Annabell Fuller concluded her regular season university golf season with a strong second place finish at the Clemson Invitational in South Carolina, just missing out to the world number 2 player. This follows a fourth-place finish in Florida and a third place finish in Arizona. She unfortunately just missed the cut at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, but still played amazingly in a field of the world’s elite amateurs.
Ladies’ Golf Blog
Events, matches and news
The Roehampton Ladies’ Open Gold Challenge Cup returns to Roehampton Club this Saturday 9th April. As always, there is an elite field of professionals and top amateurs, including our own Nicole Stewart and Hyun-Ji Kim. The start sheet can be viewed here – please come out and cheer on the competitors.
Please save the date for the Ladies’ Invitation Day on 14th June. Details are being finalised, although the day will largely follow the traditional format. Sign up will be via a google doc, accessible through Intelligent Golf and by QR codes posted in the usual places. The Committee has decided against hosting a second invitation day in the Autumn, so this is the chance for Members to invite a guest to enjoy our course when it is hopefully showing its best summer side.
The lovely Vice-Captain, Charlotta Lyckeus, is very busy organising the annual Away Day. She will announce all the details shortly, but please block out the 30th June in your diaries. It is going to be a fantastic event, and you won’t want to miss it!
Club jumpers and short sleeved shirts are now available to order by clicking on the link here. The tops are Tahiti Blue with the Roehampton Club logo embroidered on the chest. The deadline for ordering is 17th April, with payment taken after the items arrive. Once the deadline has passed, there will not be another order made until the autumn, so if you play friendly or competitive matches for Roehampton Club, or think you might do in the future, or if you just fancy the colour, please do get your request in.
Congratulations to all who played in the Australian Spoons last week. For those who are unfamiliar with the history of this event, it is a foursomes competition run by England Golf open to players with handicaps above 15.0. Clubs are invited to host qualifying competitions, with the winning pair, in the handicap range, qualifying for a regional tournament. Three teams came in with 37 points on Tuesday, with Jackie Beedle and Jinni Featherstone-Witty taking first place on countback. Kathleen Bacon and I were second, with our playing partners Catherine Cooper and Caroline Leslie just behind. However, only Catherine and Caroline were both available to play in the regional event, so they will go on to represent us at the next stage.
The Pearson and Wallis teams play the home legs of their knock-out stages today. The Pearson squad will host Walton Heath and the Wallis players face Wimbledon Common. The Derry team play their final against Hindhead Golf Club at Royal Wimbledon Golf Club on Sunday. And finally, the Hicks and Centenary teams begin their campaigns, with Centenary away at Bramley on Sunday, with the home match on the following Thursday and Hicks away at Wentworth on that same day. On behalf of the entire Ladies’ Section, I wish all players the best of luck. Enjoy your rounds and fly the flag for Roehampton Club!
Captain and Pro this week
I partnered with Ricky Pharo in my first Beat the Captain and Pro match on Wednesday. Our opponents were Emma Angood and Fiona Pollard. The weather was crazy, oscillating between bright sunshine and torrential rain and hail. Everyone kept their sense of humour, and the standard of golf was high. The first five holes were halved, and it was nip and tuck after that. We ended up all square after 18, which seemed a fair result. A huge thank you to Emma and Fiona for playing, and for their donations to Regenerate. I do hope other people will be inspired to sign up, as it is a great format and all for a good cause.
Rule reminder
As it has been very windy this past week, I wanted to quickly remind players that if the wind blows your ball, you must play it from its new spot. The exception is if the ball is on the putting green and has already been marked and replaced. In that instance, you must replace it to the original spot.
A common rule that is often misconstrued is the difference between a lost ball (rule 18.2) and a ball that is unplayable (rule 19). A player who hits a wayward shot, may not, contrary to popular belief, declare her ball lost. If she does so, and hits another ball, that second ball is technically a provisional. If she or her partner then see the original ball, she must play it and may not choose to play the provisional. Her pronouncement that the ball is lost carries no weight. If a player does not want to even consider her original ball, she must call it unplayable. That decision is hers alone and does not require any consultation with her partner or opponent. If she does so, her second ball is in play, and contrary to the first scenario, if her first ball is found she s is prohibited from choosing it, even if it looks a better lie than anticipated.
So, what does a player do who has hit a shot into the bad lands? If she is in a serious match or competition, she should probably choose to lay eyes on her ball before making a decision, hitting a provisional ball just in case. If the original ball is truly lost, she carries on with her provisional. If it is found, and she feels the ball is playable, she carries on with that ball. If the lie is impossible, she can then choose to call it unplayable and make use of the three options available to her (two club lengths from where the ball lies, dropping the ball on an imaginary line drawn from a spot behind the ball and the flag, or returning to the spot of the original shot).