Chesfield Downs Ladies Section

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