What
a lot has happened since my last
blog. Carole and I have played more
Captain/Vice Captain challenges and
we are still unbeaten! The
last week in December saw the
Christmas decorations brought out
and set up. None of us could
remember exactly what went where
last year and some of the
suggestions were ignored! However
most things were found a place and
the Clubhouse looked good.
Friday 2 December was the Ladies’
Coffee morning. At 10.30 I was
worried as there were not many
people there but lots of stalls full
of festive goods. However by 11.00
the noise level had increased and
lots of ladies were there buying,
chatting, drinking coffee and eating
mince pies. Thank you to everyone
who gave items for the stalls, made
cakes, helped on the stalls or just
came up and spent their money. We
raised £619 with the raffle making
£128 for the Captain’s Charity. A
good morning.
The children’s Christmas Party is
always a great one to attend even if
a little noisy for someone of my
age. All went well with the kids
enjoying their chicken nuggets and
chips followed by ice cream and
dancing to the disco as well as
playing games. Unfortunately Santa
and his little elf got a little wet
on their journey as it was pouring
with rain. However they soon
settled in Santa’s grotto handing
out the presents to delighted
children. There were one or two who
cried at Santa – but who could blame
them! Jenny James looked a picture
after having her face painted by
Evie and Paige – my and Carol Hink’s
granddaughters.
The Ladies’ Christmas Party was held
on 14 December with 80 ladies
attending. What a good turnout.
The food was excellent thanks to
young Richard and the kitchen staff
and to Dick and Jo behind the bar.
Our men looked splendid in their
‘waiting outfits’ and served us very
well with a lot of banter going on.
Ian and David entertained us for a
short while and then we sang carols
before going home. I thoroughly
enjoyed myself and hope everyone
else did too.
There is never any need to join a
gym when the ‘Purveyor of good meat’
stall has to be set up for the fur
and feather presentations. Craig
and Gary were getting a little red
in the face picking up the trays of
poultry and meat from outside and
bringing them into the clubhouse. I
was even redder placing it all on
the table in the correct order –
Craig was noisily overseeing this
with his checklist in hand. I had
to have at least three gin and
tonics to recover and the men were
quaffing lots of beer!!
It was good to see so many at the
fur and feather presentations and to
watch our Junior Captain Tom Summers
drive in. All Christmas festivities
went very well with good
attendances, much fun, laughter and
friendship.
It has been good to have a quiet
period since the New Year to
re-charge the batteries in
preparation for the 2012 activities,
which start with a 3 clubs and a
putter competition on Tuesday 17
January. May I wish you all a
good, healthy and prosperous New
Year (I am still trying to win the
lottery!!)
Pat
Imlay
Lady Captain
***********************
STOP PRESS: Glen Gorse
Ladies Feature in Leicester Mercury.
Click
here to read the article.

***********************

I
must admit to being very nervous at
the AGM but it all went very well. I
was overwhelmed by the amount of
best wishes and cards I received on
the night and afterwards. I just
hope I can live up to the standard
set by the past captains.
My
first big event was to go down to
Studley Wood to watch our junior
team play against other Midlands
teams. Ivan and I walked round with
Tom Summers the Junior Captain. Bob
Blair saw his team off and then went
round the course on a buggy trying
to keep up with all that was
happening. We were all thrilled when
Glen Gorse was announced as Midland
Champions. However that meant
another trip down to Five Lakes in
Essex for the national final on the
following Monday. An early start!!
Next
came the dreaded Drive In. It must
be the most terrifying thing a
Captain has to do. However, Pat
Chamberlain made sure my tummy
nerves were settled and my hands
steady when she supplied me with a
port and brandy. I thoroughly
recommend this but I think one is
enough! With only one I saw four
balls ready for me to hit!!! Lots of
members were standing round ready to
cheer as the balls flew down the
fairway – or not! Ribald comments
were flowing as were hugs, best
wishes and congratulations. I
especially enjoyed the drive in as
Ivan was there to drive in with me
as Captain of the Seniors. Also that
I out drove both Gary and Ivan with
a drive of 197 yards!!! I even hit
the fairway, which is most unlike me
as most of my playing partners will
confirm.
On
the next day Ivan and I went down to
Five Lakes in Essex to watch the
juniors play in the National
Finals. I did not envy them their
round of golf as the wind was
blowing a gale and didn’t stop all
day. The team were magnificent yet
again. They didn’t win but came
joint fourth - a superb achievement.
On the 25th I had my
first competition. 48 ladies took
part in this 1-2-3 Waltz
competition. I was thrilled that so
many joined me and that we were
blessed with good weather. It put my
theme for prizes of winter warmth
totally out of context. Next time
the competition will be a 3-2-1
waltz – just to suit me as my team
had better results that way
round! Congratulations to the
winners Wendy Harris, Barbara
Shuttleworth, Steph Adcock and Val
Bowler.
Carole and I have now played six
Captain/Vice-Captain challenges and
remain unbeaten so I am keeping up
with Pat so far and not quite
buckling under the pressure yet! But
there is still a long way to go.
Saturday 29th October
started off the fur and feather
competitions with a 4BBB stableford. Jan
Clark and I together with our
playing partners Carol Hinks and
Joan Pearson went out first leading
a field of 32 ladies. There was a
cold wind blowing and grey skies but
it brightened up and we were all
glowing by the time we finished. We
all enjoyed our round but were not
in the prizes so we shall just have
to try again next week.
Saturday 5 November was our next fur
and feather – a step aside Texas
scramble. My team of Jenny Martin,
Joyce Broughton and Margaret Walne
battled well but again did not
manage the prizes. Only one more
left to go. The final fur and
feather, an am am, was held on 13
November and was drawn teams. Joan
Pearson, Steph Adcock – who now has
the nickname of ‘sandy’, Margaret
Smith and myself had a really good
game. We were second in the
clubhouse until the final card which
by one shot put us into 3rd
place. Just keeping our fingers
crossed that there are three prizes
for this – must have a word in
Craig’s ear!
Tuesday 15 November was our 12 hole
greensome fun competition followed
by lunch and a speaker from
MacMillan nurses. Everything seemed
to be going well with this until 2pm
the day before when I learnt that I
had no-one to come and speak as
Rachel who was due to come had a
chest infection and there was nobody
else available. However, after
pleading with the MacMillan office,
Gemma Shaw offered her services. She
drove all the way over from Lincoln,
had a meal, gave a speech and then
drove back home. Thanks Gemma. My
partner was Joyce Broughton; she
played really well but had very
little help from me - I think my
mind was elsewhere. We had a lot of
good banter with our playing
partners Margaret Walne and Carole
Allsop who just missed third place
on count back. We had a lovely day
the weather was good and the lunch
excellent. The prizes for the day
were Christmas Hampers and the
winners were Lynn Morris and Magda
Sargeant. We raised £100 for
MacMillan nurses at the lunch. Well
done ladies!! This together with the
Drive-In monies and a donation from
Tim Smith of £280 raised at the
rabbits’ dinner means we have
already raised over £500 towards our
charities. Let’s keep this up and
beat last year’s total.
Pat
Imlay
Lady Captain