Winter is always a busy time on the Ladies golf calendar. In the Gauteng Championships, Cheryl Brownrigg won the 2nd day gross, B Div. and reached the semi of the match play. Annette Lawson won the 1st day gross. Down in Paarl, at the National Seniors, Emma Hall was counted out for winner, in her relevant Division !! I'm giving away no age---Emma has eternal youth !!

Chairmans Prize, played over 36 holes was the usual fun day. Robyn Ireland won in the Silver Div and Pam Hoffman won the Bronze. Tandi von Ruben and Agniezka Little were the respective runners-up. In the Sanlam Cancer Challenge, our representatives in the Regional Finals were Sally Tonetti, Agniezka Little and Di Carter, and from the BGs, Pat Pretorius, Sue Norval and K. Slaughter. Ladies Charity Day in July raised the grand total of R36,800--00.

In the Gauteng Challenge Shield, played at Randpark, the Wanderers A side (C. Brownrigg, A. Lawson, T von Ruben) were runners-up in the Challenge Shield and were awarded the Coronation Trophy for the best nett. The next big event was the Nomads( Silver Div) Strokeplay at Houghton, where Agniezka Little won the 2nd day gross. Agniezka is a fairly new golfer and at the beginning of the year was still in the Bronze section, so to win a gross prize in a major competition is a fantastic achievement. As a result, she was selected to play in the Gauteng Inter Region, which embraces all handicap divisions. Cheryl Brownrigg, Annette Lawson, Tandi von Ruben, Ann Bainbridge and Felicity Broadley (nee Verity) also got the nod. Annette was awarded her "colours" and she may well preside over the next Mixed Prizegiving, in a striped blazer !! Felicity,sadly, has now left us , to live in Hong Kong for two years. Annette was back in action in the Vodacom Mixed 4-somes and she and son, Andrew,(NOT Robbie !!) won the best pm gross. Not for nothing are they known as "Mixed Divorcesomes" and "Lawsie was taking no chances !!

Not everyone has been out there swinging happily---Les Routledge and Helen Yeo have been sidelined for six weeks, and Doreen De Jongh, Lorette Ford and Emma Hall have sick husbands, so we wish them all a better time, soon. Congrats to Ann Bainbridge who has been appointed Vice President of Gauteng Ladies Golf.

Unless you are an ostrich, you have probably heard of "4 Weddings and a Funeral " but let me tell you about "4 Weddings and a Fiona !!" Earlier this year Fiona Hindmarsh (from NZ) and Paddy Coleman ( from Ireland ) tied the knot. Wedding No 1 was in Jhb, wedding No 2 was in New Zealand and the 3rd ceremony was in Ireland--but---the plane from NZ to Ireland happened to stop in Los Angeles, where friends and relatives live, so -what the heck---let's have another wedding !! And Fiona wore a different outfit for each event !!

We have a "closet" Scot in our midst ---none other than Jo Morley-MacJepson ! Playing a Singles K\O, Jo was so undone when her ball sailed into the (then empty) dam on on the 11th(must have been a new Pro V1 !!) that she foolishly clambered in to retrieve it---her reward was to sink to her knees in black smelly mud .She went on to win the match , literally "knocking out" her opponent with the odour which accompanied her for the rest of the round !!

And lastly---this month's tip. To get these dirty golf balls clean again, pop them in the cutlery rack of the dishwasher--they come out looking like new !!