Submitted by Amanda Morgan, Ladies’ Captain
A celebration of all ages in this ever-expanding ladies’ section. With over 20 new members joining us at Longcliffe our section has had much to celebrate in 2024 and a few highlights are below:
In November the ladies’ section celebrated the 90th birthday of long-term Longcliffe member Anne Kilby. In our monthly stableford competition we played for the 1934 Anne Kilby Salver which will become an annual fixture. Anne joined Longcliffe in 1979 and became Ladies’ Captain seven years later, when she was the first lady to join the Men’s Captain in the drive-in, so already a ground-breaker. Anne has served on the ladies’ committee for a total of 14 years as well as being President of the County Vets in 2013/14.
If you check out the trophy boards in the clubhouse you will see ‘A. Kilby’ on all of the ladies’ boards and several of the mixed ones, including being Ladies’ Club Champion. Anne has been an inspiration to us all and we were very happy to celebrate this special birthday with her. Head Greenkeeper Michael and his staff set up a temporary tee for us to play Hole 1 as 90 yards, and surprised Anne with a personalised flag for her to keep, shown in the photo.
At the other end of the age spectrum we have Gabby Crowfoot….
Having considered this season a write-off because of GCSE commitments, Gabby has in fact gone from strength to strength. In 2024 Gabby was a semi finalist and Buckingham Trophy winner (for the lowest junior gross) in the Leicestershire and Rutland Ladies County Golf Association Championships. Then she made her first appearance for the county 1st team at England Golf county week. She is the LRLCGA Girls Gross Champion and the EG Midlands North Region Girls Gross Champion and one of the team gross shield winners.
Gabby finished in the top 15 at the EG Girls Champion of Champions and then capped off her astonishing year with a Top 10 finish at the European Junior Open in Spain. Here at Longcliffe we are as excited as she must be to see what 2025 brings!
And finally….
Long term Longcliffe member and former Ladies’ Captain and Club President Suzanne Pretty has just completed her two years as LRLCGA 1st team Captain and was instrumental in forming closer ties with the junior girls and bringing them into the county squad. Suzanne worked hard organising friendly fixtures, range practice evenings and inter-county matches and was rightly proud of her squad’s achievement of 3rd place at County week. To mark her final year as County Captain, Suzanne hosted 102 ladies at Longcliffe in August for an AmAm and rather special afternoon tea at the halfway house. Congratulations on a great captaincy.
