The start of a New Year is a time of optimism but any hopes of a break in the wet weather experienced from before Christmas and the New Year weekend were dashed as Farrington Park was lashed by almost continuous rain in early January.

It was agreed by the Ladies’ Committee that winter golf competitions would be shortened so that the competitors had enough decent daylight and the slightly warmer temperatures of the late morning and early afternoon to finish their rounds.

The first competition of the Ladies’ Section New Year was a non-qualifying Stableford held over twelve holes. Plenty of competitors decided not to play because the early morning was very wet but sixteen hardy souls braved the conditions and were rewarded when the sun came out at mid-morning.

The wet conditions underfoot contributed to the modest scoring but notable exceptions were Sandra Hares with twenty seven points and Jackie James and Sue Skyrme, who scored twenty-two points each. Once all the scores had been collated, a draw was made of the players’ names and the individual scores were added together to create a “Blind Date” total.

Lesley Mannion, Min Woodward and Pauline Young had all scored eighteen points and they were delighted to be picked from the draw and matched with the highest scoring ladies.

Countback determined that the forty points of Jackie James and Min Woodward took second place ahead of Lesley Mannion and Sue Skyrme.

However, the winners were Sandra Hares and Pauline Young with an unassailable forty five points.