I’ve had a busy time recently, whooshing back from Tenerife last week and then having a quick turn around before heading off to the sister’s to hustle down to London to watch Spurs versus Manchester United last Sunday.
I must confess to feeling a little conflicted as we made my maiden voyage to the spanking new Tottenham Hotspur stadium in N17. Mum was a United fan, having supported them since the Munich air disaster on February 6th 1958. She was in Coleraine in a nursing home having introduced me to the world on the first day of the month. Way back then mums could have a couple of weeks in the nursing home – you weren’t turfed off home within hours of giving birth – and the wall-to-wall news was of the tragedy that took so many young lives. My hubby is also a United fan and Patricia, of course, is Spurs through and through.
I dutifully bedecked myself in neutral colours and was warned by Patricia that I could absolutely NOT be an away fan in the home supporters’ section. To my uninitiated eye the two sides were fairly similar with moments of brilliance and sheer stupidity in abundance. It made for an exciting watch but not a restful afternoon as I found myself, eventually, shouting for the home team. My husband was hundreds of miles away, so if United lost he could be miserable on his own. I was going to be with Patricia, so thought I would be in for a happier time if Spurs won – and so it proved. Nothing like a good ole dose of self-interest.
The next morning we dropped in on Judy Williams, widow of Michael, the long-time golf correspondent of The Daily Telegraph and had a delightful visit before making our way over to Thorpeness Golf Club in Suffolk, the domain of the redoubtable Chris Langford, one of the founder members of the Ladies’ European Tour (LET).
It’s a year since Lang organised a get-together to celebrate 45 years of the tour’s existence and it was lovely to meet up again with these wonderful, pioneering women who were brave enough to make the leap into the abyss of women’s professional sport all those years ago (top picture). And boy, can some of these old pals of mine still play a mean game of golf!
Tuesday saw the inaugural playing of TOFT – The Old Founders’ Trophy – at lovely Thorpeness. (If you believe the “F” really does stand for “Founders” you would be wrong,,,,,,,,,but this is a family blog!) Rather bizarrely the first winner turned out to be the host professional who, I’m told, did the setting of the tees, the pins and more crucially, the handicapping. So, with the organiser’s (ie Chris Langford’s) decision being final it is the name “Chris Langford” that will be etched into history!!

Founder member Steph Jolly practising on her ranch in New Zealand for the next TOFT outing. She’s still got it! [Think Steph’s hubby was behind the camera.]
I was pleased to hear that the Founders had been guests at last year’s Irish Open but do admit to wishing the LET would take a leaf out of the LPGA’s modus operandi and celebrate their founders a little more openly and enthusiastically. At the moment you’d almost need to employ a forensic detective to find the teeniest bit of information about the tour’s early steps. I’d love to see a Founders tab on the home page with lists, photos, names and histories of these players. Alas, some of them are no longer with us, so time definitely is of the essence.
With sketchy records and a lack of archive those who have knowledge of those early days are thinning out. We cannot let that happen. Today’s tour exists thanks to very special people who paved the way for the rest of us – and it behoves the tour to ensure that every single current player knows the names of the Founders and says a silent thank you every time they tee it up for the opportunities they now enjoy.
Last week the Ladies’ European Tour was in Riyadh for the lucrative $4.5 million PIF Saudi Ladies’ International, an eye-watering amount of money to those of us gathered at our reunion. The feel-good story for me was that of 22-year old Annabell Fuller, an English player from Roehampton, who was playing in her second tournament in her second year on tour. She had had a reasonable rookie campaign finishing 78th in the standings and winning a shade over 74,ooo euros but that didn’t make her eligible to play for the riches in Riyadh.
Managing to secure a sponsor’s invitation into the previous week’s event in Morocco was key as a top-ten finish there earned her a place on the tee sheet in Saudi. She then had the week of her life, finishing third on her own and winning a smidgen less than 260,000 euros, a life changing amount of dosh. Talk about grabbing an opportunity with both hands when it presents itself! Utterly brilliant.
At one fell swoop Annabell has removed anxiety and uncertainty from her planning. She will be in every regular tournament she wishes to play, will have a decent shot at making a few major starts and has no worries about footing her costs. She’s already changed a few travel plans, upgrading from economy to something a little more comfortable and I’m sincerely hoping this performance is only a forerunner to many top-quality outings to follow.Fingers crossed and a huge big heartfelt thanks again to the Founders who made it all possible.