Last week the Farrington Park Ladies Section said “goodbye” at the funeral of one of their long-standing members, Jean Sage, who died just before Christmas aged eighty five years old.

Jean joined Farrington Park in 1997, when the 18-hole Duchy Course was very much in its infancy.

In 2004, she became the Ladies Section Captain, showing a willingness to take responsibility and dedicated commitment to her position. Many golfers have remarked of her willingness to help new members of the golf club, she would spend time giving them confidence and encouragement in a sport which can be seen as daunting and complex when new. Being supportive and showing much kindness were features of her persona.

A few years later, Jean’s sense of responsibility came to the fore again when she agreed to be the Somerset Senior Ladies County Vice Captain followed by Captain, a position of which she was very proud. This was followed by becoming the County delegate for Farrington Park.

Jean gave so much of her time to Farrington Park and Somerset County over the years. She was very much valued and it will seem strange to many of us that she is no longer there.

In previous weeks, the Farrington Park Ladies Section have played a Tennessee Waltz and a Texas Scramble, so continuing their “tour of the USA”, they “visited” the Sunshine State for a Florida Scramble this week. The weathermen had been forecasting “A Beast from the East” for early March, but although the sun shone and it stayed dry, the biting wind meant that anyone wearing less than six layers of clothing was probably going to feel very cold indeed.

In this version of a Strokeplay Scramble, everyone in a team of three takes a drive, the best positioned ball is chosen and then two players play their respective balls from that position. The player whose ball position was chosen originally doesn’t take a shot and must wait out a turn. Play then proceeds with a new ball position being chosen and so on until a ball finds the bottom of the cup.

It had been agreed that from 1st March, competitions would return to being played over eighteen holes instead of the winter length of thirteen holes. It was unfortunate that the temperature had dropped drastically for the first full length competition. Everyone appeared to play briskly, as the main object of the day became getting back to the warmth of the Clubhouse before hypothermia set in! Eight of the fourteen teams in the field scored under nett eighty and countback decided the winners. Maureen Charlton, Kath Cox and Pauline Young scored nett seventy four for third place. Mandy Hobbs, June Symonds and Jackie Walker finished with a birdie on the par five 18th hole, scoring nett seventy three but they were pipped to first place by Lally Gibson, Fiona Hassard and Carol King.

Jane Ball