Captain's Final Newsletter for 2016

LADIES RAISE £7100 FOR CHARITY
Our guests of honour from the Garden House Hospice accepted our cheque for the money that all the Ladies Section had raised in 2016 - a magnificent £7100. They were delighted and truly thankful. Well done everyone.

RESULTS
Xmas Greensomes saw so many festive outfits. A huge effort was made by so many that it was hard to choose the winning outfit. Congratulations to Angela and Hilary – not sure how they managed to play golf in their fat Xmas Pudding ensemble! More photos can be seen on our website.

We said Happy Birthday to Pam Wilson and she bought us all lovely mince pies and cream to celebrate

Marica challenged us all with her quiz – congratulations to Julia Goodwin and Liz Cooke who won on the tiebreaker question

Winners of the Xmas Greensome competition were: 1st Sally Weekes and Liz Cooke with 22 points, 2nd with 20 points were Lin Goodey and Helen Leigh.

After all the festivities of the day, several of us also attended the evening Christmas Party. Lovely meal and lots of dancing, fun and laughter.

Golf Competitions - two weeks of results
Pearson team at home against South Herts on Wed 30th November. Another excellent 4-3 win for Chesfield Downs. A brilliant result for our Pearson team

7-day - “Turkey Trot” Virginia Chan won best score of the ladies with 32 points.

Tuesday
29th Nov - We played Mulligans on a very frosty morning. Countback all on 17 points 1st Pauline Humphrey, 2nd Lesley Bonser, 3rd Katy Cook.

6th Dec – Too much fog to start on time so coffee was calling. Some intrepid golfers played 9-holes once the fog had lifted. The winners were both on 18 points, so on countback 1st Katy Cook and   2nd Hazel Brunnen.

Thursday – Double points from Yellows 1st Mary Harrison 28 points and 2nd Liz Cooke 26 points

2017
Our first competition of 2017 will be the 12-hole Eclectic. You can sign up on HDiDo next week.

I am now almost at the end of my year as your Ladies Captain and this is my final newsletter to you all. I hope you have enjoyed reading all the news, competition results and seeing the photographs. It certainly shows what a busy year we have as a golf club.

I wish Jackie Reid and all her committee an excellent and enjoyable year in 2017, whilst I am looking forward to 2017 as your Club Captain.

Best wishes for Christmas and a Very Happy New Year to you all.

Kathy Dale, 2016 Ladies Captain

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Captain's Newsletter - 26 Nov 2016

Crazy Golfers - Committee Members and Volunteers

End of Year Celebrations
The committee and volunteers celebrated the end of 2016 with 36 holes… of Crazy Golf. Much hilarity was had at the new Stevenage venue – lots of excellent putting practice created many Holes in One and several tens!! (Some of those holes were “impossible”!).

Good luck to our Pearson team at home against South Herts on Wed 30th November.

Coming Soon on Thursday 8th December
- Xmas Greensomes (Daytime) - 9-holes and bring your nibbles to share on the course. I am sure we might see the occasional Santa, Elf, or even a Snowman that day! Then festive mince pies and cream, tea/coffee all available upstairs in the gallery room. We will be presenting our cheque for £7,100 which is the total amount raised this year for the Garden House Hospice.

- Ladies Christmas Party (Evening) - Last chance to sign up. Just 3 places remaining. Please pay your £30 by BACS or by cash or cheque to Chesfield Downs Ladies Section.

GOLF RESULTS
A win for our Pearson Team - We played against Ashridge at home on Friday 25th November. A magnificent win with a brilliant 5:2 score. Well done to Marica and all the Pearson team.

Ladies v Men match was played in a lovely atmosphere and in such a friendly spirit. Sadly we could not emulate the success of the Pearson Team. Although everyone played really well, the men played exceptional golf and won the trophy 5-0. A truly excellent competition to play in. We will be trying next year to place the trophy in the Ladies cabinet.

7-Day

Ken Bird Mixed Winter League, Individual Stableford Qualifier produced some excellent scores from the Men's Section. Lesley Bonser produced the best Ladies score of 33 points.

Tuesday

Team game Stableford Alliance was played in awful weather – wet and windy and cold. But still produced some good scores. The winning team with 36 points were Pat Ward, Pat Pollendine, Sarah Faircliff and Susanna Chan.

Thursday

Our Winter Invitation had more than 70 ladies attending, with guests from many other golf clubs and there were great prizes for both our guests and our members. Chesfield Downs winners were:

• First Place -  Angela Hamilton and Hazel Brunnen
• Runners Up - Denise Clinch and Maggi Theaker
• Longest Drives - Pat Ward and Hazel Brunnen
• Nearest The Pins - Angela Hamilton and Lesley Bonser

£443 was raised for Jackie Reid’s Captain’s Charity next year, The Willow Foundation.  Thanks go to Sue Watson and Diane Chapman for organising such an enjoyable and successful event.

No newsletter next week as I am on holiday – see you all at the Xmas Greensomes.

Kathy Dale, Ladies Captain

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Captain's Newsletter - 19 Nov 2016

Winter Invitation, Thursday 24th November - Remember To Pay (Members £17 & Guests £22) and check the notice board for your tee time and which tee you will start from.

Ladies v Men's Section Competition, Sunday 27th November - Meet at 8.45am. Team selection and tee times are on the notice board.

Ladies Away Weekend, 4-6 June 2017 at Hellidon Lakes - Please sign up if you are interested. Thank you to Katy Cook and Lin Goodey for organising this for us all.

GOLF RESULTS
Pearson League
Our Pearson return match at home against Bishops Stortford this week produced some excellent games. Two games went to the 18th, one went to the 19th and one went all the way to the 21st !!! Although Bishops Stortford won the match 5:2. This does not do justice to the individual matches played. Congratulations to all the team on producing such close games against very tough opponents.

7-day
Ken Bird Mixed Winter League, 4BBB Matchplay Against the Course - A great round of golf by Pat Ward and her husband Les beating the course by 9 holes to give them 2nd place out of 50 pairs of golfers (1st place was an astonishing 12 holes).

Tuesday
The first of our 9-hole competitions, Individual Stableford. We welcome back Gaynor Tinsdale to the Ladies Section. There were some excellent scores for 9-holes. In 1st place Hazel Brunnen, who scored an excellent 21 points, even after having her handicap cut on Monday In 2nd place Lin Goodey 20 points.

Thursday
We played our qualifying competition to decide who will represent Chesfield Downs in the Daily Mail Foursomes event. Our winners played under handicap to produce a nett 70.5 score. Congratulations go to Mary Harrison and Margaret Fredjohn.

Kathy Dale, Ladies' Captain

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Captain's Newsletter - 12 Nov 2016

Ladies' AGM - 2016 Committee

Ladies' AGM

A great turnout – as always – with over 50 ladies attending. Including Brigid all the way from Portsmouth, Hazel, who had landed just a couple of hours before from Lanzarote, and Emma Wood who had come straight from her school Parents’ evening. Thank you all for coming, our AGM is the best supported of all the sections.

It was wonderful to hear all the impressive reports of our many activities over the year. We really are a great golf club.

Lots of lovely cups and trophies were presented. And a few laughs over the scores at the Autumn meeting (love you ladies!). I loved the Oscar style Birdie Winner surprise and my congratulations go to all our winners in 2016.

I was overwhelmed by the wonderful gift you gave me. A day at The Grove golf club (for a golf-mad person, what could be more appropriate?!) I love it. And the photo album of my year as your Ladies Captain is just perfect. (I shall bring it to the club so you can all see it too). Plus flowers and my very own “Hole in One” plaque – I am a very spoiled Captain. You are all amazing!!

I know Jackie has been taking lots of notes this year and is very organised and ready to be your 2017 Captain. Jackie and her Vice Captain Sarah Faircliff will have a great year. I hope it is just as wonderful as mine.

Just to update you all:

• Most Birdies was a complete surprise to the winner – Kathy Dale with 24 birdies 
• England Golf Medal Yearly Winner – Rogie Taylor 
• England Golf Medal Eclectic – Div 1 Virginia Chan, Div 2 Megan Bonner 
• 9-Hole Order of Merit - Pam Blake 
• 7-day Eclectic - Gross Winner – Pat Ward, Net Winner - Linda Brown 
• 7-day Weekend League Winner - Lin Goodey 
• Most Improved Player in 2016 – Mary Hooper who was cut from 36 to 26 this year 
• Clubwoman of the Year – Sue Watson 
• Jean Ray Order of Merit Trophy – Kathy Dale 

Ann Grist Trophy Winner - Sarah Faircliff

Kathy Dale Trophy Winner - Emma Wood

Most Improved Player - Mary Hooper

9-Hole Order Of Merit Winner - Pam Blake

To view more photos from the AGM visit our Gallery page.

Club AGM, Tuesday 15th November 7pm – Support your new Club Captain by attending the Club AGM.

9-Hole Competitions - Start this week - Tuesday 15th November and Thursday 24th November.

Well done Jo Oliver

Congratulations to Jo Oliver, who has been nominated for Female Coach of the Year at this year's Hertfordshire Service to Sport Awards. A great accolade which Chesfield Ladies Section totally agree with.

GOLF RESULTS
The Pearson league started this week and Chesfield’s team played our first match away at Bishops Stortford. Our team were narrowly beaten 4:3 with two of our matches won 4&3 and Margaret Gentle going all the way to the 20th to win her match. Congratulations to all the Pearson team – an excellent start to the season against very strong opposition.

7-day

Ken Bird Mixed Winter League - Winning the first competition of the season was Mike and Lesley Bonser with a super 48 points in the pairs Texas Scramble just ahead of 4 pairs all on 47 points. Congratulations Lesley.

Tuesday

Our last 18 hole Tuesday competition of this year as we play 9 hole competitions from next week. Mark the place where you run out of shots. Congratulations to those who came in with shots still to spare! 2nd place on countback from Lesley Bonser with one shot remaining was Hazel Brunnen. The winner with a fantastic 10 (yes 10) shots remaining and breaking 100 was Sue Oliva.

Thursday

The much loved Hattersley Cup. We played pairs matchplay for the Captains team or the Vice Captains team.

A close match with two groups playing all the way to the 18th hole. It was a win for Jackie Reid’s Vice Captain team – 5 ½ to 4 ½. A lot of fun and some excellent match play.

Kathy Dale, Ladies Captain

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Captain's Newsletter - 5 Nov 2016

The Hattersley Cup

IMPORTANT - WINTER RULES - Pick & Place started on 1st November

Hattersley Cup, Thursday 10th November  – Play for the Captains team or the Vice Captains Team.

Ken Bird Mixed Section Weekend Winter League - Starts this weekend for 7-day members. Sign up on HowDidIDo.

Club AGM, Tuesday 15th November 7pm  – Support your new Club Captain by attending the Club AGM.

Herts County Ladies Golf Association AGM at Aldwickbury Golf Club on Monday 28th November 7.30pm - The Agenda and minutes of the last AGM are on our notice board. Jackie Reid and Sarah Faircliff will be attending. If you would like to attend, Jackie and Sarah would be delighted for you to join them.

GOLF RESULTS
Stableford League Presentation - Held on 25th October. We had three very clear winners this year:

Division One (Handicaps up to 20) - The winner with far and away the most points was Patti Vincent with 20 points – even though she had moved house and could not play in the final round, she was still uncatchable by anyone in this division.

Division Two (Handicaps 21-29) - Once again, the winner of this division was far ahead of any of her rivals – with 19 points the winner was Jenny Feaver.

Division Three (Handicaps 30-36) - And yet again with a huge margin on 18points and uncatchable by the final round – the winner is Katy Cook.

Thank you Pauline Humphrey for organising the competition throughout the year and keeping the scores up to date. And thank you to Virginia Chan for putting the scores on our Chesfield Downs Ladies website so that we can all see how everyone is doing. See the “Leaderboard” menu.

Tuesday – Competition cancelled due to fog.

Thursday – A Wish, a Gift, a Joker. A game of strategy. Did you choose well? Helen Leigh did. Congratulations to our winner Helen with 48 points. 2nd place with 47 points Denise Clinch on countback from Rogie Taylor also on 47 points. A really good, fun competition.

Kathy Dale, Ladies Captain

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Captain's Newsletter - 29 Oct 2016

Ladies' AGM, Thursday 3rd November @6.30pm
Who will win the Most Improved Golfer? Clubwoman of the Year? The newest trophy, the Jean Ray Order of Merit? To find out come along – 6.30pm for refreshments and 7pm start.

Birdies Now Being Counted - Last date for birdies was Thursday 27th October. Badges will be presented at the AGM.

Hattersley Cup, Thursday 10th November - The Captain versus Vice Captain match. Tee times are now on the notice board.

Club AGM, Tuesday 15th November @7pm – Support your new Club Captain by attending the Club AGM.

SIGN UP SIGN UP
Ladies v Men's Section Pairs Matchplay, Sunday 27th November - Still places available to play in this team event. Even if you are not a 7-day member you may still play. Please add your name to the list if you are interested in being part of the team.

Ladies' Xmas Party, Thursday 8th December at Chesfield Downs – Still places available. Sign up on the Notice Board or email me and I can add your name to the list.

Committee/Volunteers for 2017 – Jackie is looking for volunteers to help with the organisation of our golf events next year. If you are able to help in any way, please let Jackie or me know.

GOLF RESULTS
Tuesday
Double on the Odds format. You really need to play well on the odd holes to win this competition. 1st place with 57 points was Hilary Clark, 2nd place with 56 points was Pauline Humphrey – just beating Jenny Feaver on countback.

Thursday

A stroke play competition to determine who is eligible to play in the Winter Knockouts. The 8 players with the lowest gross score will play in the Scratch Cup knockout. The next 8 players will play in the Handicap Cup knockout. Good luck to all the 16 who go through.

Check the Knockout Draw on the Notice Board to see whether you have been successful in qualifying for either the Scratch or the Handicap Knockout. First matches must be played any time from now up to 28th February.

AN EAGLE HAS LANDED. Congratulations to Christine Skeen who achieved a magnificent Eagle 2 on the 7th today. An excellent, skillfully placed, chip shot from 100 yards out which went straight into the hole. Yahoo!!! A 2 for 6 points!!!!!!!

Kathy Dale, Ladies' Captain

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Captain's Newsletter - 22 Oct 2016

Captains and Vice Captains at the Claret Jug
Ady Barton - Men's Captain, Kathy Dale, Jackie Reid, Nigel Jones (standing in for Craig Crowhurst Men's Vice Captain)

Claret Jug
Last weekend, Jackie Reid and I were guests of Crown Golf and played in the Claret Jug held at South Winchester golf club. The CEO of Crown Golf welcomed Captains and Vice Captains from Crown golf clubs across the country to thank them and all the volunteers for their time and commitment in making our clubs so successful and enjoyable for our golf members.

New Members
Ann Kane is fairly new to golf and will hopefully be joining Chesfield (her husband and her son both play at our club). Thank you Kathy Morris for showing her the course this Tuesday. We can all welcome her as she will be staying for cake and the Stableford League presentation this week.

Some of you will have met Nikki Brooke who joined our golf club this week. She has previously been a member at Verulam Golf Club. She will be playing with us on Thursday so you will all have a chance to welcome her into our Ladies Section,

Hattersley Cup, Thursday 10th November
The draw for the Captain’s team and the Vice Captain’s Team will be done this week. Check the notice board for your tee times.

GOLF RESULTS
Thursday
The Cup Winners Cup – Hot on the heels of her recent singles Knockout trophy win last week, this prestigious cup was won by Sarah Faircliff. Congratulations! 2nd Pauline Humphrey and 3rd Virginia Chan.

The Consolation Cup was won by Julie Price. Well done Julie ! 2nd Marica Kelland and 3rd Angela Chatterton.

Friendly Matches
Mount Pleasant at home - Some excellent matchplay from our ladies team to give us 2 wins and 2 draws. A fantastic result. The final match of 2016 season is on Monday at Mowsbury Golf club. Good luck to all the Chesfield Downs team.

National Golf Club Challenge 2016 Final
Our ladies’ and men’s team enjoyed a fantastic experience at Turnberry Golf Club last week. The weather was brutal – the rain was lashing down and the wind was howling – but we golfers are a hardy lot and of course played anyway!!

Although we did not win the trophy, Jackie Reid won Nearest the Pin and Richard Deeks won best score on Day 1. The entire event was truly superb. The halfway house has been located in the iconic Lighthouse. Amazing !! And the 9th hole over the sea to the green just had to be seen to be believed.

Kathy Dale, Ladies Captain

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Scratch Team End Of Season Report 2016

Our 2nd Season in the Hertfordshire Ovaltine League began in April with a home match v Mid Herts. Apparently so named as there was an Ovaltine Factory locally and not because all the competitors are old and drink the stuff!

We started off with a bang on a day when there was a chill breeze and hailstones beating them 3.5pts to 1.5pts.

The next 2 matches were again at home against Aldwickbury Park and Harpenden. We recorded another win over Aldwickbury 3pts to 2pts and the individual matches were very close. Pat Ward achieved 3 birdies in a row in her match to completely overwhelm her opponent and Emma Wood made her debut for the team with a fine win.

Our biggest win of the season came when we won 4.5pts to 0.5 pts over Harpenden. What a result! Even your Captain managed a half in this match after chipping in at the 18th! The girls from Harpenden didn’t enjoy their day very much!

As we approached the second half of the season we had to go and play some away matches, the first of which was at the lovely Aldwickbury Park (slippery greens!) I think in revenge for their loss at our place they played exceptionally well on home soil and came out winners 3.5 to 1.5. Tea was excellent though!

Next we were off to Harpenden. They were certainly looking to bounce back at us after a heavy loss at Chesfield but again we got the better of them and won 3pts to 2pts. We were really motoring on 4 wins from 5 matches!

At this stage of the season we were top of our group on equal points with Veralum and for our next match we travelled to Mid Herts on a windy day on a course none of us knew very well. In spite of that the highlight of the day was a hole in one on the 12th from Lauren. Great achievement! Unfortunately we lost 3pts to 2pts but the food on offer on the day was probably the best of the season! Maybe they will be in our group next year…

With a play off position still possible our final 2 matches were against our closest rivals Veralum, home first in early September then away later in the month. The away match was closely fought but home soil was the advantage they needed and they came out winners 3 pts to 2 pts. The final match of the season saw some new faces in our team with Angela Chatterton making her debut for Chesfield. Unfortunately we were unable to overcome them and they won by 4pts to 1pt.

The Group table finished as follows

1. Veralum 6.5 points
2. Chesfield 4 points
3. Aldwickbury Park 3.5 points
4. Harpenden 3.5 points 
5. Mid Herts 2.5 points

Veralum made the play offs against Essendon but were beaten on the day. You can see all the results and next years draw on the HCLGA website. Bishops Stortford won the title.

The overall performance from the Chesfield Ladies this season was absolutely amazing – they always say that the 2nd season is harder than the first as you want to achieve more and I believe that we certainly did that this year. A huge thanks go to all the squad including those who stood for reserve for a great year. We finished off our season with a get together to play the Par 3 and have a sociable breakfast. Sorry that the whole squad couldn’t make it but we had a lovely morning and thanks again to everyone.

Visit the 2016 Gallery to see more photos from the Scratch Team season.

Kathy has kindly offered to take over the Captaincy again next year so good luck to her and all the players for a successful 2017.

Sarah Faircliff, Scratch Team Captain 2016

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Captain's Newsletter - 15 Oct 2016

PLEASE SIGN UP - Sign up sheets are on the Notice Board for:

• Ladies AGM, Thursday 3rd November – we are expecting Brigid and Patti Vincent to attend to see us all and collect their prizes. 6.30 for 7pm start. 
• Hattersley Cup, Thursday 10 November – Play for the Captain’s team or the Vice Captain’s Team
• Winter Invitation, Thursday 24 November - 9 hole competition, prizes, lunch, and charity raffle.
• Ladies Christmas Party, Thursday 8 December – just 30 places, so sign up asap.

SAVE THE DATE

• Tuesday 25th October - Stableford League presentation to winners with refreshments for everyone in the Conservatory after golf
• Thursday 24th November. Our 9-hole Winter Invitation – Invite your friends and guests for golf. Or join us for lunch after golf
• 4-6th June 2017 Away Weekend has been booked for Hellidon Lakes – Thank you to Lin Goodey and Katy Cook for organising this for us all

Friendly Match
Saturday 15th October we are playing against Mount Pleasant at home. This is our penultimate match of 2016 season. Good luck to all the Chesfield Downs team.

National Golf Club Challenge 2016 Final

Good Luck to all those going to Turnberry Golf Club to represent Chesfield Downs this week. Enjoy the golf on the Championship Ailsa Course, and stay out of those bunkers! They are deeper than I am tall!

GOLF RESULTS
Ann Grist Trophy - Sarah Faircliff is the winner of the singles Knockout competition - beating Lauren on the 18th hole. A very close match. Congratulations Sarah.

7-Day – Help for Heroes. An excellent day as always. A fantastic event to play in.

Tuesday – After an hour delay due to thick fog, we played 12holes of 5 Clubs and a Putter. “Which clubs are the right ones to choose?” Hazel Brunnen made the correct choice and played to her handicap. 1st Hazel with 24pts, 2nd on countback was Marion Dix with 21pts.

Thursday

We played the Stableford Final for the Lauren Pitcher Plate. The greens had been ironed and were very fast. 1st place and entry to the Cup Winners Cup next week is Margaret Fredjohn with 38 pts Congratulations!

The Autumn Stableford showed us some exceptional scores. 1st place goes to Nicola Adkins with 43pts, 2nd place on countback with 38pts is Alison Webber and 3rd also on 38pts is Margaret Gentle.

Kathy Dale, Ladies Captain

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Captain's Newsletter - 8 Oct 2016

Presentation to Hilary – Flowers and wine and a farewell card from us all. Good luck for the future as we say goodbye to Hilary and wish her well with the move.

Handicaps - Some ladies have had their handicaps adjusted by the Continuous Review of Handicaps. You will have been contacted by Sally Weekes if you are affected.

Dates for your Diary
Tuesday 25th October - Stableford League presentation to winners with refreshments for everyone in the Conservatory after golf.

Thursday 24th November - Our 9-hole Winter Invitation. Invite your friends and guests for golf. Or join us for lunch after golf.

Finals of the Knockout Competitions
Mary Warmoth Cup - The final of the pairs Knockout competition was played this week Jenny Feaver and Sally Weekes against Lauren Pitcher and Kathy Dale. An extremely tight match with never more than one hole between the two pairs. The match went all the way to the 18th green and was ultimately won just 1up by Kathy and Lauren. An excellent Final.

Ann Grist Trophy - Lauren is playing Sarah Faircliff in the final of the singles knockout - can Lauren do the double????

Friendly Match
Saturday 15th October we are playing against Mount Pleasant at home. This is our penultimate match of 2016 season. Good luck to all the Chesfield Downs team.

GOLF RESULTS
7-Day – October Medal – 1st Pat Ward and 2nd Lin Goodey

Tuesday
Team Alliance - With only 3 players in this team and Rogie having to use her score twice, she rose to the challenge and led her team members to victory. Congratulations to Rogie, Barbara Baldwin and Kay Baker who made such an excellent team.

Thursday
Our Medal Final was played this week. All winners of monthly medals were eligible to enter this competition. Emma Wood who usually plays in our 7-day competitions, took a day off work to play and it was great that she did. Emma wins the Kathy Dale Trophy with a nett 71. Great result. She will be presented with her trophy at the Ladies AGM on 3rd November. 2nd place (hot on the heels of her Hole in One) is Lin Goodey, with nett 75. And 3rd place is Rogie Taylor with nett 76.

The winner of the Autumn Medal with a fabulous nett 68 is Sally Weekes, cutting her handicap by 2 strokes. In 2nd place, also with a fabulous nett 68, is Katy Cook who has likewise had a 2 stroke handicap cut. “My first ever sub 100 score” said Katy. A real celebration! 3rd place goes to Angela Chatterton with nett 69 and in 4th place with nett 71 is Mary Harrison. With such excellent scores our top 4 golfers had scores under nett par and have had their handicaps cut. Congratulations to each of them.

Kathy Dale, Ladies' Captain

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Captain's Newsletter - 1 Oct 2016

The Great Chesfield Downs Cake Off
An excellent event this week. The men members and Chesfield Downs staff did us proud producing some amazing cakes. We were delighted to welcome the volunteers from the Garden House Hospice plus members, friends and guests to help us in our great decision. We had a tricky job to view, taste and decide which of the wonderful cakes we thought should be the winner. We each chose our best 4 cakes to find the absolute favourite.

A selection of cake to taste and judge

They were all brilliant, but the overall winner by a big margin was the Lemon Drizzle cake with raspberries and mini meringue tops created by Richard Williams, our Assistant Manager (you will usually see him behind the Reception desk).

Winning Cake made by Richard Williams

Thank you to all the men who entered - a very impressive contest.

A huge thank you goes to Jean Ray for this great idea and for organising the whole event for us. We raised a fantastic £330 for the Hospice which added to our total creates almost £7000 raised so far this year. Thank you everyone.

  

Visit our gallery page to see more photos from the Cake Off.

A Hole In One for Lin Goodey!
Congratulations to Lin on achieving this amazing feat on the 9th hole in our September Medal competition on Thursday.

This rare accomplishment has been registered with HowDidIDo and we are waiting to see whether Lin will receive her prize of a Boss watch. Lin has very generously made a donation to my Captains Charity – Thank you Lin and well done on achieving a place on the Hole in One Honours Board!!!

Squad Coaching Sessions
Jo Oliver will run coaching sessions for Friendly, Pearson & Scratch team members, alternate Tuesdays after golf from 1st November. Look out for the sign-up sheet – 7 spaces available each session £7pp. Thank you to Margaret Gentle for arranging this for our team members and to Jo Oliver for her continuing support of the Ladies Section.

GOLF RESULTS
7-Day

Round 6 of the Weekend Eclectic completed. Just one more round to play to find the winner.

Tuesday

The 6th and final round of the Stableford League was played this week. Winners of this competition will be presented with their prizes on Tuesday 25th October when we will cheer them in with cakes for us all after golf in the conservatory.

Thursday

England Golf Medal for September was played in windy and autumnal conditions. Winner of Div 1 is Julia Goodwin nett 75, 2nd Kathy Dale nett 76, and 3rd Pat Ward also on nett 76. Winner of Div 2 is Margaret Gentle with an excellent nett 70. Followed in 2nd place by Lin Goodey with nett 72 (and of course her hole in one!) and 3rd place is Pauline Humphrey nett 73.

Our 9-hole Stableford was won by Ann Cullum with 18 points, 2nd Pam Blake and 3rd Shirley White.

Kathy Dale, Ladies' Captain

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Captain's Newsletter - 24 Sep 2016

The Chris Leary Chalice Winner - Lesley Bonser

Autumn Meeting
Diane Chapman and Sue Watson did a great job organising such an enjoyable and relaxing day. There were lots of cups, trophies and prizes to present to our excellent winning golfers. Birdies too – 211 birdies achieved so far this year. Thank you to Marica for keeping the birdie book updated and supplying us with the badges.

There were several winners on Thursday:

• Nearest the Pin on the 9th was Mary Harrison and on 17th - Pauline Humphrey.
• Nearest the Pin in 2 on the 6th was won by Mandy Unger.
• Longest drive on the 15th, which was almost to the edge of the green!!!! – Roz Mackenzie.
• Best front 9 and 2nd place overall went to Angela Hamilton with 22 points.
• Best back 9 also with 22 points was Margaret Gentle.

But the winner of the Chris Leary Chalice with a massive 43 points was Lesley Bonser. 

It was wonderful to have non golfers and golfers all get together for lunch. Lovely food, lovely weather and some lovely golf scores.

The Great Chesfield Downs Cake Off – Wed 28th Sept at 10.30
Remember to join us for tea/coffee and HUGE AMOUNTS of Cake – plus a Raffle and Xmas Cards from Garden House Hospice volunteers. Invite your friends and come along.

Help For Heroes Charity Day - Saturday 8th October

All welcome and guests. Run by Men Section – you can sign up on the Social notice board.

Herts County de Paula Cup
This is a Knockout competition for golfers from across Hertfordshire with handicaps of 10 - 20. We play 5 rounds of golf over 3 days - matchplay off scratch. Not for the fainthearted but an excellent and enjoyable competition. Unfortunately neither Lauren nor I managed to get to round 2, but we will definitely be there again next year. Who else is up for the challenge in 2017?

GOLF RESULTS
7-Day – September Stableford was won by Linda Brown with 34points. 2nd Megan Bonner on countback to Lauren Pitcher in 3rd place

Tuesday – Some excellent pairs matchplay was enjoyed this week. Great fun and good practice

Kathy Dale, Ladies Captain

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Captain's Newsletter - 17 Sep 2016

Club Captain 2017
I am delighted and honoured to let you know that I will be the Club Captain for Chesfield Downs in 2017. The announcement was made at Captains’ evening.

Captains Day

The event was enjoyed by everyone who attended and we all had a wonderful time. Thank you to the ladies who baked and produced this amazing feast. A special thank you to Mary Harrison and Hilary Clark who gave all our golfers such wonderful fare.

I had a fantastic day and I thank you all for your good wishes. Lovely food, good company and dancing until we dropped!!

Well done to Sarah Faircliff who won Longest Drive and to Lesley Bonser who won Nearest the Pin.

The grand raffle Draw for One Year Golf membership was won by Karl Peterson from the Men’s section. He was cock-a-hoop!!!

Autumn Meeting, Thursday 22 September
Play golf for the Chris Leary Chalice and stay for lunch and prize presentations.

Scratch Match at Home v Verulam, Friday 23 September

This is the final match of the season. Good luck to all the team

The Great Chesfield Downs Cake Off, Wednesday 28th September @10:30am
Thank you to Jean Ray for organising this very popular event. 12 very competitive men are challenging to create the best and most tasty cake. Who will be the winner? Come along and help to judge. £5 entrance fee to include tea/coffee and enjoy LOTS of cake. The Garden House Hospice volunteers will also be there selling Christmas cards.

Two competitions running on the same dates

• Kathy Dale Trophy (Medal Final) plus Autumn Medal - Thursday 6th October
• Lauren Pitcher Plate (Stableford Final) plus Autumn Stableford -Thursday 13th October

Please check the notice board to see whether you qualify for the Medal or Stableford Finals so that you sign into the correct competition on HowDidIDo.

Crown Champion of Champions
Kathy Morris and Virginia Chan enjoyed a great day at Sherfield Oaks being hosted in style by Crown Golf. Congratulations to Kathy Morris for winning Nearest the Pin and receiving beautifully engraved “Champion of Champions Day” glassware.

GOLF RESULTS
Tuesday

“Least Putts” format this week. Congratulations on another win for Julia Goodwin. Julia played 18holes of golf with just 29 putts ! There were three golfers with just 31 putts, Chris Leary and Lauren Pitcher but in 2nd place on countback was Jackie Reid. It is amazing to realise how many shots we make with our putters!!

Thursday

Exceptional scores today. Three ladies scored 40 points and have received handicap cuts. Winners of the September Stableford competition are: Div 1 Pat Ward on 40 points, just beating Lauren Pitcher on countback, also with 40 points. Division 2 Diane Chapman with 40 points. Brilliant golf today.

Kathy Dale, Ladies Captain

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Captain's Newsletter - 10 Sep 2016

Ping Pairs Finalists - Kathy Morris & Rogie Taylor

Congratulations to Kathy Morris and Rogie Taylor who played in the Ping Pairs Final at Gainsborough Golf Club this week. With thousands of players from 846 clubs participating they needed exceptional scores to qualify. It is a huge achievement to play in the Final of this prestigious tournament. “A great day with some amazing prizes.” 

Chesfield Downs Ladies qualify for the National Golf Club Challenge Final at Turnberry 

I am delighted to announce that the Ladies will be sending a team to Turnberry again this October. The qualifying round was held on 9th June at Chesfield and those who were the top five scorers have been notified.

Crown Champion of Champions at Sherfield Oaks - Saturday 10th September
Good luck to our Ladies Club Champion Virginia Chan and Handicap champion Kathy Morris

Finals of the Knockout Competitions
The Singles final will be contested for between Sarah Faircliff and Lauren Pitcher to win the Ann Grist Trophy. The Pairs Knockout finalists are Jenny Feaver and Sally Weekes against Lauren Pitcher and Kathy Dale. The winners will collect the Mary Warmoth Trophy.

Congratulations Lauren, on reaching the Final of both our Knockout competitions

Autumn Meeting - 22nd September
You can sign up to play in the Chris Leary Chalice on HowDidIDo. Please pay your £12 by 15th September so that we can confirm numbers for lunch. If you would like to attend for our 2-course lunch only please sign up or let Diane Chapman know.

We will be presenting prizes to the winners of Cups and Trophies and to those who have won the monthly Medal and Stableford competitions. Also prizes will be presented to the winners of the Tuesday Summer Eclectic competition held in August.

Pearson Team – The draw for 2016/17 has been made. The clubs in our group are: Moor Park, Ashridge, South Herts and Bishops Stortford. The dates for matches are on the Notice Board. Please sign up for all the dates that you are available. Teams will be chosen from those available.

A HOLE IN ONE on the 9th for the Ladies Captain during the semi-final of the pairs knockout this week. Drinks all round!!!

GOLF RESULTS
7-Day 

The September medal was won by Megan Bonner with a superb score of nett 69. 2nd place with nett 73 was Kathy Dale.

Tuesday

Double on the Even Holes format resulted in some big scores! A tremendous 59 points gave 1st place to Julia Goodwin. In 2nd place was our Tuesday competition organiser, Hazel Brunnen, with 54 points. Thank you to Di Rogers and Mary Hooper for checking the cards. Well done to Di Rogers, Elaine Bragg and Mandy Unger, who achieved birdies today and Julia Goodwin who accomplished two birdies in one round today.

Thursday

Round 2 of the Eclectic Cup was hotly contested. Congratulations go to Virginia Chan. Three birdies today and two birdies last week helped to create the lowest gross score of 71 – less than course par!!! A worthy winner of the Eclectic Cup 2016. 2nd place goes to Pat Ward with gross 76.

There is also a prize for the best nett score. After a very good score in round 1, Rogie Taylor recorded her best ever score in Round 2 to achieve an exceptional nett 67 and secure her place as our nett winner. Her final eclectic score was an amazing nett 60. As well as her great gross score, Virginia had a brilliant nett score of 61 giving her 2nd place in the nett competition. Well done to all players.

Kathy Dale, Ladies Captain

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Scratch Team v Verulam (Away)

Match Day 7 for the Scratch Team was Away at historic Verulam, in St Albans, the home course of Sam Ryder, who came up with the idea for the Ryder Cup. The team for this match was Virginia, Kathy, Pat, Lauren and yours truly.

The sun failed to shine very much but the matches were hard fought with the majority finishing at either the 17th or 18th. Unfortunately Verulam, with home advantage came out the winners by 3 matches to 2. It was really close….

Big thanks once again to the team for great performances all round. One match remains in our season when we will be entertaining the girls from Verulam at our place on Friday 23rd September. We will get the better of them on home soil I am sure!

Well done and good luck for the next match!

Sarah Faircliff, Scratch Team Captain

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Captain's Newsletter - 3 Sep 2016

Thank You - A big thank you to Katy Cook who has offered to help Hazel with our Tuesday competitions now that Brigid has moved to Porchester.

Captains Day, Saturday 10th September – Last chance to buy your raffle tickets this week to win one year of golf membership at Chesfield Downs. This has been donated by Crown and all money raised will be shared by the four section Captains’ charities

All donations for the Halfway House will be greatly appreciated.

Help For Heroes, Saturday 8th October - This is a mixed competition that all members can play in (5-day and 7-day members). Help to raise money for this excellent cause. The sign up sheet is on the Social Notice Board.

Pearson Squad - If you have enjoyed the friendly matches this year and would like to be considered to play in the Pearson Team this season, please add your name to the sheet on the notice board in the Ladies Changing Room. This is played as singles matchplay with full handicap difference. For more information speak to Marica Kelland, Pearson Team Captain.

The Ladies AGM will be held in the evening on Thursday 3rd November. Details are now on the notice board. If you would like to join the 2017 committee and help your next Ladies Captain, Jackie Reid, please add your name to the list.

If you have any questions you would like to raise at the AGM, please put them in writing to Marica Kelland, Committee Secretary.

GOLF RESULTS
7-Day – No competition held. Everyone was enjoying the Bank Holiday weekend.

Tuesday - No competition this week

Thursday – Round One of the Eclectic Cup was played this week. In the lead at the moment is Virginia Chan with a gross score of 82. And the best nett score is Liz Cooke with nett 69. Final competition scores on 8th September.

Scratch Team – Played their penultimate match at Verulam Golf Course Friday. Going in to the match, Chesfield Downs were just ½ point behind the leaders of our group, Verulam. An exceptional position to be in. Verulam just managed to hold onto their lead with a 3:2 win against us. The match was extremely close, with Lauren and Virginia winning their matches Pat and Kathy only losing on the 17th hole and Sarah going all the way to the 18th!! Well done to Sarah and all the Scratch Team on a very successful second season.

Kathy Dale, Ladies Captain

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Captain's Newsletter - 27 Aug 2016

Away Day at Wyboston Lakes

Would you like to win one full year of 7-day golf membership at Chesfield Downs? Who wouldn’t?? Don’t delay!! Buy your raffle tickets from Kathy Dale – the draw will take place on Captains’ Day, 10th September.

Celebrate Captains’ Day, Saturday 10th September

All four Section Captains invite you to enjoy Captains’ Day with us. You and your guests can play golf, enjoy our splendid Halfway House and celebrate with other members and guests in the evening with dinner and dancing. Tickets are just £25 available from Kathy Dale.

Donations Needed For Halfway House - Hilary Clark and Mary Harrison have kindly offered to run the Halfway House on Captains Day but we need donations of food. If you can provide any refreshments, please sign up on the list on the ladies notice board. Thank you all for helping.

Notice Boards

You will see that we have a brand new notice board donated by Jean Ray which is on the wall beside the wash basins in the ladies changing room. This notice board contains your handicap list, handicaps up/down, Congu rules and County information. Results of competitions will now be displayed on the sign up board. Lots more space now for all our information.

Brigid Is Moving

A very fond farewell to Brigid Kerr, who is moving away. Brigid will be hugely missed – for her sense of humour, being able to sing a song for every occasion, always with a laugh and a joke and a smile. We wish her all the best in her lovely new home and at her new Crown golf club at Cams Hall. Good Luck Brigid - we wish you every happiness.

THIS WEEK
Eclectic Cup, Thursday 1st & 8th September – This is two full medal rounds. Both are qualifying rounds, so you need to putt out on every hole, even if you have scored better on round one. Good luck and play well.

Scratch Match Away At Verulam Golf Club, Friday 2nd September - Verulam are our main rivals in the division table. We will need to play well to achieve the winning position at the end of this season. Good luck ladies.

Ping Pairs Final, Monday 5th September - Good Luck to Rogie and Kathy Morris who play in the Ping Pairs final. It is an excellent achievement to reach the national final of this event. Wishing them both the best of luck and hope they enjoy the day.

GOLF RESULTS
7-Day

Round 5 of the Weekend Wclectic completed. Two more rounds to go. All still to play for!!

Tuesday

Last round of the Summer Medal Eclectic has been played. Winners of each division will be presented with their prize at our Autumn Meeting on 22nd September.

Thursday

32 members of our Ladies' section enjoyed the golf at Wyboston Lakes on our annual Away Day event.

A lovely course, but lots of water and rough grass to capture any stray golf balls (and there were a few lost balls on Thursday !) Pro’s tip “Keep it on the fairway” Easier said than done I think. A huge thank you to Diane Chapman and Sue Watson for organising a great day for us.

Kelland Pairs Trophy Winners - Margaret Gentle & Lauren Pitcher

The Kelland Pairs Trophy was hotly contested. Two pairs achieved 40 points and the countback went to the last 3 shots. The winning pair were Lauren Pitcher and Margaret Gentle. Just beating into 2nd place Pauline Humphrey and Brigid Kerr.

Nearest the Pin Winner - Kay Baker

Nearest the Pins were Kay Baker (who also birdied the hole!) and Kathy Morris. Longest Drive was achieved by Roz Mackenzie. Thank you to Marica Kelland who donated the crystal glass vases for our winners.

An excellent day – enjoyed by us all

Kathy Dale, Ladies Captain

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