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A winter's day near Whangarei?

Greetings all from the Winterless North once again.

I have included a photo of where I would usually be at this time of year and what I would usually be doing. Seeing is believing right?

Unfortunately back to reality!

 

Whatever happened, Tania, to "The Winterless North" if the first photo is not everyday life there?!

 

I really should stop inviting all and sundry to the North as it seems people are swooping into town en masse and taking out our tournaments.

 May 15 saw our 5A tournament taken out by Gary Chen and John Wang from Auckland with a whopping 67.32 % average. Second were Brian Mace and Tom Jacob with 3^rd going to Ian Berrington and Fuxia Wen. The closest a truly Northland pair came was 9^th and they were Intermediates so very well done to Elizabeth McCabe and Kim Thomas. A tough field to do so well in. And a big thank you to our sponsor for the day. Seen here in the photos with the Prize winners is Jarrod Goodall representing Yovich and Co.

 

Elizabeth McCabe and Kim Thomas               John Wang and Gary Chen                                   Brian Mace and Tom Jacob

            

May 29 was the Paihia/BOI New World tournament. Again another 5A and held in a new venue at the waterfront at Opua. We were all pleased it was a rainy dull day and the doors needed to be closed as the setting was quite spectacular. And again this tournament hosted quite a few visitors. It appears a lot of Bridge players read my articles about the North and have brought holiday homes in the area. (Missed my calling as a Real Estate agent!) I am pleased to say this tournament was won by locals Bill and Suloshna Humphrey with 65.43% with Paula Boughey and Duncan Badley from Auckland coming second and more locals being Peter Hirzel and Roger Toplis coming 3^rd. Yay New World. Great sponsorship which is very much appreciated.

   
 Duncan Badley and Paula Boughey          Peter Hirzel and Roger Toplis

Next was the Towai trophy. This is a “friendly” (I don’t know if you can call a Bridge tournament friendly) match between Kerikeri and Whangarei involving 2 teams from each club of Junior, Intermediate and Open players slogging it out.  I am pleased to say that while the Whangarei Open section had a small loss, the Intermediates and Juniors brought the trophy home with great wins over their Kerikeri counterparts.

June 20 was the 8B in Dargaville. This was on a Sunday which was a novelty for us all. In the Intermediate section a 69.68% afternoon session was more than enough for Helen Brodie and Stewart Love to take it out from Cynthia Johnson and Lee Orton. In the Open Section Patsy Walters and Lee Walters managed to hold Bill and Suloshna Humphrey to second.

                                   Hot at Dargaville

             
 That's Lee and Patsy Walters either side          and in the Intermediate Helen Brodie and
 of the host club's Pam Rope                              Stewart Love again surrounding Pam.

The Whangarei Club carpark resurfacing is coming along well but unfortunately, due to inclement weather, we will not be able to return on July 1 as planned. Watch this space.

Our Northland/Auckland Regional Teams competition in July is so popular we have had to cancel the world famous Whangarei Bridge Club lunch to accommodate extra teams. This event was pretty much full by Mid May, which was a record for us and to accommodate the “late entries” (how late is 2 months out?) we unfortunately have had to compromise to fit everyone in. 

New players...and an old rivalry

Lessons have been well attended with probably the biggest advertising campaign Whangarei has ever undertaken. We have 21 at the lessons Mondays and 16 on Tuesdays. Fingers crossed we manage to retain most of them.

Meanwhile, the score for the Ruddell/Hooson competition stands at 3/2 to Ruddell. (for anyone other than Neil Ruddell and Margaret Hooson, this is a long-standing rivalry between these two players whose main aim when they play is not to win but to beat each other! This is "serioius" competition!)

And finally, an unfortunate hand for South from the Yovich and Co Pairs.

 

 Once South opened 1 and West doubles it was all on. Incredibly out of the 15 tables that played this board only 3 were left in 1x giving E/W 800, 800 and 1100 while the other12 E/W pairs opted to bid 3NT for 400 and 430 with 5 going away for -50.

With West having a rather tenuous spade hold, surely East would play 3NT, thus well protected from a spade attack. While entries to the West hand are a little awkward, sensible play in the minor suits should see East come to at least 9 tricks. Meanwhile, the vulnerability and North's lack of real honour cards makes 1x a horrible experience for the South players after A lead and a club continuation.

 

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