This was our second consecutive high-scoring set, with upwards of 15% of competitors registering scores in the 70s.
Standing out from the field this month, with a score of 78/80, is:
John Ghidoni from USA
John is from Fredericksburg, Texas. He grew up in a card-playing family and picked up bridge in college. After a long hiatus, he returned to playing 15 years ago, mostly socially and online, although his full-time practice as a Mohs Surgeon limits his club and tournament availability. He said, “with retirement around the corner, perhaps I should take this result as a hint that bridge should trump golf and other hobbies.” Indeed, when I contacted John to tell him that he had won and ask for a bio and photo, he assumed it was someone winding him up. He is a 6-handicap golfer and rates his chances of shooting a round 10 shots under that as 100,000-1, but still thought he would manage to do that long before winning this competition.
Also on the May Honour Roll, with a score of 76/80, are:
Igor Grzejdziak from Poland,
Espen Gisvold from UK,
Bob McPaul from UK, and
Enrico Guglielmi from Italy
And, with a score of 75/80:
Bill March from UK,
Laura Lipman from USA,
Benjamin Bomber from USA,
Michael Stone from Switzerland,
Takis Bouras from Greece,
Andrzej Krolikowski from Australia,
David Scott Greenstein from USA,
Rik Suyver from Netherlands,
Kresten Sandager Kristensen from Denmark,
Greg West from USA,
Bill Wisdom from USA, and
Ross Davis from Australia
This month, it is the USA who are dominant. We have our second American winner of the year, plus five other USA competitors on the honour roll. A good month, too, for the UK, with three players making the honour roll. Two Australians are also joined by competition entrants from six European countries. Congratulations to them all.