Many of the ladies have not played during the winter months and those who did had only played nine holes. So, it was decided that the first event of 2022 was to be a nine hole competition which took place on Shrove Tuesday. Only a few ladies were willing to play when trolleys weren’t allowed, but there was a good gathering in the clubhouse afterwards to enjoy the pancakes.

The next competition, the annual ‘Captain v Vice-Captain’ challenge took place on Thursday, 24th March as an 18 hole event. Eighteen ladies took part in the individual stableford competition, playing in teams of three.

When the points were totted up, it was Lady Captain Anne Carpenter’s team who had the most points, so the victory went to them. Loes de Kleuver’s Vice-Captain’s team had hoped to break the trend, but alas, not this year! Pat Jones won the best individual score.

On Thursday, 7th April the Orchardleigh Ladies played their version of the Solheim Cup, again an annual event. In past years it has been played over two days, but it was decided this year to run the competition on one day in the form of patsomes, six holes of foursomes, six of 4BBB and the final six holes as singles. It was a battle for the players to fight the strong winds, but it was a dry day and the sun shone some of the time. Only sixteen ladies played as there were a few absences due to Covid, but those who were able to partake went out in teams of four, playing in pairs and greatly enjoyed the challenge of the conditions. The USA team won the day by a small margin with a score of seven to the Europeans’ team score of six.

The Lady Captain, Anne Carpenter, provided two beautifully decorated cakes for the afters, both decorated with the appropriate flags.