Heavy rain and high winds overnight on Wednesday had led to fears that the Ladies Morning on Thursday would be cancelled but instead the Duchy course had withstood the worst of the weather and was open in time for the first tee time of the Fun Bowmaker competition.

Fifteen teams of three players with a high, medium and low handicap playing off an 85% handicap, had been drawn at random and gave everyone a chance to play and get to know someone who they might not play with on a regular basis. Stableford scoring was used: one best score to count on par 3s, two best on par 4s and all three scores to count on par 5s.

The remnant of the previous night’s storm was a strong blustery wind which made it difficult to score well on many of the holes and the eventual team scores were lower than would be usually expected for this format. Only two birdies were recorded at the par 3 holes from Mandy Hobbs (10th) and Jackie Willcox (5th). Jackie and her playing partners Maureen Goodsir and Margaret Seery finished in third place with 53 points. Maureen Charlton birdied the par 5 18th and with good points’ contributions from her playing partners Corrina Bates and Jane Richardson, they finished in second place with 56 points.

Mandy Hobbs added a birdie at the 18th towards her team’s score and was backed up with consistent scoring by Denise Baker and Lesley Mannion. They finished six points clear of the field with 62 points.

Jane Ball