Ladies Spring Weekend Away - Report
18-20 March

Friday

The weekend away started with a round of golf on Friday at Boughton. Encouraged by a healthy fry-up, 16 of the participants enjoyed the first shirt-sleeves weather of the year for their round. It was a pleasure to play on chalk-based soil, but a little confusing when the ball ran on instead of stopping in a clump of mud.

We all expected the scores for the day to be in their forties, but this was not the case. Kerry Sargeant won the men’s sweep with 38 points and Sheena Harrington the ladies’ sweep with 36 points. Peter Harrington and Lia Donath were runners-up. Kerry and the Koychevs started Easter treats early winning chocolate eggs for the longest drives and nearest the pin.

Bell Hotel

We continued on our way to Sandwich with high expectations for the weekend, but for once the weathermen were correct and the sea mists that they had predicted arrived about noon on the Saturday and continued for the rest of the weekend. These kept the temperatures fairly low and on Sunday the winds were also a factor in keeping our scores on the low side! Not to mention the rough and the greens.

The Bell Hotel in Sandwich was our location for bed and board and was just as good on our second visit as it was before. 26 (Rob Urquhart joined us for Sunday only & Martin Wright couldn’t make it) of us enjoyed good food in a private dining room and the rooms remained as before in very different styles and shapes. It has recently been taken over, so it will be interesting to see what changes they make in the future.

We must have scared off the other residents, as ours seemed to be the only faces in the bar during the evening. On the Friday night, an old tradition of charades was rekindled by the long-time attendees of such events – no one who was there at the start of the game was then allowed to bed until they’d had at least one go!

Sandwich

One great advantage at Sandwich is the inclusion of lunch on both days, which on Sunday was a carvery, ensuring that we all went home with full stomachs.

The one disappointment for those who opted not to play 27 holes on the Saturday was probably that we played the Dunes and Himalayas courses on both days, so only the brave or foolhardy who ventured out again in the afternoon got to play on the third nine holes of the Shore course.

Scores, as is often the case, on these weekends were not particularly high. Sunday’s scores were lower than Saturday, which was a reflection of the tougher conditions of the day.

Results

	Ladies	Men
1st Overall	Lorna White – 67pts Luckie Trophy winner	Jack Koychev – 68pts
2nd Overall	Anne Koychev – 66pts	KerrySargeant – 67pts
1st Saturday	Caryl Goldsworthy	Martin Goldsworthy
2nd Saturday	Maureen Slade	Jon Cooper
1st Sunday	Molly Hood	Robert Urquhart
2nd Sunday	Julie Smith	Peter Harrington
Best Par 5s	Tracy Wright	-
Best Par 3s	Sheena Harrington	-

Prizes were awarded to the ladies for the best par 5s & 3s to even up the ratio of prizes to competitors by sex!

There were also team ball competitions on each day.

• The winners on Saturday with a score of 39 points were:
  Jon Cooper, Jack Koychev, Tracy Wright & Sheena Harrington
• The Sunday winners with 35 points were:
  Stan Potts, Anne Koychev, Lia Donath & Norma Lynch

Each team player was presented with a Sandwich ball marker.

Finally

Last but by no means least, thanks were given to Julie Smith for organising the weekend which went without a hitch.

Sheena Harrington
12 March 2005