Fourteen teams fought it out over three weeks in this qualifying event for the State Open Teams championship. Congratulations to the Farmer team (Alan Davies, Vivien Eldridge, David Farmer and Catherine Whiddon) for winning, ahead of the runners-up Draper team.
Difficulties of a technical nature prevented the final round results from the State Open Teams qualifier on Thursday 24 May appearing on our normal website display or via Pianola. Consequently we have taken a scan image of the printed results for you to see.
The event was directed by Brian Soutter.
Fifty members and two guests attended the workshop on defense given by Joan Butts this morning. Everyone walked away so pleased with what they had learnt and ready to put it into practice.
Joan stepped in at short notice when Cath Whiddon, who is leading the remaining Killer Defence lessons on Mondays in May (9.30am), was unable to take the class.
Thanks Joan for making a difficult concept seem so logical. Remember the Rule of 11 next time you’re at the bridge table!
The Sydney North Interclub Pairs Challenge is being held at Peninsula on Sunday 15 July. Last year we won this in a nail-biting finish with a lead of half a point over Trumps with North Shore just a little further behind. Can we hold on to the title?
You can see the event flier and Peninsula's call for expressions of interest (also on the noticeboard). Do note that pairs who have achieved success in competitive events in the past year are likely to be invited to represent the Club, and the expressions of interest recorded on the noticeboard will then be considered. This is a club entry process, but those pairs who miss out may be able to play for other Sydney North clubs including as an All-Stars team.
The photo by Heidi Colenbrander captures the latest three members to become ABF Accredited Teachers.
Jennifer Ardill, Susan Oxfeldt Jensen and Kelly Barber have all reached the accreditation requirements with the teachers' 2/1 workshop held recently at Peninsula and been awarded their certificates.
This makes eight in total of our members to be so awarded, with five of them currently involved in our Bridge Education program. See Jennifer's ABF Teacher profile.
Anne Small received her well earned ABF Teacher's accreditation certificate on Thursday 5 April, with congratulations from President Sarah Young.
Anne is the fifth member to receive this teaching accreditation from the ABF and this is particularly well-timed for our Bridge Education team given Sue Falkingham's departure to Tasmania.
Following the Advanced 2/1 Workshop on Saturday 14 April, Anne will be the Bridge Education team's reference point for this increasingly popular system. See her ABF Teacher profile.
Nineteen and a half tables contested the Lawrence Shield on Saturday 2 June, commemorating the huge contributions made by Verl and John Lawrence. Most of us will know Verl, and know of her past role as Chief Director. Sue Riley was able to share her former life covering many of the key roles of the club including Secretary and Masterpoint Secretary. She also shared information about John, one of Sue's former bridge partners, and a long time House Manager for the club. It was a great opportunity to learn of the significant work that Verl and John had volunteered to undertake to help make the club as good as it is today.
On this wild, wet and windy Saturday we played as one field, using an Arrow-Switched Web Mitchell movement to ensure that we all played the same 27 boards, a fair outcome not always achieved in large fields.
The winners were David Farmer and Catherine Whiddon, with runners-up Peter Clarke and Jim Rothwell who finished ahead of Chis Duggin and Lori Neville.
A number of members have raised the ongoing car parking issues at the club, particularly for those who are mobility challenged. While there is no simple solution the committee has:
- Asked council to provide more mobility access parking spaces in the Nelson Heather Centre carpark and to restrict more of Boondah Rd parking to five hours (rather than all-day that suits B-Line commuters)
- Publicized the KEO-RIDE option for those living north of Narrabeen bridge that can help reduce the number of cars coming to the Club
- Progressed plans to spread our heaviest player (and thus parking) loads by adding additional rookie sections to other afternoon sessions and by trialing a morning session
- Created a Parking Working Group (led by committee member Greg Hay) to work on a wide range of measures to improve our parking experience
If you are interested in being involved in the Working Group please contact Greg on 0421 659 761 or
Of course any shared transport to the club such as car-pooling, or sharing a taxi or Uber, would also help the situation.
It currently seems likely we will reach a significant annual revenue milestone at the very beginning of next financial year, if not at the end of our current financial year. When "total revenue as recorded in the income and expenditure statement (i.e. gross receipts) for a financial year is more than $250,000 (excluding GST) or current assets are more than $500,000" we become a Tier 1 incorporated association - and this has some significant impacts on our financial and regulatory reporting requirements.
In brief we will need:
- To demonstrate our accounting practices align with relevant Australian Accounting Standards
- To have our financial statements and supporting records independently audited.
You can read about the Tier 1 status and accompanying requirements on the NSW Department of Fair Trading website.
To ensure we are prepared for this transition the Committee is moving to obtain an independent review of our accounting practices and related advice from an appropriate accounting and auditing firm in time to put any changes in place before the next financial year.
