Well done to club members Roshni Chand and Greg Nicholson who achieved a huge score of 73.15% in a field of 15 pairs on Thursday 13 May 2021.  They will receive a free table pass for their efforts.

Ken Tierney has become Traralgon Bridge Club’s seventh home club member to reach the level of Silver Life Master. Ken recently received his award from the Australian Bridge Federation and was presented with his certificate by club Masterpoints Secretary, Lynne Veenstra.

Rob Graham has achieved the rank of Silver National Master, having earned over 300 masterpoints.  Rob actually achieved this milestone in March 2020 however the awarding of his certificate was delayed due to the COVID-19 shut down.  Club President, Anne Den Houting, congratulated Rob on his achievement saying “Rob’s achievement is truly significant as he is only the 20^th player in the club’s twenty-six year history to reach this rank."  1st Feb 2021

Robyn Couch and Ken Tierney travelled to Paynesville on Wednesday 20th September to play in the Individual. This is the 3rd leg of the Bridge Triathlon. Robyn won the Individual with 64% and was then declared the Triathlon Winner. Robyn has successfully defended her title won in 2016. She is shown here being presented with a cheque for $50 by John Haylock.

From the January and February Promotions Report:-

Egbert Tzoe who has been promoted 

from **Local Master to State Master (50+ points)

Corinne Oberink who has been promoted 

from Nil to Graduate Master (2+ points)

Joe Taylor who has been promoted 

from **Local Master to  Regional Master (50+ points)

Barbara Barr who has been promoted 

from *State Master to National Master (150+ points)

Well done everyone

The Regional GNOT Final was a closely fought event played at Traralgon on 20th September. The winning team was Moira Hecker, Fred Sundermann, Helen McAdam, Don Tylee and Robin Hecker (absent from photo). Just 1 point away In 2nd place were Dina Drury, Jack Kuiper, Colin Hope and John Sutton. A further 1 point away were Robyn Couch, Ken Tierney, Lynne and Lou Veenstra.   

This one takes the cake. Robyn is congratulated by club president Moira for her promotion to Gold Life Master (750 points with 450 points earned in regional and national level events)

Robyn said that she has enjoyed many highlights in her bridge career, and has particularly enjoyed representing Gippsland at the Grand National Open Teams event at the Gold Coast; the Women’s and Seniors State playoffs at the Victorian Bridge Association; and the Restricted Pairs national playoffs in Canberra.  “Bridge has given me a lot”, she said. 

“But the biggest thrill of all was when I received my first promotion to Graduate Master after playing for a year.  It took a lot of learning and fun to accumulate those first 2 masterpoints”, she said.  So now, after another 748 points, Robyn is just one step away from being a Grand Master.  That will take another 250 gold and red points, but it seems that Robyn is up for the challenge. (Go Robyn)

Irene Pappas is shown in our clubrooms this week receiving the Bairnsdale Congress Annie Rijs award from Bairnsdale Congress Convenor Phil Goode after her success last week, well done Irene.

The pairing of Robyn Couch and Ken Tierney teamed up with Helen McAdam and Don Tylee to play in the South Gippsland Congress Teams on November 8th. They were ranked 15th of the 20 participating teams. Having played teams 1, 3, 5, 6, 8 and 20 our members finished 5th with 4 wins. They were also the Best ERBA Team. The Best Restricted Team went to another Traralgon team - Marion and Kevin Taylor, Deb and Mark Reynolds.   

Doreen King has become our newest National Master, having accumulated over 200 masterpoints.

Doreen is a much loved member of the club, and has been playing bridge for over 25 years.

At age 88, she is still playing very competitve bridge and has won many club titles over the years.

While he was at it Phil also presented Anna Field and Doreen King with the Directors Award from the Bairnsdale Congress, congratulations ladies.

Jan Woollacott and Marion Taylor paired up for the 1st time to play in Traralgon's heat of the Australia Wide Novice Pairs. They did very well scoring 67.94% and are at present in the top 40.  

Robyn Couch was awarded Life Membership for 15 years of service to the Traralgon Bridge Club. Robyn has been President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Committee member for 12 years. She has been a Director and Masterpoint Secretary for 11 years, has prepared the diary for 7 years and has done the newspaper reports and web site for 10 years. Robyn has become the "go to" person for information in the Bridge Club.   

Elizabeth Morrish and Robyn Couch represented ERBA at the Women's Pairs Final. They played 11 x 10 board matches against the top women's pairs in Victoria. Some of these players had represented Australia and/or Victoria. Elizabeth and Robyn won 5 matches, drew 3 and lost only 3 matches. This is the best result ERBA has achieved in this event.      

Here is President Moira Hecker presenting our newest Life Member Helen McAdam with her certificate at the AGM

The Traralgon Congress Pairs section was played on August 22 with 88 players participating. The Best Restricted Pair was Marion and Kevin Taylor who were ranked 40th yet finished 27th. Robyn Couch and Ken Tierney were ranked 24th and finished 9th to win the Best Traralgon pair. 

Jocelyn Pilmore and Fred Kaminski partnered each other for the 1st time at the recent Bairnsdale Congress. Not content with just winning the Best Novice Pair, they also won the Best Restricted Pair. Well done.

The Teams section was played on Sunday 23rd August with 60 players in the event. The team of Robyn Couch, Helen McAdam, Moira Hecker and Ken Tierney were ranked 5th and finished 5th to take out the Best Traralgon Team..

2019 ended with a big promotion for Don Tylee who became a Bronze Life Master. Don has been playing for about fifteen years and has won both club and statewide events. He is a two-time winner of the Charlie Snashell Trophy which is awarded to the best restricted team at the annual Victor Champion Cup in Melbourne. He has also represented Gippsland three times in the Grand Open Teams final in Tweed Heads. Don has now accumulated over 400 masterpoints, of which 240 have to be won at the red or gold level.

Traralgon Bridge Club was proud to announce that Greg Nicholson has reached the rank of Grand Master. Greg is a home club member at Traralgon and is the first to have achieved this rank in Traralgon.

Whilst Greg learnt bridge as a child, he has only been playing competition bridge for eight years. He formed a very successful partnership with Jean Barbour and travelled to many congresses across Australia to earn the 1000 points required to achieve this special rank.

Club President, Helen McAdam, presented Greg with his Grand Master certificate, chocolates and wine, on behalf of the club and Greg’s name will be placed on the club’s honour board.

Moira Hecker has recently been promoted to the rank of Sliver Life Master by the Australian Bridge Federation. Since commencing her bridge journey in 2001, Moira has accumulated over 500 Masterpoints to reach this milestone. This has included playing in State and National level competitions to gain the necessary red and gold points. Moira has contributed a great deal to the club as a Committee Member and is the current club President. She says that she has enjoyed the social and competitive side of the game and has been keen to put something back into the club and to help other people to take up this great game. She has also been President of the Eastern Region Bridge Association, a delegate to the Victorian Bridge Association and has just returned from representing the Gippsland region in a national teams competition in Tweed Heads. Traralgon Bridge Club now has six home club Silver Life Masters, which is a great achievement for a smaller rural club. 

The team of Helen McAdam, Don Tylee (Traralgon), Pam Dingwall and Sandor Varga (Lakes Entrance) were invited to play in the Autumn Nationals in Adelaide. This was as a result of winning the Restricted Teams section of the Victor Champion Cup in 2014. In Adelaide the team recorded 8 wins from their 9 matches and won the Under Life Master section. They have now gained a free entry to the Victor Champion Cup to be played in Melbourne in June. 

Helen McAdam and Don Tylee combined with Pam Dingwall and Sandor Varga from Lakes Entrance to form an ERBA team. There were 10 teams entered in the Restricted Teams event at the Victor Champion Cup. The combination was very successful winning 8 of their 9 x 14 board matches. After claiming the Charlie Snashall trophy the team also won the Best Regional Team.    

Irene Pappas and Fred Kaminski continued Traralgon's good Eastern Region Championship record by winning the Novice Pairs section.

Robyn Couch and Ken Tierney played with Helen McAdam and Don Tylee to win the Sale Open Teams Championship. The event consisted of 5 rounds of 5 board matches played on Friday 13/11 and 20/11. The team won all 5 matches.   

Robyn Couch was promoted to the rank of Silver Life Master after the May points were sent in. To reach that milestone Robyn needed at least 500 masterpoints in total. There must be 50 gold points included in the 300 red and gold points total. Robyn is only the 3rd Traralgon member to have reached this rank.  

The inaugural Interclub between Traralgon, Frankston and Rye Beach was played on June 3rd. All clubs played the same boards at the same time. The winning pair was Rhonda van Dyke and Elizabeth Morrish. To check on the final results click on the "Competitions" tab.