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Strathalbyn Ladies Results 14/10/2026 Mandi Vardon and Shelley Handke win the Pinehurst competition. In great golfing weather, 16 ladies headed out on Wednesday 14th October to play a Pinehurst competition. This involves playing in teams of two and both driving from the tee. The players play their partners tee shot and then play alternate shots from the best second shot. Sounds complicated but it all works out in the end. Mandi Vardon and Shelley played the best finishing with a 70.25 nett. Next in line were Nikki Alves and Carol Pelle with 74.87. Unbelievably there were two groups who, once their handicap had been subtracted from their gross scores, finished on the same score. Visitor Karen Pym and Claire Methven and Kerrie Edwards and Gill Keane finished with 76.25. Penny Geue and Ann Semple were next with 78.87, followed by Marie Kingsbury and Pauline Walkom on 83.5. Jo Pickhaver and Sue Pryor scored 85.5 and Jenny Drury and Jayne Dunn completed their round with 88.87. NTP on the 17th hole with her second shot was Shelley while Jayne had a gobbler on the 3rd hole. The combination of Nikki and Carol had a birdie on the 14th hole. The ladies welcomed visitor Karen Pym who knows Claire and Jayne. Mums and joeys were out during the first 9 holes and there are now 3 groups of ducklings. There are 2 lots of 4 young ones and the larger group of 16 still moving around the course, nibbling here and there. Stories from the day include the group including Mandi, Shelley, Nikki and Carol having fun on the 16th hole. Carol, Shelley and Mandi all hit the big gum in the middle of the fairway with their second shots while Nikki hit the fence near the road but bounced back into the rough. No-one was told of the outcome from the other three. Sue Pryor was very proud. She hit over the creek on both the 6th and 15th holes – the first time for a while. Kerrie had to manufacture a tricky shot after being left under a tree near the dam edge. No worries for her - she got out easily. There were shots that went in the drain and out of the drain on the 3rd, 12th, 14th for some groups. However, Jenny had the best story regarding her playing partner, Jayne. On the 10th hole, near the top of the hill due to the lovely weather, the fairway drying and a brake that was not engaged, Jayne’s buggy took off. This is not a battery buggy, this one is free-wheeling. Both Jenny and Jayne tried running after it but to no avail. Jayne retrieved her buggy from the drain at the bottom of the hill in amongst the trees on the right. No water luckily for her!! To finish the day, the ladies celebrated Marie’s birthday with delicious muffins made by Jayne. Happy Birthday Marie!! ‘More than a billion golf balls are manufactured annually, and most end up lost!! Carl Hiaasen - American journalist. 7/10/2026 Ann Semple won Medals of Medals. On Wednesday 7th October, the final of the Monthly Medals competition was played. Unfortunately, two of the ladies had injured themselves during the week and were unable to compete in the final. This left Ann Semple and Gill Keane playing their Stroke round to find the winner. Ann finished with a 75 nett to win the competition from Gill Keane who completed her round with 79 nett. Congratulations, Ann, your year of golf has certainly been a great one. The 10 other ladies also played a Stroke round with a Putting competition thrown in for good measure. The winner here was Kerrie Edwards with 71 nett. Runner-up was Nikki Alves 73 ahead of Mel Johnson who also finished with 73 nett. Next came Claire Methven and Penny Geue both scoring 74, Jenny Drury and Jayne Dunn both on 80, Jo Pickhaver 81, Pauline Walkom 83 and Carol Pelle finished with 87 nett. The Putting competition resulted in a win for two ladies who scored 30 putts. Well done to Kerrie and Jenny. Nikki and Penny had 31, Pauline and Mel had 33, Claire, Ann and Jo P. had 34, Jayne 35, Carol 37 and Gill finished with 41 putts. NTP winner with her drive on the 9th was Carol Pelle. Kerrie had a birdie on the 8th. Nikki had a birdie/ gobbler on the 14th hole from 82 metres out. It was great to see the ball suddenly disappear as it dropped into the hole. Nikki also scored another gobbler on the 17th hole while Claire scored a gobbler on the 16th hole. A few stories from the day include Jenny hitting into the drain on the right on the 4th hole. Even with some water in the drain, Jenny bravely decided to hit out of it. Of course, water splashed everywhere and she dried off with a towel from Ann who was playing on the next hole. Where did her ball go, you ask? Oh, it only went a little further along the drain. Second shot got it out. On the 7th hole, Jo was lucky to finish in the rough at the top edge of the dam and was able to hit the ball cleanly to the green, while Nikki ended up in the dam and needed a drop before she could hit her ball. Carol had trouble with the dam. She hit into it twice on the same hole. Better luck next time, Carol. The ducklings have grown much bigger in the last week, and Jo saw them all flying with their parents on Thursday when she was out at the golf course. No photo of the flight but one when they were feeding on the ground. ‘You drive for show and putt for dough’   Bobby Locke 1917-1987 – South African golfer widely considered one of the greatest putters in golf history. 30/9/2026 Mandi Vardon wins Stableford off the blue tees. Mandi Vardon showed the way on Wednesday 30th September by winning the Stableford competition from the men’s blue tees with 38 points. Of the other 10 ladies who played 18 holes, Kerrie Edwards played the best. She had 35 points, followed Ann Semple with 31. Three ladies had 30 points, and they were Pauline Walkom, Cara Eastwood and Jenny Drury. Gill Keane finished with 29, Jo Pickhaver and Marie Kingsbury both scored 24 and Sue Pryor had 21 points. Maureen Need and Nikki Alves played 9 holes with Maureen finishing with 19 and Nikki 14. NTP with her second shot on the 8th hole was Mandi and this week there were no birdies or gobblers. It was a day for losing and finding golf balls. Marie lost 2 and she also had fun with trees. Jo P lost a ball in the dam both times round but found 2 balls to replace them. Mandi had fun at the dam edge, but she was able to retrieve her ball. One group saw a stumpy on the fairway and the ducks were found once again. Still 16 and growing quite big now, white flight feathers sighted. Kangaroos were seen doing the sensible thing, lying in the shade on some of the tee blocks while the silly humans played golf in the warm and humid weather. ‘Golf is a puzzle without an answer. I’ve played golf for 40 years and I still haven’t the slightest idea how to play.’  Gary Player 23/9/2026 Ann Semple blitzes the field with 64 nett. Wednesday 23rd September dawned with the first warm day the ladies needed to deal with. Definitely t-shirt weather for some. The course was in great condition but running fast so directions on the fairways needed to be precise. Of the 13 ladies out to play a range of competitions including Stroke, Ann Semple tamed the course the best with a 64 nett. This comes on the back of her win in the ‘B’ grade championship. Down came her handicap!! Carol Pelle came next with 71, followed by Jo Pickhaver with 72. Kerrie Edwards finished with 74 and three ladies all scored 75 – Claire Methven, Tonya Merritt and Penny Geue. Mandi Vardon and Jayne Dunn both scored 79 and another three ladies finished with 80. This time it was Cara Eastwood, Di Krutli and Marie Kingsbury. Shelley Handke had 87 to finish her round. The ladies played for the Monthly Medal which Ann won with her excellent score. The other competitions included Mc Bain and Putting. The winner of the Putting comp for this week were 3 ladies who all finished with 26 putts. Well done to Tonya, Ann and Mandi. Kerrie had 27, Jo P 29, Carol 30, Di 31, Penny, Marie and Claire 34, Shelley 36, Jayne 38 and Cara 43. NTP winner this week with her second shot on the 17th hole was Mandi and she also had a birdie on the 12th and a gobbler on the 14th. Others to score birdies were Ann on the 12th and Kerrie on the 1st and 9th. Tonya had a gobbler on the 8th and Kerrie’s birdie on the 1st was due to gobbler as well. The warm weather brought the first sighting of a brown snake slithering across the 14th fairway. A few kangaroos were seen lazing in the shadows. The 16 ducklings had grown in the last week, and a new family of 4 tiny ducklings were seen snoozing in the 16th rough in the shadows of the large tree near the tee. In the group of Mandi, Carol and Jo P, the 6th and 15th posed problems for some. Mandi hit her drive skywards on the 6th and it landed to the right in the middle of an olive tree before the creek. As it couldn’t be found, Mandi took a drop and proceeded towards the hole with a few more shots than she wanted. On the 7th hole, a lovely drive by Mandi, unfortunately, to the right, hit a tree never to be seen again. Another lost ball!! Her next shot went towards the dam and rolled in for another shot. She was very happy to finish the hole. On the 15th hole, it was Carol’s turn. She found the same olive tree that Mandi found on the first nine. Lost ball. She hit a provisional and decided to take that ball. Jo P was just thankful, that, for once her clubs did the correct thing and got her ball to the hole both times without any trouble. It was great to hear that some groups were happy with their round. Claire evidently had some very good drives. Keep it going, Claire. It turned out to be a beautiful day at the Victor Harbor Golf Course on Friday 25th September. The competition for their Open Day was a 4 Ball better ball which involves taking the best score on each hole working as a team of two. Kerrie Edwards and Di Krutli represented Strathalbyn and their playing partners were Jayne Dawson and Sharon Daly from Clare. No ball down or raffle prizes but the 4 gals had a lovely time together with some great golf shots in the mix. All enjoyed the nature that had a joyous Spring feel and some steep climbs meant they had a good workout too. 20/9/2026 Champions decided. Congratulations to Mandi Vardon and Ann Semple. On Sunday 20th September, the finals of the Championships were played out at the Strathalbyn Golf course. The ladies had very pleasant weather with a tricky wind at times. The course was good with plenty of run that the ladies had to contend with. Mandi Vardon played Mel Johnson in the ‘A’ Grade final. Mandi won 6/5. Ann Semple and Cara Eastwood played in the ‘B’ grade final. Ann won that contest 6/4. Congratulations to all four and an extra well done to Mandi and Ann.  Both groups said they had good, friendly games and each had chances to win holes. 16/9/2026 Cara, Mel and Carol win Stableford Shambles competition. On Wednesday 16th September, 12 ladies played a team of 3 competition called ‘Stableford Shambles’. This involved all ladies driving each hole. The best drive was taken, and each played their individual game to complete the hole. Their Stableford points were recorded for each hole. At the end of the round, the best two Stableford scores were added to finalise the score that team had. Congratulations to the team of Cara Eastwood, Mel Johnson and Carol Pelle who finished with 84 points. Next came Mandi Vardon, Di Krutli and Claire Methven with 81. In third place were Kerrie Edwards, Jo Pickhaver and Shelley Handke with 67 and the team of Ann Semple, Maureen Need and Marie Kingsbury complete their round with 60 points. There were some unreal individual scores with Carol 49, Di 41, Mandi and Claire 40. Next came Cara with 35, Shelley 34, Ann and Jo P. 33, Kerrie 32, Mel, Maureen and Marie 27 points. Of course, these scores did not contribute to the ladies’ handicap scores as they were a mixture of players drives from the tee. NTP winner was Mel Johnson with a great drive on the 9th hole. Mandi scored a birdie on the 8th and Jo P. had one on the 15th. Shelley scored a gobbler on the 13th. Sad stories from the day include Mel hitting into the dam saying bye to that ball, Ann lost her ball on the dam edge as she couldn’t find it at all. On the 15th hole, these ladies in the same team had some trouble. Ann hit her drive to the trees and couldn’t find it. Marie hit her drive into the creek, as did Maureen. Then Marie hit her ball into the creek again from her drop. Time to abandon the hole!!!! It took a while to find the ducklings but there they were near the 2nd/10th tee block. They had grown quite a lot and there were still 16. Mum and Dad have looked after them well and in the photo this week, Mum stands guard on a tree stump as her family rests or looks for something to eat. Champions decided. Article and photo/s to come on Monday morning. 9/9/2026 Championship finalists decided. On Wednesday 9th September, the Ladies Championship Semifinals were played. In ‘A’ Grade, Mandi Vardon played Jo Pickhaver and won 4/2 and Mel Johnson played Di Krutli and Mel won with the same score, 4/2. Congratulations to Mandi and Mel for the final in couple of weeks’ time. In ‘B’ Grade, Cara Eastwood played Pauline Walkom and Cara won 9/7. Ann Semple played Jayne Dunn and won 6/4. Well done to Cara and Ann and all the best for your final on 20th September. There were only 4 ladies who played the Stableford round. Tonya Merritt won with 31 points. Not far behind was Carol Pelle with 30. Kerrie Edwards finished with 24 points and Shelley Handke scored 14 points. NTP winner with her second shot on the 17th was Kerrie. Tonya had a gobbler on the 7th and Mandi had one on the 12th hole. Stories from the day include that Mandi found the Hobbit Hollow on the 14th hole with an uncharacteristic shot from her. It gave Jo another hole to play. The trees were Cara’s friend to start with, but on the 9th, she hit a twiggy branch out of the rough that sent her ball in another direction away from the green!!  Jayne found the dam on the 7th but couldn’t find her ball. She also found the dam on the 16th but was a little lucky. She found her first ball, but not the second. Kerrie hit a galah, but it was ok. For those following the duckling story, there are still 16 and they are very mobile, walking from the 6th hole all the way to the 1st hole. Quite a trek for little duckling legs. The ladies celebrated Kerrie’s birthday with delicious raspberry muffins made by Jayne. A quote by Mark Calcavecchia – ‘Hit it hard. It will land somewhere.’ 2/9/ 2026 Nikki Alves wins with 70 Two competitions were held on Wednesday 2nd September with Nikki Alves winning the Stroke comp with a wonderful 70 nett. Not too far behind was Ann Semple with a very credible 71. Claire Methven followed with 79, Jayne Dunn 82, Mandi Vardon and Pauline Walkom 83, Shelley Handke 84, Mel Johnson 85 and Cara Eastwood finished with 90. Only 10 ladies were out to play the Stroke round with a few ladies absent with appointments or other activities. The second competition on the day was one of the quarter finals of the ‘A’ Grade Championships. Jo Pickhaver and Jenny Drury played in a tight tussle that took them to the 19th hole which Jo won giving her the win 1 up. It was a great game with each one leading at various stages through the game. The other finals will be played before next week if needed. Some players have byes into the next round. NTP winner was Ann Semple with a great drive on the 9th hole. Nikki had a birdie/gobbler on the 16thhole, Shelley had a birdie on the 9th hole and Jenny had a gobbler on the 15th hole. Kangaroos watched the ladies at the 5th/14th green by lazing under the trees in the shelter they provided. There are still 16 growing ducklings  around the same green. Mum and Dad are very protective. Cara found the big gum on the 7th hole but luckily the hit was to the left rather than into the dam. A magpie swooped Nikki on the 8th, Cara helped fend it away but then saw a wattle bird line up the magpie. Cara and Jo both found the ditch on the 12th but were able to hit out. Golf can be interesting with a few obstacles on the way round!! Ladies from the club are representing Strathalbyn at a variety of Open Days in the district. Friday, 29th August, Cara, Ann and Mel went to Oakbank where Cara won the longest drive and Mel won a lucky door prize. Ann played with the Oakbank Captain, Juliette and had a 12 on one par 3. Friday,4th September, Nikki, Eileen Alves, Mel, Ann, Dawne Thomas and former member Charmaine Aplin played at Murray Bridge. It was wet, cold and windy and the golf proved ordinary. The company, however, was great and helped make the day. Eileen and Mel both won raffle prizes. At both Open days, the ladies enjoyed a very delicious lunch which took away the disappointment of the golf with lots of yummy calories to get them back to Strath. Late mail told me that Nikki had a problem with disappearing balls. One went down a drain outlet, several got drowned with the count at 6 lost by the end of the round!! A quote from American Professional golfer, Walter Hagen 1892-1969 ‘Never hurry, never worry, and always remember to smell the flowers along the way.’ 26/8/2026 Claire Methven tamed the course with +3. On Wednesday 26th August, 12 ladies played a Par competition, however 2 ladies forgot to sign their cards as they had to rush off to an appointment so unfortunately their scores could not count. After more recent rain, the course played very heavy with little to no run, and in places casual water lay on the fairways. On the 7th hole, Ann bogged her cart and needed help from her playing partner, Carol to push it out. However, with no wind or rain, Claire Methven found the course to her liking. She finished the day with a fantastic +3. Not too far behind was Mandi Vardon with +1, while the other ladies finished in the negative. Next came Carol Pelle and Kerrie Edwards with -4, Jayne Dunn -5, Tonya Merritt -8 and Ann Semple -11. Three ladies finished on -12, and they were Cara Eastwood, Pauline Walkom and Jo Pickhaver. Ann Semple had an early second shot on the 17th hole and was very surprised to see that the marker still had her name on it at the end of the round. Congratulations, Ann.   The highlight of the day for Mandi and Jo P was seeing and hearing 4 kookaburras in the trees on the 15th hole. A couple of ladies were swooped on the 8th hole by a magpie with a nest nearby. The ducklings were spotted again but only 16 could be counted this week. Hopefully they all stay safe with Mum and Dad. Cara found the drain on the 14th, Ann found the dam (only once this week), but Pauline found the creek twice. The story of the day goes to Jo P. As she went to check the casual water drop area for Mandi, knocked her buggy control. Off it went towards the dam. Jo made a mad dash to try and save it from going into the dam!! No luck, but with the wheels spinning and Jo up to her waist in the dam pushing and Mandi pulling they eventually got it out of the water. That just finished a sad day for Jo!! She did finish the round pushing the buggy without the battery. A good idea is to face your buggy towards the fence on the 7th/16th, especially when your buggy has a tendency to veer to the right!! Jo has spent the next two days drying everything out and is ever hopeful that by next Wednesday her buggy will work properly!! What is the number one golf rule?   Take your purse, keys and mobile phone out of your bag/buggy before it finds itself in the dam, pond, water!! 19/8/2026 Nikki Alves and Mandi Vardon Runaway Winners. On Wednesday 19th August, the ladies played a competition called Russian Stableford. In teams of 2, they played an individual Stableford as well as multiplying the points score to get the team score. The ladies played off the men’s blue tees which made life interesting for some. No rain but quite windy at times and the course played long with not a lot of run. Nikki Alves and Mandi Vardon teamed extremely well together to finish with 66 points to well and truly win the Russian Stableford competition. Runner-ups were Mel Johnson and Carol Pelle with 31 points. Next came Jenny Drury and Ann Semple who tied with Pauline Walkom and Penny Geue on 30, Di Krutli and Sue Pryor tied with Kerrie Edwards and Marie Kingsbury and they each scored 24. Jayne Dunn and Jo Pickhaver finished with 18 and Cara Eastwood and Sue Phillips completed the day with 15 points. In the individual Stableford competition, Mandi scored 36 points, Nikki 32, Carol 29, Penny 28, Ann 26, Di 25, Kerrie 23, Pauline 22, Mel and Jo P. 21, Jenny 20, Marie 19, Sue Pr. 17, Cara 16, Jayne 14, Sue Ph. 12. Penny scored the NTP on the 9th hole with a great drive while Jayne scored the one on the 17th hole with her second shot. It was good to meet Nikki’s mum, Eileen straight off the plane from England. Well done to walk 9 holes!! Some interesting stories today included drama at the dam with three ladies drowning a ball each – Sue Ph. Marie and Nikki. The creek also came into contention claiming Di, Marie, Sue Ph. and Pauline. Carol had 4 shots before she reached the creek. Not a good hole for her. Pauline had a remote ball on the 7th hole. From the men’s tee, it ran down the hill, over the bridge and ended up on the other side of the ditch for her to have an easier second shot than she was expecting!! Cara and Sue Ph. played the 2nd and 11th incorrectly, realised their mistake, and went back to play them correctly. Nature was at its best as some of the ladies saw 18 ducklings with mum and dad on the 5/14th hole. The ladies celebrated Carol’s birthday with a delicious cake made by Sue Ph . On August 4th to 8th, Mandi Vardon represented the Strathalbyn club at the Port Augusta Golf Classic. She had a great 4 days scoring a range of prizes, on Wednesday NTP – a box of drinking Chocolate, on Thursday 2nd in Gross – a wall clock, on Saturday 2nd in the Ambrose with Graeme Noble – indoor garden. However, the best prize was winning the competition over the whole week. If you chipped in on the 18th green, there was a $100 prize. On the last day, Mandi was off the green, had a good downhill left to right, 8 metres, and she made it. Turns out she was the only one so the $500 was hers. What does it take to play golf?  A lot of balls!!!!