Moira Wins Marathon Tie in First Round of Championship

All the first rounds of the East Vets Championship were completed despite worries over tee times. There was a comment about getting behind a senior men's competition, where most of the participants were in less than speedy buggies and how our two ladies became very well acquainted indeed with some of the gents in the following stableford in an effort to pass the time.

Moira Thomson and Noreen Fenton started very early in the morning and were still going four and a half hours later when eventually Moira slotted a five footer to win at the 23rd hole. This game could not have been closer and could have gone either way as there was never more than one hole ever in it. One down at the tenth, Moira looked like getting it back to all square when Noreen put her second blow inches away from out of bounds and against the left hand fence. Taking an unplayable lie, she was still faced with a pitch over a bunker with the pin immediately behind. The ball caught the back of the bunker and shot across the green, 20 yards away from the flag. Moira could not be blamed for thinking the hole was hers but Noreen sank a tramliner to make the half.

There was a healthy exchange of holes between the 11th and 15th with Moira taking the lead for the first time at the short 14th where they were both in the bunker in front of the green. Noreen levelled the game with a birdie at the 15th and thereafter it was halves all the way to the fifth extra hole (but it did not seem boring in the slightest)when Moira secured her place into the semifinals. She will now play Karen Ballantyne who beat the first seed Rita Dee, by 5 and 4.

When asked some of the more interesting points of their game, Karen said she lost her ball in the pond at the 13th but when they were searching for it, they noticed lots and lots of tadpoles!

In the other half of the draw, Susan Penman beat last year's champion Anne Brownie by 4 and 3. Sue made an incredible start to her game with a birdie at the first, a par at the second and an eagle at the third where she holed her approach shot. She was four up at the turn. Despite being faced with this, Anne said she was happy with her own game but that Sue had certainly played "very well".

Ruth Brown, the second seed and a former winner of the East Vets Championship played against Jane Herd whom she managed to beat at the 16th. When asked about their game Ruth said she was one down at the 10th but that she birdied the long 11th. Thereafter followed a string of very acceptable pars on her part until the sixteenth where the game ended with a 4 and 2 scoreline. Jane had been very obliging by getting herself bunkered off the tee at the 12th - not the best hole to do that. She lost the next hole as well, to a par when she 3-putted the 13th which apart from being a fairly enormous green, was also not the smoothest! The satisfaction of a half in 3 at the short 14th was soon tempered by an expedition into the heavy rough by the river at the long 15th where Jane needed to take a lift and drop. Ruth was now 3 up and a good four by her at the sixteenth saw the end of the game. She will now play Sue Penman in the semifinals on Monday 15th.

Results:
Rita Dee lost to Karen Ballantyne 5 and 4
Moira Thomson beat Noreen Fenton at the 23rd
Anne Brownie lost to Susan Penman 4 and 3
Ruth Brown beat Jane Herd 4 and 2

Good luck to all in the semifinals