Bridge Club News

If you missed Joan's workshop on Modern Competitive Bidding on Saturday 9 September, then you missed out. It was excellent and there was so much chatter afterwards with people saying how much they had enjoyed it and how much they had learnt.

Her morning workshop on “Modern Competitive Bidding” was well attended even though it clashed with compulsory voting for council elections. Those members present certainly got value for their $12 as well as justification for giving up a valuable Saturday morning. I spoke to several attendees and they were unanimous in saying it was very worthwhile.

Joan is a gifted teacher in bridge – no wonder she is the ABF Teaching Coordinator – as she can communicate to all levels of players. Her logical explanations, her empathy with the attendees, her anecdotes and quotes, reinforces the principles she is teaching. You can see a you-tube video version of her presentation.

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The Charity Day on Monday 4 September was well attended across the full range of members. Check the full results on our website. The restricted section winners, Sue Davies, Terry Mackin, Gil Elliot and Terry Herfort each took home a bottle of wine. Here are first hand reports first from Terry Herfort and secondly from Marg Cliffe:

Terry: "I was keen to attend my second charity day, as I so much enjoyed my first. Well, Monday certainly lived up to my expectation and in fact succeeded my expectations.

Why? Charity Day is a day of lots of talking, friendship, congeniality, bonhomie and bridge. And all for a good cause. The fact that the proceeds of the day were going to two honourable local charities made it worthwhile.

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Put a note in your diary for next Saturday, 9th September at 9.30 until 11.30. Joan Butts will be with us at Peninsula holding a workshop on: Modern competitive bidding.

The general trend in today's game is to be more aggressive, especially in competitive auctions. Put pressure on the opponents by getting in their way. Everyone plays a role: opener, responder, intervener and the advancer. This workshop will show you when to bid a lot and when not to. Check the event details and flier.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Anita and Jo, along with Terry and I, had fun on a bridge holiday in Thailand. We played among our group of 24 but also played in local bridge clubs. The venues were wildly diverse, from a grand and opulent Country Club to a hot and dingy room above a bar, making our own club at Peninsula seem wonderful.

The players were equally diverse, mainly expatriates and mainly men. Our own accommodations were splendid, the pick being this lovely villa on a cliff overlooking the sea at Phuket.

Anita and Jo are pictured with Greg Eustace and Gaye Allen who hosted the holiday, as well as Jenny from a Newcastle club. Back to earth now!

A congress level bridge player, who has lost the use of her legs, is looking for some good bridge competition. She is located in an aged care facility on the lower northern beaches and is comfortable with playing bridge online at Bridge Base Online.

We are looking for one or both of the following:

• A small number of bridge players who would be able to trial playing face to face with her at her (lovely) facility every now and again, and/or
• One or two bridge players who are happy to trial being her online partner on BBO.

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Fourteen pairs fought for the 2017 Charlie Mitchell Memorial Shield on Saturday 19 August. This one session event is held in memory of Charlie Mitchell who died in 2002. The Shield, donated by Patricia and Ian Giles, describes Charles as "Honorary Life Member, Past President - five years, Past Chief Director, a bridge player extraordinaire and a gentleman."

In 2017 Vivien Eldridge and David Farmer prevailed ahead of Jutta Gradwell and Sue Riley and Anne Small and Hans van Weeren.  

More than 20 Peninsula players journeyed to Coffs Harbour in early August to challenge bridge players from across Australia in the 2017 Coffs Coast Gold Congress. The event again filled very quickly and those fortunate to attend experienced superb weather, a great venue, a well-organised event, and some tough bridge.

Peninsula's success was far more solid in the restricted categories than in the open fields but we managed to appear in the prize lists in most categories. You can check the full results - on the events results cover page you will notice Peter Clarke and Hans van Weeren are featured as the best pair below 300MP in the Swiss Pairs event.

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The NSW State Individual tournament was held on Saturday, August 5, 2017 at the NSWBA premises in Sydney.  And our very own Cath Whiddon was the winner!  Well done Cath.

This was a fun day consisting of 2 sessions and open to players of all levels.  Partners were not needed as you play with all entrants during the day;  and only simple systems are allowed.