The Swiss Pairs for the Gilbert Fry Memorial Cup was held at Dunholme VH on Sunday 21st May. Eighteen pairs had entered and played six 5-board rounds. Congratulations to overall winners Rodney Mitchell & Andrew King, very closely followed by Nick Hunter & Ruby Schnalke.  A smoothly run event enjoyed by all.  A first for the County scoring system which worked faultlessly.

The 9-High Pairs was held at Dunholme on Sunday 14th May. Nine pairs had entered and played 24 boards in a full Howell movement. The event started on time after some jiggling around to get the BridgeMate scoring system in working order.  Some of the participants were new operators but picked it up in no time.  The hands were played out in a relaxed atmosphere.  Tea, coffee, biscuits and cake were enjoyed during the interval.  At the end the winners, Sally Hippisley & Louise Mitcham, were suitably impressed with their victory, and closely followed by Claire Rylott & Alison Casswell.  A pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Our thanks to David Minnis and Cos Corry for directing and scoring.

The Mixed Pairs was held at Dunholme VH on Sunday 23rd April. Seventeen pairs had entered and played a 9 table 3/4 Howell of 28 boards. Congratulations to overall winners of the Hannan Challenge Cup, Nick Hunter & Ruby Schnalke, closely followed by Mo Parsons & Keith Stewart and Roy Brixton & Brigid Hughes. A smoothly run event enjoyed by all, despite the emergency alarms at 3pm!

Many congratulations go to the Bootleg Beagles team of Sally Hippisley, Louise Mitcham, Claire Rylott and Sue Gray for their success in the Lincoln Gold Plate. The team enjoyed a comfortable victory over the Four Tops 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.

The Championship Teams was held at Dunholme on Sunday 12th March. 9 Teams attended and played in a qualifier event. The top 4 teams then went into the final, and the remaining teams into the consolation event. The eventual winner of the Championship Final and the Dutton Challenge Cup was Team Heighington with Nick Hunter, Ruby Schnalke, Mo Parsons & Debbie Burton. Team Heighington was also the winner of the Qualifier and the D & A Brown Trophy. The winner of the Consolation and the Turner Brumpton Trophy was Team Hill Billies with David Williams, Sally Williams, Nigel Haslam & Pat Haslam. Well done to all! 

County Knockout Teams - Lincoln Gold Bowl

Many congratulations to the Rueful Rabbits team, winners of the 2023 Lincoln Gold. The team of Rodney Mitchell, Chris Barnard, Brian Smith, Edward Harris and Ron Wall produced an excellent run of results culminating in an 88 - 36 victory over Alford in the final. They now qualify to represent Lincolnshire in the Pachabo Cup in June (essentially the national teams of four final). We wish them the best of luck.

The Winter League September 2022 - February 2023 is now complete and the results are as follows: 
Clear Winners of the First Division with 82 VPs were Rueful Rabbits with Brian Smith, Ron Wall, Chris Barnard, Ed Harris & Rodney Mitchell.
Winners of the Second Division with 62 VPs were Girls on Tour with Sue Gray, Claire Rylott, Lisa Dichmont, Linda Lovell & Steve Bradley closely followed by Motorhead & Nettleham (=2nd) on 57 VPs.
Well Done Everyone! The full results can be seen here: Winter League

The Championship Pairs was held at Dunholme on Sunday 19th February. 18 Pairs attended and played in a qualifier event. The top 10 pairs then went into the final, and the remaining pairs into the consolation event. The eventual winning pair of the Championship Final and the Arthur Wilson Trophy was Mike Waters & Rodney Mitchell. Other Trophy winners were Andy Lewis & Margaret McLeod, the Earnest Harrison Trophy for the first placed in the Qualifier; Roy Brixton & David Hall the Bell Trophy for the first placed in the Consolation Pairs; Christine Lidstone & Michael Harrison the Margaret Briggs Trophy for the highest placed pair in the Qualifier both below the rank of Master; Keith Stewart & Brigid Hughes the Lucy Osbourne Trophy for the highest placed pair in the qualifier both over the age of 65. 

The Bainton Trophy Final was held at Dunholme VH on Sunday 29th January. Ten pairs had qualified and played a 5 table 9 round X 4 boards full Howell "All Play All" movement. Congratulations to overall winners Alan Millington & Graham Marshall, closely followed by Mo Parsons & Debbie Burton. The top 2 (or 3) pairs qualify to play in the Corwen Trophy on-line on Realbridge on 3rd & 4th June. If any of the top pairs are unable to play on-line, then substitute pairs having scored in excess of 50% will qualify.

The Bainton Trophy Semi-final was held at Dunholme VH on Sunday 15th January. Twenty-three pairs had entered, but three unfortunately had to drop out, leaving 20 pairs playing a 10 table 10 round X 3 boards share and relay Mitchell. Congratulations to overall winners Jane Brown and Nicholas Holmes. The top 10 pairs qualify to play in the Bainton Green Point Final at Dunholme VH on Sunday 29th January. 

Six teams of eight from four affiliated clubs participated in this event on Sunday 27th November. Each team was split into two sections and the separate sections played identical stagger movements of 5 x 6 board rounds. The results were combined to provide the overall winner. Congratulations go to the Louth Diamonds team of Edward Harris & Ron Wall, Rodney Mitchell & Glyn Jackson, Mark Wardell & Jacqueline Pfister, Mary Jo Mangion & Janice Troughton having a VP score 83, well ahead of runner up Scunthorpe's 68. Everyone had a very enjoyable afternoon of teams of 8 bridge, which was significantly scored using our computer software for the first time. 

The Random Seeded Pairs (Teams event) was held at Dunholme VH on Sunday 30th October. Twelve pairs had entered and so we were able to make up 6 teams by randomly selecting the tables occupied by the seeded and unseeded pairs. All pairs played 30 of the 36 boards in play in a standard stagger movement consisting of two parallel rows of tables sharing boards. Congratulations to the North/South seeded pair Maurice Lynn & John Hill and the East/West unseeded pair Brigid Hughes & Keith Stewart who won convincingly.  Everything seemed to run smoothly with yours truly directing, and it seems that everyone had a very enjoyable afternoon of bridge. Roy Brixton

The Waitrose Trophy is awarded at the AGM to the Pair with highest percentage score above 70% in a club duplicate session of 6 tables or more in the previous 12 months.

Best 2023 so far

Nigel & Pat Haslam 78.75% at Falconer BC on 12/05/23

Winners 2022 Zubair Ahmed and Dee de Wit with 75%

Please notify the Vice Chairman if you achieve a contending score.