We’re not even halfway through April, yet the first trophy of the season has been won in a hard-fought battle at Stoney Ley.
The long-awaited final of the Broadwas 2024 Open GC Handicap Competition was played out in glorious sunshine on Wednesday morning, between Mary Dryden and Jon Carrington on Lawn 2.
The final was held over from last season due to illness and early closure of the lawns.
With Jon handicapped at zero and Mary carrying a ten handicap, the scores started under advantage rules, with Jon on minus four and Mary at plus two.
After a gruelling 1.5 hour-long first game, Jon emerged with a 7-3 win. Jon took the second game 7-4, with both players appearing to be pretty exhausted at the end of it.
On the way to the final, Mary beat Hazel Felton 5-7, 7-4, 7-2 and even knocked out husband Jim Dryden, 7-5, 7-5. In the semi-finals, Mary beat Jackie Guy, 4-7, 7-6, 7-3.
Jon reached the final by beating Peter Hill 7-6, 7-3 and Roger Wood 7-4, 2-7 and 7-6. In his semi-final, Jon beat Eileen Holt, 6-5, 7-6.
The popular competition, introduced by Club Captain John Guy in 2023 has helped competitive Broadwas players acclimatise to the new advantage handicap system which has been introduced in all South West Federation GC handicap competitions being played this season. Advantage rules replace the old system, which utilised extra strokes which were represented by marbles.
Congratulations to Jon for his win and Mary for being a worthy runner-up.
Paul Felton