Axe Cliff Ladies came out with a very creative idea last week. They decided to hold their Captain's Away Day at home!   

Captain Paula Heasman collected together different cards from other Courses and each lady member then chose, at random, a card. They then had to play the stroke index and pars for that Course at Axe Cliff. 

Paula then gave out some inspired prizes of Yorkshire Tea, Beer from Stockport, Bournville biscuits, Manchester Marmalade and the usual Mars Bar.  

Of course, they were also given a pair of socks and a stick of rock. The winner was Pauline Willis with a very good 42 points playing at Wallsend Golf Course in Northumberland. Jo Hopgood was second with 40 pts playing at Conwy Course venue for the Curtis Cup in 2021. Stella Thompson took third spot and didn't have to travel too far playing at New Forest, Hampshire at Bramshaw.   

What a great idea Paula with everyone having a great time and not having to pay away green fees! 

The Seniors have been busy lately, having had two marches away. The first was at Cricket St Thomas, where we had an honourable draw, only because Geoff Hughes and I were deliberately restricted to 28 handicap because we were, up to then, undefeated in Club Matches. If we had been allowed our normal handicaps of 36 and 30 respectively, we would have won again but actually lost by 2 holes.  

Then we went to Teign Valley, who just beat us 4-2 but, as we beat them at home, the overall result was a draw.  

In the annual Harris Tankard, Richard Bush showed his potential with a solid 42 pts to lift the Cup. Ian Carvell and Captain Dave Lacey took second and third on countback with 38 pts each. Mark Wisby and I played last but were able to invite a visiting guest, Peter from Warwick playing our Course for the first time. 

He is working at Warwick University, doing research on keeping our lovely Planet green - we all know how important that is at the moment - so we wished him well and bought him and his lovely wife a pint in the bar afterwards. 

The Men’s section played their Grainger Prior competition with a very close result. Young Dean Hodder was first with a nett 68 followed by Richard Gibbons with a 69 and Ian Burraston got on the podium again with a 70.