Captain's Newsletter - 24 Mar 2019

Thursday brought back memories for me of standing in front of a blackboard!!! Many of you will know I taught for most of my working life and my handwriting has not improved since those times, as many of our ladies will testify!! Why were we all sitting there waiting in anticipation? Well, Thursday after golf brought many Oohhs and Aahhs as the draw for the Summer KOs (Ann Grist and Mary Warmoth Trophies) took place. The official draws are now on the noticeboard in the locker room for you all to review, along with an explanation of the 'Rules of Combat' for those new to these competitions!!! The date for the first round of both Trophies is a way off (June 30th), but it doesn't mean you can't get started and play your first match as soon as you both wish.

The weather has been more Spring like, this week, I think you will all agree, which was lovely to see. On Tuesday many ladies 'Picked their Poison' as the format was called selecting their 9 best holes to score from. Second place was held by four ladies (Kathy D, Lauren, Jan K and Katy C) but coming out on top was Julie R. A big well done to her and as always to Hazel and Katy for finding such interesting formats to play!!

Before the 'Blackboard Gathering' on Thursday, we had all gone out to play in the O'Sullivan Cup (Stableford Alliance). It is always great to play in a team game, with the pressure off at least slightly! The results of that Trophy will be announced at the Spring Meeting, so we will hold you in suspense for a while yet.

Saturday saw another lovely day, this time for the Ken Bird Final Individual Stableford. Linda B made the most of it, coming in 6th out of a field of nearly 100 players with 37 pts. What a brilliant result Linda, well done !!!! (Psst, hopefully she gets her handicap cut before Pauline and I have to play her in the knockouts!!).

Lin has asked me to remind you all that if you wish to pull your name from a HowDidiDo competition within a few days of it being played, please contact her first as she will do this for you and at the same time be able to slot someone in, who is on the waiting list. The competitions in the next few weeks have received great sign-up numbers and we are thrilled so many of you are wishing to get out to play. As always if there are no spaces available on the system, please email Lin and she will find a slot for you, if at all possible.

Many of you are signed up for the Captains Drive-In and that's brilliant to see so many of you coming along, I will certainly need all the support I can get!! There are still a few spaces left though. Can I remind you to add your food selection if you have not already done it, as this will obviously help with catering.

As you will be aware, Vicky T and Rogie won their first round match of the Daily Mail Foursomes against Heydon Grange recently, their 2nd round draw will again be at home, this time against Knebworth, date still to be organised. Good luck to them. Kathy D and Pat W are representing the Ladies Section in the Powell Cup this year. They have been given a Bye in the first round so they wait to see their 2nd round draw at the end of April. Tomorrow, Monday 25th, our Pearson team of Kathy C, Linda B, Nikki B, Pauline H, Rogie T, Nicola A and Lin go off to play at Manor of Groves, near Sawbridgeworth. Good luck to all of them, I'm sure they will play their socks off!!

Get out there and enjoy the weather this week!
🏌⛳
Best wishes
Margaret
Ladies Captain 2019

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Captain's Newsletter - 17 Mar 2019

Well, the above photo says quite a lot about the weather this last week!! The Tuesday match was wiped out completely by persistent rain and strong winds, though some very brave ladies did venture out!! Thursday was really no better! Kathy C took this photo of herself, Maggie, Mandy and Caroline, its a wonder they were still managing to smile!! The Price Vase, as you are all aware, had been competed for in terrible weather over both the two separate days. Scores were very mixed throughout but coming out on top this year was Linda B with an impressive score, considering the weather, of 33 points. Runners Up were Anne L on 31 points and Pauline H on 30 points. A huge well done to all the ladies that took part in the two days. Lets hope the next competition, held in this way,(Ann Warner/Maureen Eastwood Trophy on 20th April - Easter Saturday and Thursday 25th) will have much better weather!

To finish the week off, Sunday bought the Ken Bird 4 Ball Betterball Bogey Mixed Match. Again the weather was terrible where I was, with hailstorms followed by sunshine! At the point of publishing this, the results have not been published, but if you played again, you certainly deserve a medal. Roll on some decent weather! With my plans of finally playing in a full competition last Tuesday thwarted yet again, I am still to play 18 holes of golf since before Christmas!! Heaven help the team of 3 who have me as the 4th player this coming Thursday for the O'Sullivan Cup! After the match on Thursday, we will be drawing the matches for the pairs and singles summer knockouts. If you are involved, please stay behind if you can, to watch the draw and see who you will be competing against in the first round!!

Mandy U is kindly organising a morning trip to the Osprey's Outlet Shop near Hatfield, noted for its leather goods, which some of you may have heard of! The trip has been organised for Monday April 1st, leaving Chesfield car park at 9.45 a.m. with the intention of sharing lifts. A very nice Café is on site too for a cuppa and a cake after some shopping. A sign-up sheet is sitting on the general noticeboard with more information, so please do put your name down, so that we have an idea of numbers interested.

Finally, after golf last Thursday, many of us joined the family and a huge number of friends for the Service of Remembrance for Kay Baker. The crematorium was absolutely creaking at the seams, with probably over 160 people there, a clear message to the family of how well loved Kay was to so many. The service was really beautiful with carefully chosen words that encapsulated what a special lady Kay was. In memory of her life within Chesfield Downs Ladies Section, her family would like to present a trophy in her memory and I will be talking to the family later in the year about this.

Fingers crossed for some better and calmer weather

Yours
Margaret
Ladies Captain 2019

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Captain's Newletter - 11 Mar 2019

It was great to see nine ladies from the 7-day membership battle the wind and rain on Sunday to take part for the first time in the Ladies Section 'Price Vase'. This trophy is one of many Cups and Trophies that the weekend ladies are now able to access. Its great to see them competing for these prizes and hopefully the numbers taking part will increase. How did they do? Well, we will all have to wait until Thursday when the rest of the ladies, polish up their shoes and clean those clubs, to do battle for that special Vase. Will the Price Vase go to one of those ladies above or not, who knows just yet!

The weather this week has been pretty windy every day and Tuesday and Thursday were no exceptions. Pancake Tuesday was a Champagne Scramble and in first place, some very familiar winners recently : Hazel, Karen, Debbie and Katy with a score of 94 points, well done ladies. Some handicap changes are overdue, I think!

Thursday was once again terribly windy and most of the ladies looked less than their usual elegant selves when they finally came into the Clubhouse! Taking first place in Division 1 of the Maximum Score Monthly Medal was Lauren, just ahead of Chris L and in Division 2 Nicola won by 6 clear shots from Karen. (Full details of the scores are on HowDidiDo) With only one player coming within their buffer, out of a field of 22 ladies, it shows just how difficult the conditions on the course were.

Out on the course on Thursday, a little after the Ladies Section, were four ladies bravely competing to go forward into the next round of the Daily Mail Foursomes competition. I am thrilled to say that Rogie and Vicky won their match against two ladies from Heydon Grange. The conditions by that time in the day were horrendous and the worse they had ever experienced. Well done to them, now Vicky can go off on her well deserved holiday!!

The notice for the Captains Drive In on Saturday April 6th is now on the board. It would be great to see more ladies taking part in this and the support would be very very welcome!!!

A final reminder, there are still a few places left in the Mary Warmoth Doubles Knock-out Trophy, so please find a partner and put your name down if you are interested. The 'live' draw for both the Ann Grist (Singles) and the Mary Warmoth (Doubles) will be made on Thursday 21st March after we are all in after golf.

A notice is in the locker room regarding the arrangements for Kay's funeral on Thursday 14th. Contributions to The Garden House Hospice can be made directly on line or through me. I know many of you will be attending, it has been suggested we go in our club sweaters as a nod to Kay's love of our 'special' golf club!

Hoping that the weather predicted on Tuesday holds off and that we can get out and play our 'Daytona Pairs'! If there is any doubt about the competition going ahead, please ring the club. A decision will be made as early as possible. As usual, please let your playing partner and Katy/Hazel know if you decide not to play.

Keep golfing! 🏌🏌
Margaret

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Captain's Newsletter - 3 Mar 2019

Time is racing by and I can't believe I am already writing March into the title of this newsletter. I simply can't wait to get out onto the course, which I understand is in great condition. The test will be whether I can remember how to hit that little white ball! A friend told me it's like riding a bike, a little wobble at first, but then off you go, I wasn't always very good at riding a bike though!! Keep your fingers crossed for me on Tuesday, or rather the other 3 ladies in my team!!!

Some great golf seems to have been played this last week, when the weather was pretty kind to us for the midweek games at least! Tuesday was a beautiful day and we saw some great scoring by certain ladies in the Pairs Betterball competition. Sarah and Katy came in 2nd with 41 points (always a dangerous pairing I think!) but this time around they were beaten by Mandy and new girl Debbie with a great score of 43 points. Have you ladies signed-up for the pairs or singles summer knockouts because perhaps you should???

Thursday's game was the February Stableford competition, the first qualifier of the year. In Division 1, we saw another great set of scores for Sarah (that investment in new clubs seems to be working) who came in with 37 points, only to be beaten by, in form, Pat with 38 points (Brilliant golf - 9 pars and 1 birdie by both these ladies). In Division 2, Karen came in 2nd with 34 points (1 birdie), but not to be outdone on the birdie front, Diane C won the competition in this division with a score of 35 points and 2 birdies!! Shame for all the ladies concerned that the formal Birdies don't arrive at Chesfield Downs until 1st March!!

Sunday was a bit wet and very windy for the weekend ladies and very sensibly they stayed away from the Ken Bird round 14 with 3 clubs and a putter!! My goodness, I thought choosing 5 clubs was difficult enough without reducing it to only 3! Next Sunday will be a different thing though, 9 ladies from the 7 day membership group, will be competing in the Price Vase/March Stableford Qualifier for perhaps the first time. The introduction of the new 'Alternate Day' means this competition and others are now open to all our ladies. There are still a few more places left, so sign-up quickly.

Next Thursday is the first Ladies England Golf/Club Medal (Maximum Score) competition of the year. Please remember the introduction of the Maximum Score means that should you reach 5 over the par on any hole, you need to pick up and record the score accordingly, e.g. on a par 4 you would record 9 (being 5 over the par for that hole of 4). I am sure we will all get used to this way of playing these particular qualifiers as time goes on.

With the long summer evenings to look forward to and perhaps time on your hands at the end of the day, or at the weekends, we are pleased to introduce a new Summer League competition for our 7 day ladies. This league will be run between April and the end of September and will operate on a 9 hole matchplay basis, with points awarded for a win and a draw. The golfer with the highest score at the end of the summer season will be announced the winner. A notice and further explanation will be on the noticeboard later in the week, so if you are a 7-day member and interested in playing matchplay, please do sign-up. For more information please talk to Pat W, Lin or myself.

Also on the subject of matchplay, the Friendly season is almost upon us and Kathy M has given us a full list of all the dates and matches for 2019. These are pairs matchplay games against our regular local clubs and run throughout the summer season. If you are interested or think you might be, please have a look at the list on the board, just inside the locker room door and put your name down. Everyone is welcome whatever your handicap and if you have not played matchplay before, its not a problem, Kathy will pair you with someone who has! Check out the list, its a great introduction to playing matchplay.

Unfortunately, we will be missing Amanda M playing golf for a while! After a fall whilst out and about, she unfortunately fell and broke her wrist! In her usual spirit of resilience, she assures me, she will be up at the club as soon as she possibly can for a coffee and a chat. I have obviously sent her a card with our best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Looking forward to some improving golf!

Best wishes
Margaret
Ladies Captain 2019

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