Tuesday 1st April was the start of the qualifying season, commencing with the ladies 18-hole Stableford competition. 48 ladies played in the bright spring sunshine, they were all studiously checking their cards before their tee off as the new Course Rating and Ladies Stroke Index came into play. Many were also eagerly anticipating playing the newly opened par three 3rd hole, which had been closed during the winter for reconstruction work. Clearly the hole was appealing as there were four ladies who got a birdie on it. 

42 Ladies enjoyed the spring weather for their 12-hole 4BBB Stableford competition on Tuesday 25th March. In form Val Jackson, playing with Vicki Nee, topped the table with an impressive 29 points. There were 4 pairs with 27 points, Carole Whiles and Sophie Jacob taking second place, Vicky Eyre and Susie Stuart-Brown third on countback. 

Tuesday 18th March was the annual Lady Captain’s Team v Lady Secretary’s Team 4 Ball Better Ball Matchplay trophy competition. 44 ladies enjoyed the spring sunshine, and some very close matches were played, many going to the last hole and even the last putt! However, luck was on the side of the Lady Secretary’s Team, who won 7 ½ to 3 ½. Following a tasty afternoon tea and inspirational new season speech from the newly appointed Lady Captain, Vicky Eyre, the outgoing Ladies Captain, Lynn Sheldrake, presented the trophy to Lady Secretary, Debbie Bruce.

With a second week of dry weather the course is beginning to firm up and our greenkeeping staff are in final stages of preparation for the upcoming competition season.

Tuesday 4th March was the Ladies Mad March Hare Stableford competition, played over 12 holes. 42 ladies entered. Division 1 was won by Ann McDonough with 25 points, including three pars. Sophie Jacob was in second place (24 points), Vicky Eyre in third place (23 points). The Division 2 winner was Lydia Scott with 26 points, in second place Katie Burke (25 points), and in third place Alison Stratford (23 points). After playing golf the ladies enjoyed soup and sandwiches, following which Lady Captain, Lynn Sheldrake, presented the Mad March Hare broches to the Division winners. Hilary Ingram was also presented with the Winter trophy, which is an aggregate Stableford competition played between December and February.

32 ladies played in the 13-hole 4 ball better ball Stableford competition on Tuesday 25th February. There were several good scores, with only 1 point between 1st and 4th place. The consistent pairing of Hilary Ingram and Carol Wakelin topped the table with 28 points. Also with 28 points, coming second on countback, were Lisa O’Reilly and Katie Burke. Third placed, with 27 points, were Joanne McCormack and Val Jackson.

On Tuesday 18 February the course was shorter due to conditions; it resulted in some very high scoring in the Ladies 12 hole Stableford competition. 21 ladies took part, Val Jackson led the field with a superb 40 points, this included Val’s first ever 2 on a Par 3, scoring 6 points on one hole - she was delighted! Coming 2nd and 3rd place respectively, both scoring a credible 31 points, were Carole Whiles (2nd on count back) and Joanne McCormack. Other highlights from the round were Sue White’s eagle on the 4th and many ladies getting entries into the ‘Winter Birdie Tree’ record.

Tuesday 11th February was the Ladies 12-hole Stableford competition & Round 4 of the Winter Trophy. 16 ladies played. Jo Walker led the field, with an outstanding 33 points. Followed by Janet Jones (25 points) and Joanne McCormack (24 points).

A 15-hole 4BBB Stableford was held on Saturday 8th of February.

Sunday 26th January was the Ladies 13-hole Stableford competition & Round 5 of the Winter Trophy. 5 ladies played, Hilary Ingram taking first place with 30 points. There was no Ladies competition on Tuesday 28th January due to poor weather. 

Tuesday 21 January was the first Ladies competition of 2025. 39 ladies played in a fun 13-hole Tee for Two TriAM, the competition rules included being able to tee up the second shot if on the fairway! The highest scoring trio were Ann Whiteley, Carole Whiles and Betsy Haldon with an impressive 58 points, second placed team were Julie Parry, Annie Burke and Sophie Jacob with 54 points. There were 2 twos, both on the 10th hole.

The Seniors Rosebowl was held on Thursday 5^th December and Michael Rhodes won the trophy with 33 points over 14 holes. The golf was followed by a 2 course Christmas dinner. Over 40 Seniors played on the day.

Tuesday 10th December was the last Ladies competition for 2025, 42 Ladies played in the 9-hole Greensomes, which was followed by a Christmas Lunch, which 70 ladies enjoyed. Lady Captain presented the prizes to Sandra Taylor and Hilary Ingram, 1st place with 21 points, Natalie Boyle and Natalie York coming second with 19 points.

On Tuesday 3rd December 39 Ladies played in the Christmas Cracker 12-hole Stableford competition, an annual competition when only 5 clubs are allowed. Josephine Walker was the winner with 27 points, Sue Wilby and Carol Clayton both scored 23 points, Sue taking second place on countback.

Tuesday 26 November saw 41 ladies competing in the 13-hole Stableford competition. There was a three-way tie on 27 points. Hilary Ingram came out on top, her birdie on the penultimate hole of the competition making all the difference to the countback calculation. Jo Walker was second place, Ros Samuels in third.

In the evening the Ladies Annual Dinner and Prize Giving was held with 70 ladies attending. The Club Champion was Ruth Skaife-Clarke, who is pictured below with Lynn Sheldrake, Lady Captain together with all the other prize winners.

Tuesday 5^th November was a 12-hole Ladies TriAM competition, with a field of 41 ladies who are making the most of the dry autumn, there was a tie on 47 points for 1^st and 2^nd place. On countback the winners were Lady Captain, Lynn Sheldrake and her teammates, Pam Dodds and Susie Stuart-Brown. In second place were, Clare Davies, Sandra Taylor and Julie Parry. The third placed trio were Carole Whiles, Hilary Ingram and Gill Roberts, with 41 points.

Tuesday 29 October was a beautiful autumn day, 38 ladies ventured out in the sunshine to play in the Winter Waltz competition, it was great to see many of the new lady members joining the competition. Amanda Dunn, Sophie Jacob and Carole Whiles were the winning trio, scoring an impressive 69 points which was eight points clear of the second placed team, Gail Wilson, Rebecca Booth and Anne Parkinson. In third place, with 57 points, were Hilary Ingram, Carol Wakelin and Moira Rusling.

39 ladies played in an AMAM competition on Tuesday 22 October. Carole Whiles, Natalie Boyle, Jackie Smart and Linda Moore were the winning team, with 70 points. In second, with 69 points were Sandra Dewey, Jo Walker, Carol Clayton and Stephanie Turner. The third placed team on countback, also 69 points, comprised of Ruth Skaife-Clarke, Claire Hutchinson, Sophie Jacob and Ann Whiteley.

The Ladies played their postponed Cooper Brown Foursomes trophy competition on Tuesday 15 October. 13 pairs took part, Hilary Ingram and Carol Wakelin the successful pairing with 33 points, followed by Ann McDonough and Claire Hutchinson, 30 points, and previous winners, Jackie Smart and Alison Kitson coming third with 29 points.  7 Ladies played in the 9 hole Green tee Stableford, reduced to 8 holes due to course construction work taking place, in form Jo Walker was in first place with 17 points, closely followed by Betsy Haldon, 16 points.