Wiltshire ladies celebrate a century (From Swindon Advertiser)

Wiltshire ladies celebrate a century

7:40am Saturday 13th March 2010 in

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THIS year marks the 100th anniversary of ladies’ county golf in Wiltshire.

Five ladies were present at the first meeting in October 1910 and there were just four clubs involved - West Wilts, Devizes (now North Wilts), Marlborough and Swindon (now Ogbourne Downs).

Today, there are 23 clubs and over 1,500 members. With a number of ongoing initiatives underway to attract even more women and girls into the sport, these numbers look set to increase in the years ahead.

A number of events and special competitions will be taking place during the playing season and the first opportunity to celebrate came at the annual Ladies’ Captains’ lunch held at Marlborough Golf Club. After lunch, each club was presented with a commemorative plate to mark the occasion.

Ladies’ captains from affiliated golf clubs in Wiltshire are pictured above with their centenary plates featuring the county association’s familiar ‘White Horse’ logo.

Meanwhile, Basset Down had a convincing win in their opening match of the 2010 season in the Wessex League.

Playing on their home course, which was in excellent condition despite the adverse weather conditions of the past few weeks, they defeated Whitley Golf Club 5-0.

Pete Bond and Lee Walford took the plaudits as they secured a win on their club debut, winning 2&1.

The other match results were as follows: Paul Sheridan & Pete Edwards won 3&2, Dan Moorman & Jack Brain won 5&3, Dave Warner & Steve Smith won 3&2, Mike Everden & Graham Short won 4&3. The highlight of the day was a hole in one by Dave Warner on the difficult par three fifth hole. Basset Down now look forward to the final of the Winter Foursomes knockout competition where they will play Lafarge Westbury in the final, to be played at the Entry Hill Golf Club in Bath.