I suspect that most of us turn up to play bridge without giving thought to the fact that the boards which are delivered to you by the lovely director have been lovingly crafted by a group of volunteers.
It takes several hours every week to "deal" these boards and put them in their containers. Usually a team of two will take 3 to 4 hours to deal the boards for the coming week and when there are special events on that require extra boards it takes a bit longer. There is also a considerable amount of paper work which has to be done in conjunction with each board - photocopying hand records and documenting what has been done to ensure the smooth running of a bridge session.
Five Peninsula pairs competed in a field of 66 pairs in the NSW State Mixed Pairs Championships, played on 27-28 May at the NSW Bridge Association.
Congratulations go to Margaret and Michael Draper, who came second in the East-West qualifying field of 33 pairs, and thus managed to make it to the finals field of 14 playing on the Sunday where they came 12th overall.
In the Sunday consolation event, the Autumn Swiss Pairs with 48 entries, our remaining pairs came 9th Catherine Whiddon/David Farmer, 24th Lyn Baker/Hans van Weeren, 30th Vivien Eldridge/Alan Davies, and 45th Anne Small/Ron Smith. Despite mixed success it was a great weekend of bridge - and an excellent competitive field.
The Members and Novices' Teams was another great teams day. The goal was to help novice pairs enjoy competitive teams play and nine of the ten teams included a novice pair. The only downside was that the novice pairs played east-west and the other direction had more than its share of the strong hands - so the novice pairs had to focus on defence!
The winning team overall was the Farmer team - David Farmer, Cath Whiddon, Sarah Young & Susan Jensen and the prize for the best remaining team with novices was the runners-up Van Weeren team - Hans Van Weeren, Lynn Baker, Noelene McNair and Joan Perkins. Apparently this was Joan's first experience of teams play!
The Club reaching the size requiring GST registration has prompted a consideration of the Club's financial situation.
The Club Committee has considered the implications and our appropriate response - and has provided a useful report explaining the situation and the response to members.
Interested members are also invited to an information session to be held at 11am on Saturday 3 June at the Club.
The first Swiss Pairs held as part of new Tuesday "Challenge" night was fortunate to have Derrick Browne as our guest expert. Derrick gave a great pre-session talk on "Carding combat: Fake news and alternative facts" exploring signalling tactics. You can check the hands and notes Derrick provided.
The battle for the Swiss chocolates was intense. The top five pairs finished within a 5 VP range. But someone had to win, and with a great last round, Catherine Whiddon and David Farmer pipped Suzanne Cole and Susan Jensen by 1 VP, with Derrick Browne and Michael Draper and Sandie Rooke and Alan Davies tying for third, just ahead of Anne Crothers and Anita Kite. Check the full results and hand records - also on Pianola.
Under 50MPs?
Time to pair up for the Australia Wide Novice Pairs coming up on Friday 26 May. Compete with other novices on the same hands being played across Australia. Make Peninsula proud!
Check the event for all the details, including the ridiculously low cost. Bookings required.
The Harlequin Teams Day was a great success, with lots of pairs enjoying their first experience of teams play. Pairs who had no or very limited experience of teams play were combined with an experienced pair so that the experienced pair could help them learn about and enjoy the teams experience.
Congratulations go to Team Agostino - Di Agostino, Christine Egan, Yvonne Edwards and Julie Daniel who came first and were presented with well deserved wine and chocolates by Sarah. Check below for the full results and more photos.
Members flocked to commemorate and thank our wonderful Chief Director, Verl Lawrence, on Saturday 29 April, after she announced her retirement from directing. As well as holding the role of Chief Director for the past 17 years, Verl has held almost all of the office-bearer positions in the Club.
Our president, Sarah Young, thanked Verl on the Club's behalf and presented her with a floral tribute. She also announced in honour of Verl and her husband's past contributions to the club a new competition, to be called the Lawrence Competition, to start in June on Tuesday nights.
Verl thanked the club for the recognition and more importantly for the key role it had been in her life and the support she had received over the years.
