The annual tilt between Whangarei and Dargaville was played at home on August 26th. Only one Open team from each club played and the result was a disappointing 14.64-25.36 VP loss to the home team. The intermediate teams fared a bit better with a 21.58-18.42 VP win. It was (once again!) left to our juniors to bring the cup home with a well deserved 27.72-12.28 VP win. Overall, the Whangarei team was declared winners with a cumulative score of 63.94 to 56.06. Congratulations to all the players who made for such a memorable day!

The Paihia Intermediate and Junior Pairs were held August 19th and featured 9 tables of Intermediate players and 7 tables of Juniors. Whangarei players had a tough time breaking into the top tier this time with Kevin Grundy and Ian Johnson coming 4th and Kim Thomas and Laura Maton coming 5th in the Intermediate section. The competition was tough in the Junior division as well, with our top pair of Teresa Small and Glennis Christie holding down 4th place. All players had a great, albeit initially chilly, time in the Opua Hall.

This event is the annual competition between all NZB affiliated clubs in the region. All such clubs can send 1 team in each division. This year we had four teams in the Open division and five in both the Intermediate and Junior sections, thanks to entries from the newly affiliated Mangawhai club.

Our Open team cruised to a comfortable win but our teams in the other divisions met with stiff resistance. After the dust had settled, the Intermediate team had come second to Dargaville while the Junior team was third behind Mangawhai and Paihia. Read more for photos of the winners.

The Kerikeri BOI New World Pairs was held on July 29th and Whangarei players featured prominently in the first 5 placings. In first were Richard Parkinson and Hamish Brown. Coming in second and third respectively were our own Tania Brown with Neil Ruddell and Patsy Walters with Lee Walters. Len Dent, partnered by Kerikeri partner Arlene Purdy took fourth place and the top five were rounded out by Margaret Hooson and Richard Bland.  Congratulations to all and many thanks to the Kerikeri Club for a fabulous day of bridge.

Home turf proved to be a decisive factor as the home club took the Towai Challenge trophy, versus Kerikeri, by a score of 175 to 65. The Open team won on aggregate 51.73 to 28.27 while the Intermediate team was dominant and won all 4 of their matches for an overall score of 75.86 to 4.14. Our Junior team, featuring several tyros in the line-up, eked out a victory by 47.14 to 32.86. 

A great time was had by all players and everyone is looking forward to a rematch in 2024. Click "read more" for a photo of the Whangarei team.

When a certain Grand Master's birthday comes around it would be lovely to gift him with a pen. More than once on Thursday evening he had to return a pen to a previous table.

The NZ Bridge Federation is deliberating whether or not to lay charges against a certain senior director, who, using her considerable Tai-Chi skills, prevented a certain committee member (who should know better) from bidding before her explanation was complete.

Whangarei was well represented at the recent Open/Intermediate tournament hosted by the Dargaville Bridge Club. In the Intermediate division, the winners were Pam Brown and her sister Jolene Zink from Dargaville. Lee Orton and Roger Johnson came in second and Kim Thomas and Laura Maton were third. Vanassa McGoldrick and Ian Johnson took the prize for the most consistent pair - their 2 sessions differed by only 0.6%.

The top Junior pair was Debbie Schicker and Mandy Bax. This was Mandy's first tournament, and a good one at that. Congratulations!

This year, the Paihia Open was hosted by Whangarei. Coming in at first were Margaret Hooson and Richard Bland, followed by Marilyn Kennedy and Anna Chappell. In third place were John MacIntosh and Roger Bell, while Laura Maton and Yvonne MacKinnon took the prize for best intermediate pair.