The weather was fine and the course in great condition for this competition. The ladies enjoyed delicious refreshments at the half way house – Pimms, cakes and scones with jam and cream. Many thanks to Carol Hollins ably supported by Doreen and Arthur.

The overall winner was Nel Boulton with an excellent 42 points. Well done Nel. The other results were as follows:

Silver Div

1st Georgie Taylor with 37 points

2nd Marion Lilley with 34 points

3rd Jenny Flower with 32 points

Bronze Div

1st Pip Nadin with 35 points

2nd Sheila Hollins with 34 points

3rd Wendy Geston with 30 points

The 9 hole competition

1st Linda Forrister with 17 points

2nd Myra Williams with 14 points

After the golf the ladies enjoyed canapes, champagne and wine courtesy of the Captain and everyone received a gift as well. After an enjoyable meal the Captain surprised everyone with an unexpected raffle draw for a bottle of whiskey. Jayne Baxter was the lucky winner. The Lady Captain presented the Captain’s wife with a bouquet and thanked both the Captain and his wife for their generosity.

The official opening of the Halfway House coincided with the ladies first competition of the season 9 April 2019 and was opened by Lady Captain Janet Wood and myself. In traditional style I cut the red ribbon to a round of applause. Refreshments of cream cakes and Bucks fizz were provided throughout the day.

Rome wasn't built in a day!!! Last summer the ladies section took on the challenge of refurbishing the “Halfway House” under the captaincy of myself and along with the ladies have spent many hours at the “house” painting cleaning and even being the runner for our joiner. With paintbrushes in hand the ladies repainted both the inside and outside of the “house.” As expected there were a few problems - the wasp’s nest! I wouldn't say they didn't like the colour, but they did chase us around a little. Not forgetting the bumble bees who seemed quite content with the "toing and froing". A special thanks to Hazel (the paint brush queen) who at one point I thought was moving into the “house”. Although we are very independent ladies, we did need the help of our gentlemen members. Thank you to Ralph Harrison who re-felted the roof and with screw driver at the ready put up the welcome sign which was made by Phil Davies. Thanks to Lisa Davies who negotiated with Howden's kitchens Leek and they kindly donated the kitchen to us. So, a big thank you to Howdens for their generosity. Thank you to the ground staff, grounds committee, Greg and staff in the shop and Lisa for removing the old tables and fridge etc. Finally thank you to Kevin the plumber for finishing off the plumbing. BUT the biggest thank you goes to Angie Broadhurst our lady member who not only fitted the kitchen but made additional cupboards, shelving and did most of the plumbing. What a fantastic job you have done. WE COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT. THANK YOU. The “Halfway House” is now something to be proud of and along with our fabulous course is a welcoming asset to the club.

Please forgive me if I have missed any one. Lynne Ball. Past Captain 2018. (Aka Nick Knowles SOS)

Results of Ladies Winter League Trophy Competition – Individual Stableford

1st Janet Wood 15 points

2nd Andrea Martin 11 points

3rd Janet Hardern 10 points

Well done Ladies.

The 3rd ladies’ forum was held on Monday 4 March. A presentation – open to all members - was given by Mike Barker on the new rules of golf introduced in 2019.

Fifteen ladies and one gentleman attended the presentation and there were plenty of opportunities to ask questions and seek clarification on rule changes from Mike. The Lady Captain thanked Mike on behalf of everyone for an interesting and useful presentation.

No further issues were raised on the night.

Tuesday December 4th saw the Ladies Section of Leek Golf Club gather for their Christmas meal and Trophy presentation evening. A big thank you goes to all the staff who worked so hard to make the evening so enjoyable.

Great meal. Great service. Great atmosphere.

One other person who did a tremendous amount of work towards the evening not only co-ordinating who had won but also seeing to the engraving of the trophies, the polishing by her mum Joyce and mending by husband Ralph. A very big thank you goes to Ladies secretary Karen Wilshaw and her family.

The Past Lady Captain Lynne Ball performing her last official duty for 2018 presented the trophies.

Trophy Winners were:

2010 trophy presented to LGC by Linda Forrister

Winners of June medal – Silver and Bronze – play each other in mini knockout Jenny Cordon

Kath Balay Trophy 4BBB competition 43 points 11 September Jo Peacock and Nel Boulton

Haybowl plate – played by losers in first round of Haybowl Pat Beeson

Presentation of honours board trophies

Winter League - 17 points Janet Hardern

Miller Trophy – nett eclectic Lynne Ball

Nancy Close Trophy – 36 points McTier qualifier 8 May Gill Damjanovic

McTier trophy – County competition held at Penn GC on 20 August 41 points (2 points ahead of next competitor) Gill Damjanovic

Mary Freeman Seniors trophy 41 points 14 July Chris Birch

Bayley Trophy – medal round for Bronze Div nett 70 21 August Wendy Marriott

Past Captains Trophy nett 73 22 May Dot Cowburn

Rushton Trophy – best 4 medal rounds Dot Cowburn

Centenary vase County competition 44 points hosted by LGC 24 September Dot Cowburn/Marion Lilley

(in second place with 42 points Julie Brown and Jo Peacock)

Centenary trophy (played on same day as past captains) nett 69 22 May Jo Peacock

Stableford/Bess Richardson trophy 39 points 22 June Pauline Swindells

Kath Dean Trophy – 2 medal rounds in one day Nett 70 and 74 21 August Lisa Davies

Nicholson trophy – pairs knockout Lynne Ball and Joy Briggs

Medal Final nett 75 2 October Leann Nixon

Haybowl – singles knockout Leann Nixon

My congratulations to all the winners and to those of us who were not so successful, better luck next time.

Seasonal greetings to one and all from Lady Captain 2019.