Bridge in the Ballroom at Government House
On the afternoon of Wednesday, November 15th, Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC, Governor of Victoria, graciously hosted 160 bridge players from across the state in the beautiful State Ballroom. Players representing over 65 bridge clubs, from Warrnambool in the west, to Gippsland in the east and various clubs in north-eastern Victoria all descended on Government House to celebrate the game of bridge.
In her welcoming speech, event organiser Laura Ginnan from Real Deal Bridge, highlighted the incredible role Victorians play in the international bridge scene. We are currently home to the Vice-President to the World Bridge Federation in Ben Thomson and the World Bridge Federation Chief Tournament Director in Laurie Kelso. The world’s biggest bridge streamer (Peter Hollands from Bridge Vid), and co-host of the world’s biggest bridge podcast (Catherine Harris from Sorry, Partner) are also based in Victoria. And the State Library of Victoria houses the Bourke Bridge Collection, one of the largest collections of Bridge books in the world.
While the field included Victoria’s leading Masterpoints player and a number of state and Australian representative players, the top 5 in the event included players representing a broad variety of clubs: Warrnambool, Whittlesea, Geelong, Northern, Bayside, The Sandhurst Bridge Academy, The Alexandra Club and the Balwyn North Bowls Club.
Our thanks and congratulations go to Laura Ginnan for organising a fabulous celebration of bridge. Thanks also to the Victorian Youth team – the reigning national champions – for their quiet assistance in helping the clean-up post the event.
For additional photos and information on the day please visit the events page at Real Deal Bridge.