The 9th annual Women & Golf Bermuda Trophy took on an international flavour this year with participants from the US, UK and the Republic of Ireland making up the field.
The 9th annual Women & Golf Bermuda Trophy took on an international flavour this year with participants from the US, UK and the Republic of Ireland making up the field of 41 players.
Lisa Walsh from Charlestown, Rhode Island, picked up a copy of Women & Golf magazine in Glasgow whilst on holiday in 2015, "I saw the ad for the Bermuda Trophy, cut it out and stuck it on my fridge as a reminder. When I retired from teaching last year my husband Richard bought me a place on the trip as a surprise." Lisa invited her old college friend Christine McLaughlin from Newtown, Massachusetts to join her adventure.
Anne Whitely from Pannal scored the first-ever event hole-in-one at Port Royal in a practice round, a perfectly struck 6-iron to the downhill 13th hole, and was duly rewarded with a special bottle of Gosling’s Rum. Rachael Paul from The Bristol Golf Club then matched Anne’s feat at Turtle Hill and the club’s Director of Golf, Paul Adams, presented Rachael with a specially minted coin and certificate.
When the first round of the 54-hole Women & Golf Bermuda Trophy got underway, it was Gill O’Donnell, a 14-handicap Brit living in Texas, who set the pace with 34 points, a score that was matched by last year’s runner-up Carole Davidson from The Links, West Runton in Norfolk.
After a day off, the competition resumed with trickier conditions due to the wind and a few showers (very unlike Bermuda!). Texan Gill managed to hang on to her lead with another 34 points and she was joined at the top of the leaderboard by Katie Dove-Medows from Kingsdown who scored 36 points off a 6 handicap, a gross score of 77.
In the final round, Carole Davidson scored 20 points on the front nine to take a commanding lead over her playing partners and managed an equally credible 16 points on a back 9 that is as hard as any in golf - especially when the wind blows! Carole’s score of 102 points was enough to win by 8 points from Gill O’Donnell. Cheryl Power from Kent’s Langley Park made a last minute charge to take third place.
Many congratulations to Carole Davidson on a splendid victory. Carole was born in Singapore, her father was an avid golfer, but she was always too busy studying and working to take the game up. After her father died she eased down her workload as a chartered accountant and started playing golf at The Links where she is now Lady Captain and plays off a 17 handicap. Carole said:
"The greatest thing about the Women & Golf Bermuda Trophy is the friendships that are made every year, the camaraderie is just amazing."
"Everyone supports everyone else and a lot of us stay in touch and get together back home, it’s an amazing atmosphere, I am so thrilled to have won, but everyone here has been a winner in my book."
The tournament was played in two handicap divisions, the Rum Swizzle (higher handicap division) was won by Liz Hewett from Royal Cromer, with Bernie Sheridan from Hornchurch second and Nicola Adkins from Woburn in third place.
The Blind Date pairing, a fourball better ball stableford score over the three days, was won by Bernie Sheridan and Cheryl Power. Saturday’s team event was won by Rachael Paul (The Bristol), Kate Gregory (High Post), Marie Ellis (Frinton) and Margaret Herrity from Lymm.
The Texas Scramble competition was won with a score that involved 8 gross birdies! Lina Hunt (Newbury & Crookham), Kate Gregory (High Post) and Chan Martin (Killarney) were the culprits. At Turtle Hill the team of Anne Whitely and Sue Rutherford (Pannal) partnered by Ann Graves and Nina Nielsen (Woodbridge)won with an amazing 96 points.
The event was once again hosted by PGA professional Christine Langford who was on hand to help players with a few tips before play each day.
"Another wonderful week of fun and competition!"
"Many thanks to the golf course and staff at Port Royal. The fabulous staff at Pompano Beach Club once again looked after us so well. Also, huge thanks to our wonderful sponsors, Chervo, Etiqus, Skechers, Srixon, and Gosling’s for some amazingly generous prizes and the Bermuda Tourist Authority for another wonderful week on the island…it was Bermudaful!"
The 2019 Women & Golf Bermuda Trophy will be played 10-17 November - it will be the event’s 10th anniversary, so don’t miss it!
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