The Orchardleigh Golf Club Ladies’ section held their annual club championships on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th July.
The round on Saturday was played in excellent conditions; the weather was dry, there was little wind, and the run on the ball was tremendous, which reflected in some good scores. Susan Marshall came in with the best gross score of the day with an 85, followed by Ann James on 88 and Sarah Doble on 90.
Sunday’s round was another matter, as soon after all the competitors had teed off, the heavens opened. Within minutes the course was under water and the greens flooded to a point that play had to be suspended. After a meeting of the committee, it was decided that play would resume later in the day at 2pm, which proved a wise decision as it was dry and sunny all afternoon with a keen breeze.
This did affect play because the ground had softened on top, meaning there was not so much run on the ball and the greens were slower. Sarah Hynds had the best gross score in this round, bringing in 91.
However, Susan managed to hold the overall lead despite coming in with a higher gross score than the day before. So, congratulations go to Susan Marshall (Lady Captain), who won the Club Championship for a second time, as she also won the title in 2023.
The presentation of the cups took place in the clubhouse and is as follows:
Ladies’ Champion, Harris Trophy: Susan Marshall (176); runner-up, Claret Jug: Sarah Hynds (184); third place (‘New’ Cup) on countback: Ann James (184).
Second Division Gross Overall Winner, Louis Goblet: Pat Pitt (197); runner-up: Lin Handley (214). First Division Nett Overall Winner (Wilder Cup): Sarah Doble (148); runner-up: Sue Sweet (151). Second Division Nett Overall Winner (Dicken Cup): Pat Pitt (149); runner-up: Lin Handley (162).
Another recent competition which took place at Orchardleigh earlier in July was the Ladies’ Macey Cup and Pudney Pitcher. The Macey Cup is played by the more senior members aged over 70, and the Pudney is for the spring chickens, aged under 70. This year’s winner of the Macey Cup was Anne Regler, bringing in an excellent score of 42 Stableford points, and Ann James won the Pudney Pitcher with 36 points. The runner-up of the Macey Cup was Mary Lock with 41 points and runner-up in the Pudney Pitcher was Susan Marshall on 32 points.
Sadly, the Orchardleigh Ladies were knocked out of the Rogers Cup when they played Cricket St. Thomas at the Mendip Golf Club on 3rd July. They did well, though, to get to the third round in this Somerset county knock-out competition.
In the Bristol and District Alliance League, the Orchardleigh Ladies lost their away match playing the Henbury C team 3/11 and in the Somerset Interclub League, their away match at Oake Manor was lost 3/4.
Sarah Doble, Orchardleigh Ladies Golf Club
