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In competitive duplicate bridge, partners receive a final score in the form of a percentage, which represents the number of competitors bested, on average, on each hand played. At the end of a round (a couple of dozen hands, give or take), a score over 50 percent is middle-of-the-pack decent, while anything over 60 percent puts you at or near the top. If you and your partner play several times a week for a year, you might hit 70 percent once or twice. (But probably you won’t.)

A score of 75 percent or higher is rare indeed and often good enough to get your name in the national Bridge Bulletin magazine. At Tryon’s Foothills Duplicate Bridge Club, which plays three rounds a week, a 75-or-better game was achieved only once in 2023.

So all were duly impressed on Thursday, May 17, when Carollee Hayward and Laura Spinks turned in a 75.18 percent round. And then, the very next day, Bill Norteman and Tollie Ross hit 75.83. No one at the Club could remember back-to-back results like that, so all took a moment the following week to celebrate these overachievers. 

Foothills DBC hosts two sanctioned games every Thursday and another on Friday at the Tryon Congregational Church, while Saluda Mountain DBC hosts a Monday game at the Saluda Senior Center. Contact Bill at matchcar4@gmail.com for details. 

 

Submitted by Bill McCartha