England Men and Women delighted the huge home crowd with a dramatic 1-1 draw as the GolfSixes got under way in stunning conditions at Centurion Club.
Glorious sunshine had brought the fans flocking to St Albans and they were not disappointed as Charley Hull book-ended the clash with two stunning shots in an entertaining Group D contest.
South Africa topped the group after a 3-1 win over Sweden, while Thailand beat defending champions Denmark 5-1 to top group A alongside USA, who beat European Women 2-1.
Spain beat European Captains 3-0 to lead Group B as Australia and South Korea drew 2-2, while Italy and Ireland were 3-0 winners over France and Scotland respectively in Group C.
The 16 pairs were playing greensomes match play over six holes in a round-robin, with the top two teams in each group of four advancing to tomorrow's quarter-finals.
Both Eddie Pepperell and Matt Wallace missed the green for England Men on the first and with Hull putting her tee-shot to tap-in range, England Women were quickly 1-0 up.
Hull's tee-shot was the early highlight in a scrappy contest, with the third halved in bogeys and the men taking the fourth with a par.
Hull and Pepperell hit brilliant approaches into the last and the hole was halved in eagles for a draw, with Georgia Hall holing from 20 feet.
South Africa birdied the first and while Sweden hit back with an eagle on the third, the South Africans birdied the fourth and fifth to seal the points.
The Danes were in big trouble early in their match, slipping to 3-0 down after three with Thai birdies on the first and third and a Danish bogey on the second.
Denmark birdied the fourth to keep their hopes of a point alive but a bogey on the next made it 4-1 and guaranteed Thailand would take the first points of the day.
Daniel Im had got us under way with a brilliant tee-shot on the first and that helped set up a birdie-birdie start to move the USA 2-0 up after two.
The European Women made a birdie of their own on the par five third to cut the deficit but the final three holes were halved, handing the USA a narrow victory.
Spain went 2-0 up against the European Captains with birdies on the first and third and another gain from ten feet on the fifth sealed victory, with the Spaniards finishing four under to the Captains' one under in a high-quality contest.
A bogey on the first from South Korea gave Australia a 1-0 lead but Soomin Lee and Jeunghun Wang hit back with a birdie on the second before an Australian gain on the next made it 2-1. Australia bogeyed the next and with the last two holes halved, the points were shared.
The first was halved between France and Italy but a France bogey followed by an Italy birdie put the team that finished fourth here last season 2-0 up after three. They then birdied the last to seal a 3-0 victory.
Ireland went birdie-birdie on the second and third to go 2-0 up after three and when the fifth was halved in birdies, they had an unassailable lead before eagling the last to be five under for six holes.
