Well, the last match of the season finally arrived, Norfolk Men’s Past Captains. The team increased by two pairs met at Swaffham with only a slight anxiety that Iet Cuppens would arrive on time after her early visit to the hairdressers! All was well; with an impressive coiffure, Iet made it. It turned out to be a splendidly sunny day…..how fortunate we have been with the weather for our matches. We play a different format for this match – 3/4 difference and Myhill scoring – and that caused some initial confusion over shot allowances, especially as we were lucky in ‘persuading’ the men to play off the whites! Once underway, we had some very close matches but a special mention should be made of Eppie Zandvoort and Pat Bland who were on fire! Sadly we lost the match but certainly gave them a fright! We were warmly welcomed by Swaffham and enjoyed an excellent meal. Colours were awarded to Sadie Lines and Eppie Zandvoort. My thanks to all the team for their good humour and good golf!

I arrived at Dunston Hall very early to make sure all was in place for our match with Lincs to be met by virtually the whole of the Lincs team! This seemed more than a bit keen until they explained some had taken advantage of good offers for overnight stays and had played the course the previous day. Why weren’t they still enjoying the leisurely start this stay had afforded them? All became clear – they were expecting to tee off at 11.00….Norfolk Vets were assembling at 11.30 for a 12.00 start! As the lone member of the Norfolk team, I held the fort until reinforcements arrived and, after photographs, the match began in the usual good humour. The weather held, the course (unusually quiet) was looking splendid and all matches were played competitively but in friendship. After a good meal, the result was announced by the Lincs Captain – another win for the Norfolk Vets! A really excellent result….my thanks to all the team and to our lone supporter, photographer and sweetie provider, President Barbara Warren.

A team slightly amended from the original selection (thanks to Pat Bland who stepped in at short notice) assembled at Girton ready to take on Cambs & Hunts. There were some nervous glances at the sky as thunder and heavy showers were forecast but somehow we managed to miss all the showers and only had very distant thunder. Sadly our winning run came to an end with Cambs & Hunts fielding a very strong team…..some much lower handicaps than ours…..not so good when you’re playing off scratch. However, the matches were played in the usual good humour, some very good golf and three close matches. After an excellent meal and lots of laughter, we made our way back to a much soggier Norfolk! Sue said she’s not making excuses but she and Jill were playing a low handicap player, on form and very familiar with the course!!

Fresh from a well-deserved win against Suffolk, the team assembled at a very sunny Royal Norwich to take on a Bedfordshire team. The course was looking lovely and not too much traffic to enable easy road crossing! In the first match out, the Beds player almost had a hole in one….was this a sign of things to come? Norfolk Vets rallied and it resulted in some very close, hard-fought matches. Some mild banter over the score in the last match prolonged the final result but…phew…another win! Many thanks to the team and to Royal Norwich for welcoming us and providing a tasty meal.