Lady Captains Update - August 2019

Many of us would have been forgiven for thinking summer had finished with some of the
dreadful weather we have had over the past weeks, but we have been treated to some really
lovely weather over the bank holiday weekend, and I am hopeful it may continue for a good
while longer.

We had the Ladies Club Championship over two days, 9 July and 11 July. The weather was
reasonable and the course was in good condition. The scratch winner, receiving the Rose Bowl was Tracey with a splendid score of 164 over both days. Ying came 2nd with a total of 186 and Fran 3rd with a score of 195. The winner of the Les Pope Cup for the best nett score was Ying who scored a nett 150 over the two days. Fran was presented with the Liz Mapson trophy for the best one day score, with a gross 95 on day two. It was a real pleasure to be able to award the Championship Trophy to Tracey, she played so well over the two days, well done Tracey. Well done to all who played in the championship.

Sue (J) and I travelled to Western Super Mare on 19 July to take part in the R&A Coronation Foursomes. The day did not start well because the M5 was closed, so what would normally be a journey of about an hour took us over twice as long. Thankfully we had left early so managed to miss most of the jams, but the journey was tedious. The forecast was not good, and for once the Met Office was right, it was a dreadful day with very heavy downpours of rain and high winds – seems to be a feature for some of the competitions this year!! We did our best, but it was nowhere near good enough, and because of the weather, I can’t really say we enjoyed ourselves. On the same day, Devon and Barry did their 100 hole challenge at the club and I am so pleased to say they completed it with a smile, albeit tempered by sore feet and legs. Amazingly, Barry hit the green on the 18th hole with his tee shot and Devon was alongside, to the right of the green. To be able to do that after 99 holes is beyond me!! They managed to raise in excess of £1,000 for Devon Air Ambulance, well
done to both and thank you for organising the ‘bash’ afterwards, the club house was
singing!!

On 20 July, we had the last President’s match of the season played against Tiverton at
home. Our ladies pulled out all the stops and halved the match 3½ /3½. Unfortunately it
was not good enough to take us further.

Sheelah Creasy matches had us playing away at Okehampton on 1 July, which we lost 3/4,
a reverse of the home match score, and Tiverton on 22 July. The Tiverton match had been
re-arranged, the previous date being such bad weather it had to be postponed. However, it
did work in our favour and we won the match 4/3. It was a very hard fought match and we
were all square in the club house just waiting for the score of the final team. Annet had been
brought in at the very last minute (22:45 the previous evening!!) to replace Penny who had
been taken ill, and, after 4 weeks away from golf travelling in Canada, and not feeling at all
confident, she stepped up to the mark and won her match. This also meant that our
divisional score was enough to take us through to the SC quarter finals. The quarter finals
were played at Holsworthy on Friday 16 August and we were drawn against Wrangaton.
The forecast for the day was so very bad, and it didn’t disappoint!! I am not really sure why
Devon Golf continued with the event; the greens were flooded in parts, it was impossible to
grip the club, and I don’t think anyone could say they enjoyed the day, but it was the same
for everyone. Unfortunately we did not play well; Sue J and Di P won their matches and Di
Bott unfortunately lost on the 18 th ; this was not enough to get us through to the semi finals. I must also thank the ladies who came along to caddy for us on the day. They volunteered their services, which was very much appreciated, but I suspect they wished they were anywhere else that day!!

Ladies Captains day on 25 July was really well supported and enjoyed by everyone. As I
said before, I am always overwhelmed by the gifts, kind messages, and this year, donations
to the Captains’ Charity, Devon Air Ambulance. Di Bott, Viv Bailey and Annet, came in first
after navigating the few surprises round the course. Thanks also to Chet, Amy and team for
the Pimms at the half way point, and banquet at the end. It was such a lovely day and I
really enjoyed your company both on the course and in the club house; yet again, you made
it such a memorable day, thank you, it is an honour to serve as your ladies captain.

The Ladies Captain Away Day at Taunton and Pickeridge on 1 August was another great
day. For most of the ladies T&P was a new course to experience. We had wonderful
weather, the course was in good condition and played well; the food was also most
enjoyable. There was a really good spirit to the day and much banter. The ladies captain
team, Shirley, Annet and Rebecca, came in first with 72 points, Fran, Viv Bailey and Doreen
came second with 68. It was a good fun day out.

On 2 August, 5 teams of ladies set off to Tiverton for the Western Morning News (N&E)
Trophy. For this, the lady captain has to pick one team whose score will count against the
aggregate at the end. That team’s score and the highest score from the other teams, gives
the final score from the team. It is extremely difficult to decide which team to put forward, it is always very much of a lottery, but we got it right this year. The team I chose was Fran and Ying; they had been playing very consistently and seemed to play well together. Their score was 40 points. Doreen and I came in with the next best score of 38, giving a total score for Downes Crediton of 78 points. We did hold our breath for quite some time, waiting for someone to pip us to the post. But I am really pleased to say that no-one came close - we won the trophy with a massive 11 points to spare. Not only did Downes Crediton Ladies win the trophy, we took the top three prizes as well, with Sue J and June taking the third prize. This is an amazing achievement, the last time we won this trophy was 1976, the year our great club was formed. I had hoped to find out some history to that win, but unfortunately was not able to come up with any information that could be verified. A truly great achievement ladies – well done to all who played. 

On 5 September, we are hosting the President’s Semi Finals. It is a day to show off our club and give a very warm welcome to the ladies playing. 

We have our away day trip to Carlyon Bay coming up at the end of September, and I am
really looking forward to that again. I will be on my knees asking for warm sunshine for the
full two days.

The Lyn Ashman Trophy where we play the Seniors, is coming up on Tuesday, 8 October
and a sign up list will be going up on the noticeboard shortly.

Happy golfing everyone.

Shirley