Mannings Heath will prove a stern test for leading ladies

Top West Sussex venue Mannings Heath stages the English Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship next week and the country’s leading ladies will certainly face a unique test of golf.

A composite course has been specially created for the championship by England Golf, with a combination of gold, white, yellow and red tees being used on Mannings Heath’s renowned Waterfall Course when the event is held from August 6-8.

Measuring 6,125 yards, the new layout is guaranteed to test the players’ skills to the limit as elite England ladies star Alex Peters attempts to defend the title she won by six strokes last year.

The championship has been won by a host of top stars over the years including European Solheim Cup star Trish Johnson, Rebecca Hudson and teenager Charley Hull, the new rising star of the Ladies European Tour who triumphed in 2011 and Peters facing stern opposition in the 72-hole stroke play event.

The high-class field will include Charlotte Thompson, runner-up in 2012, Hayley Davis, ranked 69th in the amateur world rankings, Critchley Salver winner Gabriella Cowley and talented Surrey teenage duo Sammy Fuller and Inci Mehmet.

Established in 1905, the Harry Colt-influenced Waterfall Course has a fine pedigree and is a worthy venue to host the championship.

Situated in 500 acres of rolling Sussex downs, the layout course is a hybrid, a mix of heathland, downland and parkland and will provide the elite women with an exciting and entertaining course which holds the interest all the way round.

Steve Slinger, general manager at Mannings Heath Golf Club, said: “To be chosen to host such a prestigious championship is a great honour and privilege for the club and Exclusive Golf.

“The Waterfall Course is held in great regard by golfers across the south of England. It is in fantastic condition and, with the way it is going to be set up, the players will be playing a truly unique course in what is a spectacular setting for golf.”

The English Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship will see all the field take part in the first 36 holes, with the top 36 players qualifying for the final two rounds on the last day.

Mannings Heath, which is owned by the Exclusive Golf group alongside The Manor House Golf Club in Castle Combe, near Bath, boasts two 18-hole layouts – the Waterfall Course and the Kingfisher.

The former is a members-only course while the latter belongs to 2-FORE!-1 and flows gracefully through the Sussex countryside, testing the skills and nerve of the most seasoned player.