Julie Gore’s a darting world champ

Pembrokeshire Darts is doing well in the inter-county league and one of the leading ladies is Julie Gore, who not only tops the Pembrokeshire ladies’ darts rankings but is also No 1 in Wales.
Not content with that fact, she is also a member of the Welsh World Cup-winning team champions, the winning Ladies’ World Cup team and runner up in the Ladies’ World Cup singles final!
Julie is not a Pembrokeshire lass born and bred but lives in Llanelli and has played all her county darts for Pembrokeshire and enjoying the camaraderie of the fellers and the girls who regularly turn out for the county all over Great Britain.
“They are a great bunch to be involved with,” she says, “and Malcolm Hawkins is a brilliant leader who is respected throughout the world for the part he plays in darts everywhere. We are lucky to have him and he is one of the reasons why I have always stayed with Pembrokeshire.”

Army horse rider and dog walker

Julie had worked with horses and dogs at the Royal Veterinary Corps in Melton Mowbray and used to ride horses regularly but, like a lot of other top darters, she started playing almost by accident when she had time in the NAAFI. When she was an army wife she practised for fun with others in the same situation and when they moved to Germany she took part in a darts competition in Berlin and surprised herself by winning it.

Back to Sospan

When she returned to this country she moved to Llanelli and played for the Buddolph Arms in the Golfers’ Ladies League to start off. She soon caught the eye as she also competed against men but since there was no county team there she joined Pembrokeshire and was made very welcome indeed.
Julie has made such huge strides that she is now ranked seventh in the world, is top in Wales and fourth with the British Darts Organisation invitation rankings so that she can gain entry to top events.

Turkish delight

July has just returned from Turkey where she took part in a top new competition called the Turkish Open where other top lady darters like Dee Bateman (Yorkshire) and John Robbins (Wales) were also involved in a field of 100-plus. There were big crowds watching and Julie battled her way to the final, which was played over seven legs with a flying start to 501 – and beat Dee Bateman 4-1 to scoop the prize.
It has been a good period for Julie since she scooped the Welsh Open last year and has also won the Gwynedd and Glamorgan Opens, plus the prestigious Isle of Man Competition where she beat Treena Gulliver, who has won the top Lakeside Tournament seven times, in the final.

Regular Welsh international

Julie has represented Wales for the past seven years and the climax was the World Championships in Holland where Wales did so well. She joined Jan Robbins as the two ladies alongside four fellers who won the World Team title and then linked with Jan to win the Ladies’ crown – but failed by a whisker to make it a hat-trick as she narrowly lost to Jan in the Ladies’ Singles final.
Ask Julie about her scoring of 180s and she would modestly say,
“I’ve had a few in my time – and I regularly score the 140’s that are needed to keep playing at the top level. I averaged 96 each throw in one match for Pembrokeshire last season and I was delighted with that because it means an average of 32 a dart, including the finishing on a double.”
It’s the sort of performance that only comes with regular play and Julie takes part almost every night in some competition or other. She is also a great believer in practising her skills and with county matches on Saturday or Sunday she certainly gets plenty of time on the oche.

Lots of travel and praise from Malcolm

She travels widely with Pembrokeshire but doesn’t mind in the least.
“We have plenty of laughs and the team spirit is brilliant. We play against some of the top players and it is a pleasure to be involved with Pembrokeshire.”
High praise indeed but it seems the admiration is mutual because Malcolm Hawkins says,
“We were delighted when Julie Gore joined us and she has shown total dedication to our cause. She is not only a great player but an asset to the team with her support for others and we are going to hear a lot more about her in the future if she can maintain her current progress.” High praise indeed from one of darts’ aficionados and we could pay her no higher tribute ourselves!