The Coppers’ Novice Cup was held early in May on Farrington Park’s 9-hole Manor Course. The competition is
18 holes stroke play and played off scratch. All Coppers (ladies who are new to golf) with a course handicap of 35 and above can enter and with no handicap allowance to consider, it also means that ladies who are still “trying for a handicap” can also enter. This opens the field and gives them a gentle introduction to competition play.
There were nine entries to the competition, including two brave newcomers who came to Coppers for the first time and were flung in at the deep end. Nicola Ogilvie and Karin Webb bravely tackled the course for the first time and came away with respectable scores on quite a few of the holes.
There was a tightly fought battle for first place with some very good gross scores, all within a point or two of one another. Interestingly, the first three places went to three ladies who played together in a group of three with an experienced helper keeping an eye on the scoring and the rules. Clearly the intense competition of playing alongside each other upped their games and the results with extremely commendable gross scores were as follows:
Winner: Kath Cox (79)
2nd place: Jackie James (81)
3rd place: Lizzie Wood (82)
As ever a big thank you to all the “helpers” who make Coppers possible and give up their Tuesdays on a regular basis to mentor and guide the Coppers through the minefield of rules and scoring.
Later in the week on the Duchy course, the competition for the honour of representing Farrington Park in the Somerset county “Dickinson Cup” took place. This is a Strokeplay competition for ladies with a handicap of 20 and below. Only nine of the forty strong field were eligible to play in the “Dickinson Cup”, whilst the remainder were divided into two divisions and played a qualifying Strokeplay. Following on from her success in the Coppers’ Novice Cup, Kath Cox shot a nett 71 to win Division 3. Peggy Edwards was second with nett 72 and third was Sue Barnes with nett 74.
In Division 2, Angela Hudd shot the round of the day with a nett 69 including a two-spot birdie at the par 3 8th. Min Woodward had a two-spot birdie at the par 3 5th hole and took second place with nett 71. Margaret Seery went one better with two-spot birdies at the par 3 5th and par 3 8th and finished third with nett 72. Other two-spot birdies were scored by Corrina Bates (15th) and Pauline Young (5th).
Division 1 was a close fought affair with two shots separating the first three places. Wendy Butt scored a birdie at the par 5 11th and finished third with nett 74. June Symonds had a strong opening score over the difficult front 9 holes and with a par at the last hole, secured second place with a nett 73. The winner scored steadily throughout, ending her round with a birdie at the par 5 18th and a nett score of 72. Maureen Charlton will be Farrington Park’s representative for the Dickinson Cup.
The R&A Coronation Foursomes is a national event established in 1953 and is open to all members of affiliated clubs who hold a current WHS Handicap Index of 40.0 or under. The first stage of the tournament is a Club Qualifying Round played over 18 holes of foursomes Stableford. After which,
the best 100 scores from clubs will qualify for the Area Final, which is held at 16 venues around the UK.
Sixteen teams will qualify for the Grand Final to be held at the Eden Course, St Andrews in September.
The ladies held their club qualifying round on a beautiful warm sunny day, just perfect for playing Foursomes golf, arguably the hardest format to play.
Fifteen pairs entered the competition and considering the teams rarely play Foursomes, the scoring was very good. Jane Ball and Sue Forshaw took third place on countback ahead of Gail Proctor and Jackie Walker after both teams scored 35 points. One scoring point better were Jenny Howarth and Bridget Rylance taking second place, but the winners were three points clear of the field with 39 points. Gill Russell and Heather Woodland must now wait to see if their score is in the top 100 to qualify for the area final.
Jane Ball