THE County Championship held at Bristol and Clifton Golf Club this weekend was a feast of exciting par golf.

The tightly fought final between Charlotte Ellis (Minchinhampton) and Joanne Hodge (Knowle) topped off an enthralling series of matches where par was the only option to get through to the next stage.

Charlotte squared the match on the short seventh but Jo birdied the ninth to go one under and started a run on the back nine.

Charlotte valiantly holed out on the 14th to keep the match going, but Jo prevailed on the 15th to take the Championship Bowl in four and three. Jo had already asserted herself as the favourite by winning the Bramwell Cup for Best Gross over 36 holes by four shots ahead of Lin Carruthers (Broadway) who took the Prettejohn Cup for Best Net.

County Captain Marion Jackson said: "This was a wide-open Championship with everyone fighting hard to win and Paula showed us that length isn't everything if you are accurate."