The Veterans' Pairs for the Margaret Balch Cup was held at Dunholme on Sunday 23rd June. A field of 14 pairs played a Hesitation Mitchell movement of 9 x 3 board rounds. In first place overall and clear winners were Alison & Andrew Howarth. Well Done! Runners up, Maureen Parsons & Keith Stewart  2nd and Mark Wardell & Jacqueline Pfister 3rd. A great fun afternoon of bridge enjoyed by all.

County Knockout Teams - Lincoln Gold Plate 2024
Many congratulations go to the Boston Stumpers team of Richard Tupper, Peter Sharman, Janet Sharman and Lesley Parker for their success in the Lincoln Gold Plate. The team were victorious over opponents Forlorn Hope in the final, and will be presented with the Barbara Maplethorpe Trophy at the AGM. My thanks to all of the teams that took part in the Knock-out teams, and well done to all for making the events such a great success overall. Mark Wardell

The Swiss Pairs for the Gilbert Fry Memorial Cup was held at Dunholme VH on Sunday 19th May. Fourteen pairs had entered and played six 5-board rounds. Congratulations to overall winners Alison & Andrew Howarth, closely followed by Ed Harris & Kiat Huang.  A smoothly run event enjoyed by all.

A team from Louth Duplicate Bridge Club represented Lincolnshire in the regional finals of the Garden Cities held in Stamford on the 11th May 2024.  The players involved were Rodney Mitchell, Glyn Jackson, Kiat Huang, Mike Waters, Mark Wardell, Jackie Pfister, Mary Jo Mangion and Janice Troughton.   The team played 9 matches, each against another county, winning four of them.  A very pleasing result, and a great day out! Mark Wardell. 

Results can be seen here 

This is the county's premier knockout competition for teams of four. The final was played on 29th April 2024 between the Rueful Rabbits and Alford. The match was extremely close throughout: Alford eventually managed to win by just 1 imp, with the result in doubt until the last few cards of the last board. Congratulations to both teams.   The Lincoln Gold Bowl will be presented to the Alford team of Jackie Pfister, Mark Wardell, Aaron Hutton and Kiat Huang.  They also qualify to represent the county in the national finals, playing for the Pachabo Cup.

The 9-High Pairs was held at Dunholme on Sunday 28th April. Ten pairs had entered but sadly two pairs had to withdraw before the start. The remaining eight pairs played 28 boards in a full Howell movement. The hands were played out in a relaxed atmosphere.  Tea, coffee, biscuits and cake were enjoyed during the interval.  Our congratulations to Sally Hippisley & Louise Mitcham, who came out top for the second year.  A pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon. 

The Mixed Pairs was held at Dunholme VH on Sunday 14th April. Seventeen pairs had entered and played a 9 table 3/4 Howell of 28 boards. Congratulations to overall winners of the Hannam Challenge Cup, Nick Hunter & Ruby Schnalke, followed by Mark Wardell & Jacqueline Pfister and Maurice Lynn & Jennifer Knowler. A smoothly run event enjoyed by all.

The Third County SIM Pairs of the 23/24 season took place on Monday 25th March. Five affiliated clubs provided a total of 67 pairs of all ranks and grades. A very successful result, with the honours going to Ethel (Chris) Taylor & Catherine Caldow from Scunthorpe BC, closely followed by Chris Heames & Ian Clarke from Spalding DBC and Rodney Mitchell & Glyn Jackson from Louth DBC. (Sadly, Heighington BC used the wrong board set and cannot be included).

The annual County Championship Teams event was held on Sunday 17th March.  Eight teams participated in the qualifying event for the D & A Brown Trophy. The field was then split with the top four teams competing in the Championship Teams Final for the Dutton Challenge Cup, and the four lower ranking teams competing in the Championship Teams Consolation for the Turner Brumpton trophy.  An enjoyable day was had by all. Congratulations to the various winners, who were as follows:

Championship Teams Final: Team Heighington A with Mo Parsons, Debbie Burton, Nick Hunter & Ruby Schnalke
Championship Teams Consolation: Team Ruff Diamond with Bill Crymble, Cos Corry, Colin Ryan & David Minnis
Championship Teams Qualifier: Team Louth with Mark Wardell, Jackie Pfister, Ed Harris & Kiat Huang
 

The Mens's & Ladies' Pairs was held at Dunholme on Sunday 3rd March. A field of 6 Ladies' and 8 Men's pairs were combined to play a single session comprising a 3/4 Howell movement of 11 x 3 board rounds. In first place overall and clear Men's winners of the Vincent Cup were Alan Millington & Graham Marshall. In third place overall the Ladies' winners of the Sydney Vincent Cup were Mo Parsons & Debbie Burton. Well Done! Thanks to all present for providing a great afternoon of bridge enjoyed by all.

The annual County Championship Pairs event was run on Sunday 18th February.  A healthy turnout of 12 tables participated in the qualifying event, for the Ernest Harrison Trophy. The top 10 pairs then competed in the Championship Pairs Final for the Arthur Wilson trophy, awarded to the overall winners. The remainder of the field played in the Championship Pairs Consolation Final, for the Bell trophy. An enjoyable day was had by all. We did experience a problem with the scoring system, and many thanks to all the players for their patience and understanding while we attempted to resolve the problem. Apologies for the fact that the results were a little delayed. Many thanks to Roy for his tremendous hard work at processing the results as quickly as he did. Congratulations to the various winners, who were as follows:

Arthur Wilson Trophy (for the Championship Pairs final):      Mo Parsons and Debbie Burton
Bell Trophy (for the Championship Pairs Consolation final):  Aaron Hutton and Kiat Huang
Ernest Harrison Trophy (for the qualifier):                              Rodney Mitchell and Mike Waters (beat Alison and Andrew Howarth on a split tie)
Margaret Briggs Trophy (highest pair both below Master):    Jeremy Wong and Helen Clapham
Lucy Osborne Trophy (highest senior pair):                           Alison & Andrew Howarth

Sadly, one of our pairs had to withdraw at the last minute due to being unwell, and we were unable to raise a substitute. The remaining nine pairs participated in the "all-play-all" movement, playing 32 boards. All ran smoothly and it was an enjoyable afternoon of bridge for those taking part. The honours go to Rob Fabian & Brian Chamberlain, closely followed by Roy Brixton & Brigid Hughes and Maurice Lynn & John Hill. The top three pairs are eligible to take part in the Corwen Trophy next June. 

We had a good turnout of 24 pairs for the Bainton Semi-Final playing a skip Mitchell of 11 x 3-board rounds. Despite a slight early hiccough as a result of a necessary movement change the event ran quite smoothly and was enjoyed by all. The honours go to Louise Mitcham & Sally Hippisley from Boston BC, closely followed by Anthony & Jean Lyndon-Smith from Heighington BC. Well Done! The top 10 pairs go on to the Final, which will be an "all-play-all" movement of 36 boards and for which all pairs will receive green Masterpoints.  

The Charles Heward Trophy (Restricted Teams of Four) was held at Dunholme VH on Sunday 3rd December. Four teams had entered, two from Scunthorpe BC, one from City of Lincoln BC and one from Louth DBC.  All pairs played 24 boards from the 32 in play in a Stagger movement. Congratulations go to the winning Scunthorpe 1 team of Louise Lewis, John Mainwaring, Paul Readhead & Pam Readhead.  The restricted teams consisted of a team captain of any Masterpoint rank, and three players of rank below Master (less than 5,000 points). It was very encouraging to see many of our lower ranking players making use of the County facilities. Everything ran smoothly despite the atrocious weather and everyone had a very relaxed and enjoyable afternoon of bridge.

Seven teams of eight from five affiliated clubs participated in this event on Sunday 12th November. Each team was split into two sections and the separate sections played identical American Whist movements of 6 x 5 board rounds. The results were combined to provide the overall winner. Congratulations go to the Louth team of Janice Troughton & Mary Jo Mangion, Edward Harris & Kiat Huang, Rodney Mitchell & Glyn Jackson, Mark Wardell & Jacqueline Pfister, having a VP score 93, well ahead of runner up City Sharks 74. Everyone had a very enjoyable afternoon of teams of 8 bridge. The winning club (Louth) is eligible to enter the Regional Finals at Stamford or Bradford (F2F) on 11th May 2024. They will represent their club and the County. Details can be found HERE

The Random Seeded Pairs (Teams event) was held at Dunholme VH on Sunday 29th October. Fourteen pairs had entered and so we were able to make up 7 teams by randomly selecting the tables occupied by the seeded and unseeded pairs. All pairs played 30 of the 35 boards in play in an American Whist single line movement. Congratulations to the North/South seeded pair Mark Wardell & Jackie Pfister and the East/West unseeded pair Sue Barraclough & Phillip Harland who won very convincingly.  Everything ran smoothly and it seems that everyone had a very enjoyable afternoon of bridge.

We only managed to set seven tables for this National heat, but it was still an enjoyable afternoon of bridge for the attendees. Congratulations to Mark and Jackie for their prowess in coming top in our heat and seventh overall in the handicap nationally.

Twenty Eight members attended the Annual General Meeting of the Association and made up seven tables for "free to enter" pairs starting  at about 3pm. A simple standard Mitchell movement of seven x three board rounds was set. The honours go to Mark Wardell & Aaron Hutton, closely followed by Mike Llewellyn & Jackie Pfister. A fun afternoon of bridge made a fine ending to this annual event.