The centenary committee has now been at work for 18 months
Book  - We have almost reached our target for publishing the book, through the raffles and centenary countdown competitions. Each member of the county will receive a copy to commemorate the last 100 years. This is a fascinating story of the progress of a minor county to a force to be reckoned with in ladies’ golf today.
Lunch -  To be held at Dudsbury GC on 16 March 2011. This will be the start of the celebrations and we will raise the new county flag. New county tablecloth will be on display. Peter Alliss hoping to attend and guest speaker TBC.
Club Competition – to be held in 2011. Details to go out to clubs at end of 2009 so that VCs can include the competition in their fixtures for 2011.
Pairs competition – winning pair to be invited to the Final and tea.
Champion of Champions Competition – replies received from many past champions keen to take part – even if only in the 9 hole event with a buggy!
Celebration tea to follow. Ladies’ committees to be asked to nominate members of their clubs to attend the tea at Ferndown GC 22 Sept 2011.
DLCGA and DGU Match –  we have challenged the men’s county executive to a match in 2011. A ‘day out’ for the workers.
Grand Draw – See under AOB with Di Williams
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Annual Report

I would like to begin my report by telling you about the 2nd Team Squad.
They all proudly wear the yellow Dorset shirts even thought they range from XS to……..much more generous. The youngest is 13 and the oldest has a bus pass in her wallet. They are extremely good golfers, all with single figure handicaps - the 13 and 14 year olds play off 5 and 6 and the ‘wise heads’ range from 6 to 9. This is an excellent standard for 2nd Team golf.
They have become a tightly knit unit over the last two years with a great team spirit. We all enjoy the fun the juniors bring and I know that they in turn are most grateful to the ‘wiser heads’ for their encouragement and match play experience, which they have passed on freely and with great tact.
Work began this year in May with our first training session at Dudsbury with Martin Cummins. Two further sessions took place in June and July. Much of our success this year has been due to Martin – the coaching is always fun, but competitive, concentrating on short game skills, course management and psychology. One of Martin’s favourite phrases is “whoever wins the mental battle, wins the match” - this became our 2nd Team mantra and it worked!
In preparation for the Intercounty matches, we played three friendlies. The first in July against an extremely fit and talented Execs team! The result, a win for the Execs 3-2. The match was held at Yeovil and served as a practice round for the match against Cornwall later in the year.
On 2 August we went to Ashley Wood to play their Men’s team. This is always a popular fixture and gives us the opportunity to try out foursomes pairings against strong opposition. The highlight of the match had to be two 13 year olds beating the Club Champion and his partner on the final hole. We lost the match 1 ½ to 2 ½ due to an outrageous chip in from the men’s captain on the 17th hole.
A week later we travelled to Rushmore to play our final friendly match against Wiltshire. An appropriate venue as half the course is in Wiltshire and the other half in Dorset. The match was halved and both counties then went on to the SW qualifiers.
Back to Yeovil on 16 August for the first intercounty match against Cornwall. The morning foursomes were won by Dorset 2 – 1. Our practices in the friendly matches were paying off, but the memory of last years final, when Cornwall won all six single matches still hurt! My thanks to the Yeovil ladies who turned out in force to support us and caddied for our girls in the afternoon. We won the singles 4-2 and the final result was Dorset 6 Cornwall 3.
One down, one to go! We had to reschedule our match against Devon, following a course closure at Yelverton on 21 July. Thanks to the generosity of Lyme Regis GC, we met again on 1 September. The team produced an excellent result in the foursomes to come in at lunchtime 3 up. The young Devon team fought back strongly and took the singles matches 3 ½ to 2 ½ . The overall result was a win for Dorset 5 ½ to 3 ½ .
Having won both matches, Dorset qualified for the SW final for the second time in two years, but who would be our opponents?
Cornwall were out of the equation, having lost two matches. The other four counties, Gloucestershire, Devon, Wiltshire and Somerset had all won one match. A countback on singles matches won revealed that our opponents in the final would be Devon – again!
The final was held in neutral Somerset at Taunton & Pickeridge GC on 11 October. The foursomes resulted in a 2-1 win for Dorset and the singles were halved 3-3. The final result was Dorset 5 Devon 4.
This was a keenly fought final with golf of the highest standard and played in the spirit we expect of our county teams. Congratulations to the team:
Mandy Hawkins  – Weymouth
Sophie Keech  -  Lyme Regis
Cathy MacFarlane-Thompson – Broadstone
Emma Pennington – Sherborne
Alice Plumb – Yeovil
Helen Potts – Broadstone
Francesca Young – Ferndown
Congratulations also to other members of the squad whose participation in previous matches helped us to reach the final:
Sue Edwards – Ashley Wood and
Jo Hadley – Broadstone
Colours were awarded to Alice Plumb

I send my grateful thanks to caddies, supporters, families, friends and host clubs. You are all an important part of this success. It makes such a difference to the team and you have been rewarded with some great golf!