FIRE STOPS PLAY IN ROSE LADIES' SERIES FINAL

After eight weeks the Rose Ladies' Series drew to a dramatic end as the grand final was cut short because of a large wildfire near Wentworth.

The West course at Wentworth was evacuated during Friday's third and last round after the fire spread from Chobham Common, close to the 10th hole.

It was hoped that play could resume at 9.30 am on Saturday, but after meetings with the emergency services, it was decided that course had to remain closed.

The organisers of the event were unable to find an alternative date and venue due to the resumption of the Ladies European Tour with the Scottish Open this week. The results were therefore decided on the first two rounds, which were played at North Hants and The Berkshire.

That meant that Alice Hewson, who led the tournament going into Friday, was declared the winner of the final, and Charley Hull was declared the winner of the Rose Ladies' Series Order of Merit ahead of Georgia Hall in second place and Liz Young in third.

Kate Rose, who with her husband Justin Rose co-founded the series with Liz Young two months ago, presented the prizes behind closed doors at Wentworth on Saturday morning.

After the presentation Kate Rose stated her hope that, despite its unfortunate end, the Series will represent the beginning of real change in the women’s game. Speaking to Telegraph Sport, she said

“We read the piece in the Telegraph and everything from then on was a whirlwind, we feel like opened a box, the genie is out and hopefully now there is a real precedent has been set,”

“I am big believer that once you see something you cannot un-see it, once the light has been shone that the ladies do not have equality in the sport, once that has been exposed I don’t see how we can go back to pretending it is not there.”

“I think a conversation had been started... Frankly, the idea we had wasn’t complicated and it is not an idea many people would disagree with. It is the idea of equality. And the idea that we haven’t quite got in this day and age is a bit uncomfortable and I thing everyone needs to get to the end line. 

"Shining the light on the ladies, does not diminish the light on the men, helping someone up, does not pull you down.”

“We just thought we were doing something useful and actually as it turns out that from the ladies playing to people watching at home, everyone has been so enthusiastic. We just felt it was the right thing to do at the right time.”