Twenty ladies who have been Captain of their well-supported section at Leighton Buzzard’s Plantation Road golf club gathered for a trip down memory lane and a well contested competition.
Longest serving present was 78-year-old grandmother Joan Waples who was Ladies Captain in 1982, and who after 45 years as a member of the club, is still a regular on the leader board. This year, she has won three major trophies – the Spring Meeting, Rosewear Bowl and Buckmaster Salver.
But the Past Captain’s trophy passed her by this time round, the award for the Bogey Bisque event going to 1998 Ladies Captain Lindsey Arnell. She won with a score of +6, with current Captain Carmen White-Lawes runner-up with +4, a shot clear of Rosie Hartnell.
Val Kent ladies nine-hole competition with 16 points, two clear of Carol Alexander with Janice Hintner third.
Club Captain Robbie John led his red shirted army to successive weekend victories over club and local rivals.
He got Leighton off to a comfortable 5-1 win over Aspley Guise with Andy McDonald and was followed into the club house with wins by Mark Reynolds and David Hawkins, Simon Enright and David Womack, Lee Sanders and Nick King and Graham Freer and Simon Rossiter.
And 24 hours later, Robbie’s squad secured a convincing victory over Brian Carter’s Presidents battalion, corralled mainly from the bone-creaking ranks of former senior officials of the Plantation Road club.
With a dozen former Captains and ex-Presidents in his ranks, Brian teamed up with John Preston to get off to a winning start against Robbie and his Vice Captain Simon Rossiter. Then the wheels came off as Robbies’ younger team notched seven consecutive wins by Manny Barker and Andy McDonald, Graham Freer and Darran Valentine, Denis Leitch and Keith Edmunds, Chris Figg and Nick Tingey, John Latimer and Ian Rimmer, Will Sampson and Andres Valentine and George Stephenson and Sam Messenger.
Brandon Sanders stormed to victory in Leighton’s October Club Stableford, carding 45 points playing off a handicap of four. Runner-up was Robin Lawes with 43 points playing off a handicap of 24, now cut to 22, with Darran Valentine taking third place on countback from Barry Kent after both finished with 41 points. Other leading scores were: 40pts – Andrew Money, Shane Bentley, Neale Proud, Steve Deverill; 39pts – Manny Barker, Tim Hobday, Phil Coumbe; 38pts – KentWaterman, Kate Knight, Steve Boud, Mark Reynolds, Dharm Naveen Diwakar, Colin Beesley, Gareth Mccready, Neil Simmonite.
PICTURE CAPTION:
LADIES LINE-UP…(left to right) Front: Joan Waples, Cicely Goldsmith, Melita Wareham, Val Brown, Jackie Phelps, Pauline Glover; Middle : Lindsay Arnell, Beryl Wood, Alison Shirville, Lesley Brazier, Lynn Oliver, Tricia Boote, Val Berry, Julie Smith; Back: Rosie Hartnell, Jackie Stimpson, Angela Samuels, Avril Simpson, Patti Marriott and current Captain Carmen White-Lawes.