COVENTRY Hearsall Golf Club player Arianna Virik helped England Golf’s under-16s storm to a 14-4 victory against Ireland.
Virik recovered from defeat in the foursomes to win her singles match in the annual international fixture held at Ballybunion Golf Club.
After the six foursomes matches, the two teams were left tied at three-apiece.
However, England won 11 of the 12 singles matches to claim overall victory by a considerable margin.
England under-16 team captain and manager, Jamie O’Connor said: “There were a couple of key moments as George Whitehead and Aaron Moody crucially won the 17th and 18th to win their foursomes match, while Frankie Morton and Albie Beeston won 16 and 17 to recover a half in their match.
“It was well poised and we knew that we’d have to perform well on day two to get the win, and it was a really strong performance to complete a big victory, with the girls winning 6-0, and the boys winning 5-1.
“It was a really experienced England team, and was probably the last cap for all the players as under-16s, so it was a really good test for the youngsters of how they control the controllables, and how to just stick in there and get the job done, as the weather was biblical!
“A big thanks to Ballybunnion and Golf Ireland for arranging it. We look forward to the return fixture next year, where we’ll be excited to have 12 fresh faces.”
Bad weather saw the morning session of the first day cancelled.
The teams returned to the tees in the afternoon, playing in 40mph winds with gusts as high as 55mph.
At the end of the first day, the teams were level at three-all as Virik and playing partner Ria Prabhakar lost one down against Gemma McMeekin and Grace Dowdall in the foursomes.
However, Virik bounced back to beat Dowdall four-and-three in the singles as England romped to an emphatic victory.
