The new golfing season and competitions are getting under way for the Orchardleigh Golf Club Ladies section, despite the incessantly bad weather which has closed the course on several occasions recently.
On Shrove Tuesday there was a fun 9 hole snakes and ladders stableford competition played on the back nine. Many ladies were put off playing because of the wintry showers, but a dozen or so braved the conditions and Anne Regler won the day with her 32 stableford points, followed by Ann James in 2nd place and 3rd Loes de Kleuver. Everyone stayed to tuck into the pancakes that followed and it turned into a very social and enjoyable occasion.
During the same week the Captain v Vice Captain Cup challenge took place on a sunny but windy day. The format was a 9 hole individual stableford competition with eleven players on each team. Sonia Probert the Lady Captain had the strongest team, scoring a total of 120 points, only narrowly ahead of the Vice Captain’s team with 116. So Sonia was presented with the cup by her Vice Captain, Kate Chadwick. The prize for the best individual score was shared by Pat Jones (Captain’s team) and Ann James (Vice Captain’s team) each with 16 pts. Liz South with 14 pts was 2nd and 3rd prize was again shared by Loes de Kleuver and Christina Francis both with 13 pts. A cottage pie lunch was enjoyed by everyone after the golf and the draw was done for all the summer club knock-out competitions.
There was also a presentation by the Lady Captain to Julia Holdway who is leaving Orchardleigh after 15 years working in the clubhouse office, keeping all the money and accounts in check and being generally helpful to everyone. She will be very much missed.
