Rochford Hundred: The club’s top lady golfer Jo Rumsey is the new Essex senior champion after winning the title at her first attempt following a very tight and gripping final.

In the qualifying round, Rumsey shot a three over par 77 to put her in equal first place.

Then, in her first round knockout match, she saw off Diane Barkworth, from Lords of Rayleigh, 5 and 4.

The semi-final saw her get home against Mary Guthrie, from Five Lakes, comfortably 4 and 2 to set up a meeting with Essex captain Brenda Skudder, from Chelmsford.

And this proved a real nailbiter with Rumsey eventually winning on the 19th.

“I could not play last year as it clashed with the English Seniors but I was delighted to be able to take part and to win was obviously a huge bonus,” said Jo.

“The final was really tight and, to be honest, could have gone either way. But I managed to hold my nerve and eventually triumphed on the first extra hole.

“I am very proud to hold this very prestigious title and hope to be able to defend it next year.”

Jo had come straight from Wentworth where she had gone to see a friend, Maureen Madill, the BBC commentator who was working at the BMW Championship, and managed to walk the course.

She said: “Maureen introduced me to several of the top players like Ross Fisher, Paul McGinley and Padraig Harring-ton and it was fantastic to walk with these great golfers and get their views on the changes made to the Wentworth course.”

Several local girls performed well in the Essex Ladies Championship at Five Lakes with Dulcie Sverdloff, from Thorpe Hall, Paige Kemp and Francesca Taylor from Boyce Hill, and Rochford’s Amanda Colegate-Herbert and Danielle Anderson all getting through to the matchplay stages.

Amanda, Paige and Francesca all went out in the first round but Dulcie and Danielle made it to the second round only to lose.

But there was some consolation for Danielle and Francesca as they were both named for the Essex first team county week with Amanda as travelling reserve.

Daisy Dyer from Chigwell defeated Kelly Martin from Chelmsford 1 up in a closely contested and extremely well supported final.

Meanwhile Rochford's men got through to the second round of the Thornton Cup Plate after a 6.5-3.5 win over Forrester Park on Sunday.

The match consists of 10 singles - five at home and five away - and Rochford did well to get home 3-2 at Forrester Park thanks to wins from Liam Gray, Joe Galbraith and Paul Birrell.

The home victories came from Arthur Leonard, Lee Winsor and Luke Fraser while Jack Joy claimed a half.

Joe Gilling won Rochford's weekly Stableford competition to help qualify for the Scott Spencer trophy when his 41 points proved too good for his rivals.

A birdie plus 10 pars helped 11 handicapper Gilling earn his victory ahead of two players on 39 —Gary Jones and Dean Rogers.

Jones parred eight holes while Rogers had nine pars. All three saw their handicaps come down by one.

Rochford Ladies Nicholas Trophy was won by Sue Myall with 38 Stableford points — one more than runner-up Lorraine Norris. Rochford's bronze team suffered a bitterly disappointing 6-1 away defeat to Upminster.