Match:            Warwickshire v Derbyshire

Venue:            West Midlands Golf Club - Solihull

Date:               Tuesday 19 September 2023

Report and Results Sheet 

Oh dear, the weather looked very dodgy but everyone set off early from Derbyshire for pre-match breakfast cobs in readiness for the 1^st tee at 10:57 (to be precise!).  Janet Thomas and myself travelled together, and JT turned out to be a very good SatNav alongside my own inbuilt system – well done JT. 

With very strong winds and heavy drizzle it was decided that respective County Banners be kept in the cars, as they’d probably end up in the next County & also not to have the Team photo as teams were busy preparing for the elements.  

The 1^st pair to lead the team out were match experienced Lesley Watson and Sandra Maxwell against Gill Thorpe and Deb Reynolds (now the film star Debbie Reynolds starred in Singin’ in the rain – very apt for the day!) – so with strong winds Lesley’s tee shot ended up on the wrong fairway to the right and Sandra to compensate ended up in the trees on the left but on the correct fairway – was this a sign to come ?!  At least we were playing and the next teams were heading down to the tee.

 Sue & myself had the pleasure of having Sue Timberlake with us for a couple of hours, President of the Warwickshire Team, what an interesting and experienced person – we enjoyed her company.  Now the signature hole of the Club was the 18^th – an Island Green of just 91 yards for the Ladies – so all players even though one or two matches had ended before the 18^th wanted to play that hole, including Sue Powell, and yes she was on the green.

With Lesley & Sandra having won their match 4&2 they were the first to tackle the Island Green.  With Lesley having had an awesome back nine, as confirmed by Sandra and the Warwickshire players, she didn’t disappoint with easily getting on the 18^th.  Well done you two – a good start to the Team Sheet. 

Match 2 - Kay Kearton and Pauline Bramley – always a strong pairing – their game was a battle throughout, Kay’s tee shot straight up the middle, Pauline’s caught the wind and yes you’ve guessed it, steered off to the right but still in play.  Although they were 3up at one stage, they were back to 1up after the 17^th – and with the 18^th halved, Derbyshire had won that match 1up – marvellous. 

Match 3 - Rosemary Whitehouse and Shelagh Lancaster – a successful pairing for the past few matches, were against the experienced Liz Moverley (a regular at the Midland Vets Comps) and her partner Teresa Wright – R&S were also 1up after the 17^th, but with that intimidating 18^th and Warwickshire having the better shots, Warwickshire took that hole to halve the match – a great result, a battle throughout. 

Late into the matches the weather did improve, still windy but the rain had eased.  Match 4 - Jan Bilbie and Janet Thomas were fighting well against Carol O’Hare and Karen McKenna, with Warwickshire eventually taking that game 3&2 – as they say “you can’t win ‘em all”.  Match 5 - Deb Eaglefield and Sharon Plant were drawn against the Warwickshire Captain, Judith Pegler and Gill Somerfield, we’d followed that game around for a while and although Deb & Sharon kept pulling the game back, Judith and Gill eventually took control and had that game in the bag winning 4&3. 

 So the match stood at 2½ - 2½ - with two matches to go.  Match 6 was Mel Davey, our County Vice Captain elect and Sue Drake, both Chesterfield Players – a difficult game for Sue Rattenbury and Deb Harrad with Derbyshire winning that Match 6&5, wow.  Phew, we couldn’t lose but a win was possible.  Match 7 – Teresa Burgoyne and Sandra Walters – now I’d put my money on that pair any day, and I wish I had, as they came in with a 3&2 win.  My first smile of the day!   Sue & myself could relax – it’s very tense watching these matches progress throughout the day, we’d won 4½ to 2½.  With all players having a go at the 18^th – a lovely challenging hole, which should be easy, but slightly thinned or off line then trouble is ahead. 

We eventually sat down to Roast Chicken or Veg Lasagne with Apple Pie & Custard (in Sandra Maxwell’s case no custard) – so the day ended well. 

Judith Pegler did the thank you speech to the Club and Course staff – what a fabulous venue and I had the pleasure to thank both teams, read out the result and to present Sue Powell, your next Seniors Captain, with her Senior County Colours, well done Sue, and well done Derbyshire Ladies, a difficult day battling with the weather as well as some tough opponents.  

We end the season having played 6 County Matches with 4 wins and 2 Losses – the losses against Yorkshire at Oakdale and L&R at Lingdale.

 We have just one game remaining, which was cancelled earlier in the year due to bad weather, and that is the friendly with the men now to be held at Kedleston on Monday 9 October and that information will be circulated in the next couple of days. 

On an ending note, this is my last County Match as Seniors Captain.  Thank you to everyone for being so supportive, signing up for the matches and being so competitive, you’ve done an amazing job, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being your Captain.  

My enormous thanks to Sue Powell for all her assistance and company throughout – I know Sue is looking forward to taking on the Captaincy and with fixtures well underway I’m sure she’ll be in touch as regards Availability Forms for 2024 in due course. 

Best regards

Judy Gascoigne

DCG – Seniors Ladies captain 2022/23

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