A WINNING WEEK FOR THE LADIES.

By Wendy Hunt.

A GREAT WIN:  Patsy Smiles, Marg Franke-Williams and Andrea Marsden were delighted to keep the Mansfield Bowl at home after their win on Friday.

NOT content with winning the two pennant finals they contested last week, the ladies have also secured the Mansfield Bowl.

Tuesday saw the Division Two and Three teams take out their Pennant finals.

Having recovered from the excitement, two of the pennant finalists (Patsy Smiles and Marg Franke-Williams) joined Andrea Marsden in the winning team at Friday’s Bowl.

On a foul day weather wise, 94 ladies from clubs all over Victoria played in the Bowl on Friday, but it was the home team that won, with a combined score of 97.

Patsy Smiles carded a remarkable 39 points given the conditions, Andrea Marsden 30 and Marg Franke-Williams 28.

Beechworth were runner up with 94.

“It was a fantastic day – all the golfers played through the rain and not one of them pulled out,” said Ladies’ Captain Marion Foster.

Earlier in the week, the Tuesday nine hole stableford was won by Pam Abbott with 15 points, and Thursday’s nine hole by Jan Konik with 14.

Wednesday saw a good field of 20 golfers playing in two divisions, Division One with eight players and Division Two with 12.

Winner of Division One was Sam Bailey with 36 from Nicki Cooper on 34.

Division Two went to Nikki Coffey with a fantastic 40 points.

Coffey would be the first to admit that she had an ‘uneven’ round, scoring only 11 points on the front nine and an amazing 29 on the back – well done for sticking with it, Nikki.

Meg Broomfield carded 39 for second place in Division Two.

Nearest the pins went to Lyn Poulson (third), Glenis Skinner (seventh) and Lorraine Cullen (16th).

Nikki Cooper won the Hidden Holes and Lyn Poulson showed her eye was really in, winning the 18th hole shootout and the putting.

In Saturday’s round, Andrea Marsden took the win with 36 points from Sam Bailey on 34.

Millie Cumming took nearest the pin on both the third and the 16th.

 

LAST week, two of the Mansfield Ladies’ Pennant teams pulled off the near impossible by winning both the finals they contested at Jubilee Golf Course.

Playing in the pennant competition run by the North East Golf Ladies Association (NEGLA), both teams went into their finals as underdogs.

Golf is usually a solitary sport, so golfers relish the opportunity to be part of a team and pennant golf gives them the opportunity to do just that.

In the finals, Division Three played the previously undefeated Wodonga team, while Division Two played the tough Wangaratta team.

Both Mansfield teams had to wait for the last player to finish before the finals winner was known, as each team had recorded two wins and two losses up to that point.

It was a nail biting finish, with players and caddies waiting to see how their number one players would perform.

For Division Three it was a particularly nervous wait, as their number one player, Lesley Anderson, had been soundly beaten by her finals opponent in the last round of the competition.

Showing nerves of steel, Anderson reversed that result to win one up on the 18th hole.

Marg Franke- Williams from Division Two also kept the crowd guessing, being all square after 18, and securing a win on the 19th hole.

Division Two’s number one (Patsy Smiles) came in with the final win, a great performance considering that her opponent had a very low handicap and so, in theory, was the better golfer.

Both team captains were quick to give credit to their whole squads, not just those who played in the final.

“The players who did not play today were an integral part of getting us to the finals,” said Division Three captain Marion Sargeant.

The Division Three team was Lesley Anderson, Louise Calvert-Jones, Marion Sargeant, Jenny Foster, Judy Campbell and Glenis Skinner.

The Division Two squad was Patsy Smiles, Lyn Poulson, Lyn Holland, Marg Franke-Williams, Shirley Nolan, Dawn Breadon and Shelley Comerford.

Using the club’s bus for trips away helped create the strong bond within both teams.

“Using the team bus really bonded the team,” said Division Two captain Marg Franke-Williams.

Marion Sargeant agreed.

“The bus trips meant that we were not only a bonded team, but good friends.”

“We supported each other in our matches and we all seemed to play our best golf in this comp,” she said.

Golfers are a disciplined lot, and you will only see real emotion when the final putt has given them a win.

So it was with the pennant teams – the bus trip home was a riotous affair and ended with a noisy lap of honour of the main street before returning to the club.

It would be fair to say that these golfers and their caddies are not young women – there are a high percentage of grandmothers in their ranks.

What can be said, though, is that they fought like women half their age to come home with the win.