ABSTRACT
Our first oversea venture and
Table numbers remaining
stable
Colin O'Hara
Chairman
REGIS BRIDGE CLUB
Annual Report 2017
REGIS BRIDGE CLUB ANNUAL
REPORT 2017
1 INTRODUCTION
This report is produced for presentation at the Annual General Meeting of the Regis Bridge Club
scheduled for 25th April 2017. It summarises the activities of the Club for the period 1 April 2016 to
31 March 2017.
2 ATTENDANCES
Attendances this year overall have declined when making direct comparison to 2016 as can be seen
in the treasurer’s report in Section 6. The weekly average attendance for 2016-2017 is 49.3 as
against 49.8 last year. We continue to be the best supported single attendance evening club in
Bedfordshire.
This year our core membership, accounting for 75% of all attendance stands at 48 people. 45
members have attended on at least 30 occasions over the year. The mode number of tables in play
this year has returned to 13 from last year’s figure of 12 and I am pleased to report that between 13
and 15 tables have been in play for over 72% of the possible events
In previous years I have used the illustration that, if all members who attend on at least 20 occasions
and half of those who attend between 10 and 19 times turn up on the same evening would we be
able to accommodate them. This year that equation equals 73 players or just over 18 tables. That is
at the limit of our capacity, but thanks to Scorebridge, the answer is “Just about” with the room split
into 2 sections.
3 COMPETITIONS
Phil Laycock Handicap Pairs Competition
This year’s event took place on 26 April 2016 with 26 pairs competing. The winning pair, both before
and after the handicaps were applied were George Goddard and Ted Lowther. Runners up after
application of the handicap were Mike Brabenec and PL Shah. Third place went to Mike Baylis and
Steve Southin. Congratulations to all concerned.
Championship Pairs
This is the premier competition in our calendar. Entry is based on consistent performance over the
year and limited to the 14 top performing partnerships who have taken part in a minimum of 12
events over the year. An extremely hard fought battle came down to a tie between Paul Kilduff and
Peter Scott and Melek and Roy Drage. The rules of the competition state that in the event of a tie
the head to head result determines the winners. Accordingly I am pleased to report that Peter and
Paul prevailed 62.5 % to 37.5% in their two boards against Melek and Roy. Congratulations to both
pairs on an excellent performance. Third place went to Brian Abbott and John Naylor.
Jean Balderson Plate
16 pairs took part in this year’s event. The winners were Lesley Howard and Viv Barton. Panny and
Stephen Bligh claimed the runners up position and third place went to Mike Baylis and Steve
Southin. Well done to all three partnerships.
Brian Reeves Memorial Trophy
This trophy is awarded to the partnership that has shown the greatest improvement in performance
over the year. The award is the only one in the gift of the committee who base the recommendation
on the statistical evidence provided. The committee, when reviewing the options, had a clear
winning pair especially as they achieved third place in both the Plate and the handicap event. The
winners of the Brian Reeves memorial trophy were Mike Baylis and Steve Southin.
Annual Merit Table.
The 2016 competition developed into a three horse race with the result only decided on the last
Tuesday in November. A tight finish saw Peter Scott retain the award with Brian Abbott less than 2
points behind and just over seven points ahead of Paul Kilduff. Here’s to another exciting race in
2017.
4 SOCIAL EVENTS
Madeira January 2017
Milton Keynes and Regis clubs have each organised bridge trips in the past and their club
committees, under respective Chairs David Gilmore and myself, went for the most ambitious ever
with this one: A whole week in January on the island of Madeira with a full ten sessions of pairs
duplicate, including a simultaneous charity event (£300 raised for Syrian children refugees) and one
of teams on offer.
Close on sixty souls signed up. The hotel was a new five star Savoy in the small beach resort of
Calheta. Its contemporary design and mood lighting were ‘interesting’, a bit Marmite-esque maybe,
though unquestionably the facilities were superb.
The bridge was organised brilliantly. No prizes or master points but all the sessions were conducted
‘properly’ with electronic scoring and so forth, and directed with just the right touch by a willing
group of holidaymakers organised by John Bateman and myself. All sessions were played in a
delightful spirit, and thanks are due to the many folk who helped in the organisation.
At the time of writing, David and I are looking at the possibility of holding a further event around the
same time in 2018. Watch the websites for further news.
Regis in Bournemouth (RIB5) 2017
Our fifth annual Bournemouth weekend break is scheduled for 21st to 24th April 2017 inclusive. We
will entertain 75 guest in total and report on the outcome verbally at the AGM and in fuller detail in
next year’s report.
Annual Dinner and Prize-giving 2016
This year’s annual dinner and prize giving took place on 14th March 2017. 50 people enjoyed another
excellent meal at the Golf Club followed by handing out the trophies for the various prize winners
mentioned above. The evening was topped off by 90 minutes of social bridge, all taking part in a
convivial atmosphere. If you visit our website, you can select 2017 Prize Giving in the left hand side
menu and see a selection of pictures from the evening. If anybody wishes to have a physical copy of
one of these photographs, they should contact Paul Kilduff. As usual, I am indebted to the hard work
put in by Melek and Roy in providing a smoothly running event. It takes a lot of preparation to make
an evening seem so informal and casual and I am lucky to have such support.
Summer Barbeque
This event took place on 5th July 2016. Catering was provided by the Cricket Club and 40 members
enjoyed a pleasant evening of good food and social Bridge
Xmas Party
The party took place on 20th December 2015. We had a good turnout and the evening followed the
usual pattern of social bridge and mid-session gorging on Xmas goodies. This year we decided to
cater the event by buying in the food from a well-known retailer. Thanks to all who supported an
enjoyable event.
Future Bridge Events
It is clear, from the response to Bournemouth and the Madeira venture that branching out into the
provision of bridge weekends designed by the Club and for the benefit of Club members is a positive
step. However, it does mean that our annual accounts appear artificially inflated as a consequence. I
intend to discuss alternate arrangements for managing future events with suitably qualified
professionals and other interested parties. I will report back to the membership if anything of
importance emerges from those discussions.
5 WEBSITE
The website continues to be required viewing with between 2600 and 3900 pages viewed per
month.
The Bedfordshire Bridge Association have continued to supply us with computer dealt hands on the
third Tuesday of each month or to coincide with special events such as the Phil Laycock Handicap
Pairs, the Championship and the Jean Balderson Plate. These allow much animated discussion at the
end of an evening. I must also thank Paul Kilduff and Roy who update hand details on those weeks
when we cope with freely dealt hands. The records allow us to revisit our triumphs, and occasional
disasters, and help improve the quality of our decision making.
It would also be remiss of me to fail to mention how lucky we are that Gwynne Hughes, the
developer of Bridgewebs, is such an active member of our Club. His work has enabled us to fully
access the technology of the 21st Century.
6 FINANCIAL SUMMARY
This year we made a small profit of £33, compared to a profit of £816 last year.
The main variances were:
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Table money down £334
Membership down £25
Prizes down £52 (a positive for results)
Barbecue £345 (not held last year)
Christmas party expense up £308 (all food provided)
Dinner net cost down £124 (9 fewer attendees)
Holiday profit up £87
Our bank balance allowing for outstanding items will be £3885, so we remain in a healthy position,
although the reduction in attendance is a trend we would like to reverse. Recent attendance has
been encouraging.
Authors Section 6: Melek and Roy Drage
8 IN CONCLUSION
Readers will see the Club has had another busy year. The Bridge weekends con now be considered a
permanent fixture and we look forward to further joint oversea ventures with our friends at the
Milton Keynes Bridge Club in the future. Although we remain an unaffiliated club, we try to support
the Bedfordshire Bridge Association in practical ways by supplying contestants for their events,
players for the County teams, use of their services and advertising their programme of events.
Financially we remain in a healthy position and are able to properly subsidise the annual dinner,
barbecue and Xmas party for the benefit of members.
The Club can only succeed with the support of the membership and the efficient running of weekly
events. That takes place because we have a small and effective committee of talented individuals all
able to support each other and the Club as a whole. I sincerely thank Melek, Roy, Paul and Colin for
all their hard work. But equally, I thank all members who, by turning up each week and enjoying
three hours of friendly competitive bridge, continue to make this, by any measure, the best Bridge
club in Bedfordshire.
Colin O'Hara
Chairman
April 2017