Andy DevaneyThe Women’s County Champion of Champions 2026 came down to 30 feet of green on Woodhall Spa’s Bracken Course. Sussex’s Lexi Dart needed birdie at the final hole to beat Cheshire’s Morgan Bollan.
She made it. Golf, for once, declined to complicate the arithmetic any further.
Across the weekend of 5–6 September, The National Golf Centre also crowned champions in the girls’ and senior women’s events.
Mariella Buchanan delivered a second successive Gloucestershire victory in the girls’ competition, while Surrey’s Jenny Justice converted a commanding first-round advantage in the senior championship.
Yet it was Dart who supplied the weekend’s cleanest piece of theatre.
Lexi Dart Turns a Difficult Start Into a Final-Hole Win
Dart had opened with a 75, three over par, and readily admitted the first round had not been especially cooperative. Her irons, by her own account, were misbehaving. The second round was a different proposition: more fairways, better iron shots and enough putts disappearing to keep the title within reach.
The pressure sharpened once Bollan finished 36 holes at six over. Dart now had a simple requirement with a rather less simple execution: birdie the last to win.
That is an agreeable sentence to write from a desk. It is a considerably less agreeable assignment with a title hanging on it.
Dart gave herself 30 feet.
Then she holed it.
“It’s very exciting and very unexpected to win. I didn’t really have any goals coming into this other than to enjoy it, which I definitely did! It’s the biggest thing I’ve won to date.
“The first round was a bit of a struggle – my irons weren’t going so well. But my second round I hit some nice ones, kept it on the fairway and holed some putts! I almost chipped in for eagle on 14 so it was nice to have an easy birdie there, and then on 18, I just tried to play the hole. With the putt, I thought I best give it a good go and I was quite lucky it went in!
“It’s a four-hour drive home and then I’m sure we’ll do something to celebrate this week!”
There is something pleasingly amateur-golf about that final detail. Win the biggest title of your career, accept the trophy, then contemplate four hours on the motorway.
Selina Bartarya of Kent and Hertfordshire’s Haley Yerxa finished tied third on 10 over.
Mariella Buchanan Keeps Gloucestershire on Top
The girls’ title was less dramatic at the finish, though no less convincing in its construction.
Mariella Buchanan, an England Girls’ Squad player from Bristol & Clifton, opened with a level-par 72 and carried a four-shot lead into the second round.
Her closing 74 was enough for a two-over total and a two-shot victory over Northamptonshire’s Lila Bisset, who applied pressure with a one-under afternoon round.
For Gloucestershire, Buchanan’s success made it back-to-back titles after Neve Jeffrey won in 2025. Consecutive champions from the same county suggest more than a fortunate weekend; at the very least, Gloucestershire has developed a useful habit of sending players who know how to finish the job.
Jenny Justice Makes the First-Round Damage Stick
In the senior women’s event, Jenny Justice did most of the decisive work on Saturday.
The Surrey player opened with a 75, three over, to establish a five-shot lead.
Sunday was harder. Justice signed for an 82, but the margin she had built proved substantial enough to survive the wobble. She still won by five shots, a reminder that tournament golf rewards the total rather than the prettiness of the final chapter.
Bedfordshire’s Sue Caley produced the round of the day on Sunday with a 75 containing five birdies. That surge lifted her into a share of second place with Jo Morris-Bourne of Leicestershire & Rutland.
Three Champions, Three Very Different Wins
The Bracken Course produced three champions by three distinct routes.
Buchanan seized control early and resisted the chase. Justice created a cushion and trusted it to hold. Dart had no cushion at all; she had one hole, one putt and very little room for negotiation.
That contrast is why her victory will linger longest. Titles are counted the same in record books, but they are not remembered equally.
A 30-footer on the last tends to help.
