Captain 2025-2026 Anita Maxwell

Dear Ladies,

It's a great honour to take over the Captaincy for 2025/26 from Ali. I would like to thank her for all her hard work over the past 2 years continuing for a second year when no other volunteers came forward. I'm very pleased that Janet Main has agreed to be my vice-captain and I look forward to working with her over the next 12 months.

This year the section will have been in existence for 40 years. I cannot believe where all those years have gone as I remember the first AGM quite clearly. We were all very new to golf but muddled our way through and grew in confidence as we played in more competitions and became brave enough to play in Opens too. I believe that we should celebrate our ruby anniversary and I will be working with the committee to come up with something suitable.

The future of our section is very much dependant on increasing the membership and encouraging as many members as possible to take part in the events that are organised. I was so pleased that so many of you took part in the Turkey Trot and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did - everyone seemed full of "Christmas Spirit". The fixture list is on the website so that you can organise your diaries and I will continue the work of previous Captains in supporting the Get Into Golf initiative trying to encourage those ladies taking part to take up the game we enjoy so much "full-time". I like to think our section is very welcoming, it doesn't matter what ability you play at, your participation is encouraged and every success is celebrated. If you have any questions about competitions (or anything else), please contact me. We try hard to offer activities and competitions to suit everyone and I hope that many of you will take the opportunity to take part.

This year a number of the Anderson team members decided that they no longer wished to play in the league matches and thus it would impossible to field a team for the seven player league. Hence we "quit whilst we were ahead" and had retained our position in Division 1 for an impressive 4 years (certainly no flash in the pan). I would like to thank all those who took part in the matches for many years for their commitment to the team. Committee looked at the option of running a five player Anderson team (which play off scratch) or entering a team into the Sivewright League (where handicaps are given and received). After consulting with members, it was agreed that the Sivewright League would be the best option and give every member of the section a chance to play if they want to. So please make a note of the match dates in your diary and let  team captain Janet know if you would like to be considered for the team.

It is a privilege to be your Captain again. Please rest assured that I will try my very best to uphold the values and traditions of the section and ensure that we all enjoy our golf during 2026.

Best wishes

Anita Maxwell

Woodham Ladies Captain