Ashburton Bridge Club

Success this weekend for our club members playing around the country. In Rangiora at the Restricted Pairs event Rewa and Bernadette finished in 5th place out of 40. An excellent achievement.

Further North in Richmond, Mike, Rachel and Ian were playing at the Richmond Open Swiss Pairs. They all had a wonderful day and finished in the money. Mike and Rach won their section and finished 9th overall. Ian and his partner Heather also won their section and finished 14th overall. Both pairs banking some A points in the process.

Well done to you all.

Another weekend and more excellent results for some of our members. Trish and Mary and Carolyn and her sister Juliet, complete with matching cardies, won their respective grades at the Temuka All Grades Tournament held at the Timaru Club yesterday. Unfortunately Carolyn and Juliet were incorrectly recognised as getting third at the prize giving but looking at the results this was not the case. They were well and truly winners of the junior grade. Well done!

Success over the weekend for Trish and Mary. They finished 2nd at the Otago / Southland Interprovincial open pairs held in Oamaru yesterday. A top effort.
On Saturday they paired with Debbie and David in the teams event and finished a very credible 7th.

Such a fun day at the club today for our closed club teams event. For many this was their first time playing teams. Mary did a great job sorting out the teams and draw and dealing all of the boards for the day, thank you for all of your work on this. We had 8 teams and played 4 rounds of 8 boards. Congratulations to all of the winners on the day. 1st place was Alan Wright, Val Palmer, John and Margaret Rickard. 2nd place Leigh Wackrow, Amanda Evans, Pauline Scott and Sheryl Reid and 3rd place went to Sonia Gill, Cath King, Bronwyn Oakley and Jackie Chisnall.

Last night, we had the pleasure of celebrating a truly special milestone for one of our members. Bruce Leighton turns 100 later this week, and we felt that such an occasion deserved to be marked in style—with a surprise birthday party in his honour.

Bridge holds a special place in Bruce’s heart and, as he readily admits, is something that keeps him going. He is a humble and generous man, and a formidable opponent at the bridge table. With great pride, he shared news of receiving a letter from the King—an honour fitting for such a remarkable milestone.

Bruce is a deeply valued member of our club, and this was reflected in the wonderful turnout of members who came to celebrate with him. We enjoyed cake together, and many took the opportunity to write their congratulations and memories in a keepsake book which we are sure will be treasured.

We wish Bruce all the very best and congratulate him on reaching this extraordinary milestone.

The 2026 lessons began last night with Sonia at the helm. Pure commitment from Hannah Watt and Josh Rodger who are getting married this weekend!
Bridge is just like marriage. It teaches you important skills: Trust, patience and how to apologise convincingly. 😝
We hope you enjoy your bridge journey and all the best for your nuptials 👰🤵

Here are the pictures of the prize winners from the tournament on Saturday. There were three grades within the field. Well done to everyone who competed.

A reminder that the 2026 lessons commence this Wednesday, 22nd of April. Commencing at 7pm and running for around 12 weeks. Now is a great time to register your interest. The cost is $75 and this includes your first years membership with the club.
Please contact Mike on 027 4417334 or Leigh on 027 4327780 for more information. Come along and make new friends while learning this great game.
Lessons will be held at our warm modern clubrooms at 79 Alford Forest Road.

As expected a tough day at the office for the Ashburton Pairs today. Rewa and Kerry were the best finishers for the club overall well done to you both.
Congratulations to all of the winners.

It is going to be a full house at the club tomorrow for the second of our tournaments for the year, The Mid-Canterbury Pairs, a 5A mixed grade tournament.

44 pairs have registered to play which is amazing. The support we receive from around the Canterbury area is always appreciated.

Good luck especially to the 11 pairs from Ashburton.

Play well everybody and we look forward to seeing how you all fare against some pretty tough competition.