THE forecast was for heavy rain and winds but thankfully 'they got it wrong!' so the River Cup Qualifying Round at Ilkley Golf Club Ladies' Section was played in relatively benign conditions.

A medal competition for both divisions, with the first and second in each to play in the final in May.

The vice-captain, Sally Ognall, 87-14-73, returned the best score in Division One, followed by the very consistent Liz Downs, 86-11-75. In Division Two the winner was Jill Wilson, 102-29-73 with Gill Bean 97-22-75 taking second place.

The last of the qualifying Foursomes competitions, the Australian's Spoons, took place on Tuesday, April 18. This is played as a Stableford Foursomes for players 21-40 handicap.

The best 100 pairs in the district qualify for the regional finals to be held at York Golf Club on July 12. The winners Biddy Litten and Sue Holroyd finished with a total of 34 points and four points adrift in second place were Maggie Mitchell and Pat Gladstone.

Congratulations to Ann Newman and Marylyn Brand on their splendid achievement of reaching the semi-finals of the ELGA Northern Foursomes competition at Lancaster Golf Club. They won four matches before being beaten by the eventual winning couple.

Both young ladies then moved on the following week to Lindrick Golf Club for the qualifying rounds of the Yorkshire Championship.

Ann's two rounds of 76 and 79 put her into sixth position of the 16 qualifiers, an excellent performance. In the next round Ann put up a spirited fight as from being three down with four to play she just lost on the final hole.

The Ilkley club looks forward to following the fortunes of these two promising young players during the coming months.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.