Ladies Vets v Staffordshire

All the ladies arrived on time which meant that I could mingle and get to put names to some of the faces.  This was my first match as captain and I met other ladies who were also new to matches as well as the old hands. Carol, the match secretary, had selected 16 players from an initial list of over 40 and a couple were last minute stand-ins. I put the pairs together, mixing the lowest for this group in with the highest as Staffordshire had done the same. As we gathered in the clubhouse it was a sea of powder blue as both Northants and Staffs ladies had the same jumpers. The conversation averted to the colour of shirts- yellow for Staffs and blue for us.

As the ladies gathered on the tee the sun began to shine brightly and there was only a slight breeze so off came the jumpers to reveal the shirts. Unfortunately, a men's pairs match ran over into our tee times so we were 20 minutes later starting. However, this was soon forgotten as players tackled the beautifully maintained Northampton course.  Sandy, our president, and I watched from the balcony and then visited some teams on the 9th tee. All the teams were enjoying the course even though, as someone said, there was too much sand in the bunkers.

Matches were tight with half of them being decided on the 18th hole. Apparently the opposition had a few lucky putts and chip-ins to steal the individual matches! The overall result was a very friendly half. 

Thank you to all the players, to Claire for organizing the meal and the Monday chef for providing a couple of meals for last minute changes. A big thank you to Northampton Golf Club for allowing use of their course. I had a busy day with Sandy, Chris the match secretary from Staffs and their non- playing captain. 

Lizzie Crow