2015 NSW Country Carnival
This year, the Finals were held at the Port Macquarie-Hastings Bridge Club. The venue was fantastic, the weather was summery and the atmosphere was country friendly and laid back, until the last session, when the number of calls for the director doubled. We also had to contend with the change to daylight saving, however, everyone seemed to have handled the change.
President Rowan Ferguson welcomed all visitors to his club. Port Macquarie-Hastings provided a wide array of slices and cakes, and an excellent lunch for a small fee to the players on Saturday. Ray Ingielewicz provided a list of restaurants recommended by local members. The club also provided finger food, cheese and wine for the presentations.
We did have 30 pairs, but in the last week, we lost two pairs, leaving the Open and Restricted with 9 pairs. The winners of the Country Carnival Open Pairs for 2015 were Sylvia Foster and Jaan Oitmaa, from Brisbane Water; the winners of the Country Carnival Restricted Pairs for 2015 were Stuart Cutsforth and Renate La Marra from Illawarra Bridge Association and the winners of the Country Carnival Novice Pairs for 2015 were David Weatherall and Craig Curry from Southern Highlands. Results can be found here.
The winner of the Zonal Trophy was the Outer Metropolitan (161.11) followed by Northern (159.84) and South Western (157.44).
Next year, the Finals will be hosted by Southern Highlands Bridge Club. At the October 7 Council Meeting it was decided not to hold the Country Carnival in 2016.
Country Carnival Open Winners Sylvia Foster and Jaan Oitma with Louis Koolen
Country Carnival Restricted Winners Stuart Cutsforth and Renate La Marra with Louis Koolen
Country Carnival Novice Winners David Weatherall and Craig Curry with Louis Koolen
The Country Carnival is both a pairs event and an interzonal competition. It starts with Club Qualifying events, progresses to Regional Finals and culminates in the final, the Country Carnival. There are three categories:
- Novice (<100MP)
- Restricted (<300MP)
- Open
Each Region may provide up to six pairs to the Country Carnival Final: 2 in the Novice, 2 in the Restricted and 2 in the Open category. All category winners will receive prize money and medallions. Zones will compete against each other for an overall zonal trophy, based on ranking results of their pairs and adjusted to take into account the number of pairs in each category from each zone. Zones with fewer representative pairs will therefore not be disadvantaged.
The Final will be hosted by the Port Macquarie-Hastings Bridge Club over the October long weekend, 3rd & 4th October
For local information please visit the Country Carnival Website
- 2015 Country Carnival Invitation to Clubs (updated Jan 5, 2015)
- 2015 Country Carnival Suplementary Regulations
For all enquires contact the tournament organiser:
Louis Koolen
☎ (02) 4389 7203