d won the most prestigious team competition and to my knowledge a first for RND. Tears of relief and joy followed, not only from the players but the wonderful caddies and supporters that had made the journey too.
I could not, as Captain, be more proud of the squad, Liz Bird, Liz McKay, Ruth Horn (who celebrated her 70th birthday on semi final day!) Lorna Pearse and Alison Cox.
Their commitment, dedication and desire to win has been second to none. Our team camaraderie has been amazing and the support we have received from the Ladies section, the members, Ross our professional and the club has been phenomenal, thank you everyone.
Here’s to 2026 when it starts again,
Paula Gibbs (Captain)
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