In the beginning...
The Pontnewydd ladies were at a Christmas dinner in the Glen yr Afon Hotel, Usk during Doreen Collins’ captain’s year, 1981. During a discussion after the dinner Doreen thought it would be a good idea if there was life for “past captains” after their tenure had finished. Edna Wilson then suggested to Doreen that she did something about it!!
Doreen sent letters to all the Gwent golf club ladies sections, asking if any past captains would be interested in joining a Ladies Past Captains Society. Response was good, and the first meeting at Pontnewydd GC was well attended. Gwent Ladies Past Captains Society was subsequently founded in 1982.
The first officers of the society were voted in at the 1982 inaugural meeting:
Captain: Doreen Collins
Vice-Captain: Joan Hughes
President: Joyce Critchley
Honorary Secretary: Eileen Hopkins
Honorary Treasurer: Phyl Vaughan
Doreen remained Captain for the first two years, but since then all Captains have been voted in annually. Between 1982 and 1996 there were four Presidents, but that changed too, and since 1996 Presidents have held office for two years. You can find a full list of all past Presidents and Captains on the society officers page. The Society cloth was made and embroidered by Rosemary from Llanwern Golf Club.

Representatives
Every club nominates one of their Past Captains to attend the representatives (reps) committee meetings which are held four/five times a year; you can find details of our current reps on the committee members page. The Committee is made up of the officers - President, Captain, Vice-Captain, Immediate Past Captain, Honorary Treasurer and Honorary Secretary plus a representative from every club in the Gwent area.
The Reps play for an annual reps trophy, which is awarded for the best overall score in all three matches. This trophy was donated by Phyl Vaughan. In recent years the President has also awarded a memento for the winner to keep.

Golf meetings
It was agreed to hold three golf meetings a year for all members, in Spring, Summer and Autumn, each played at a different Gwent club and at different venues each year. The Autumn meeting is always held at the Captain's golf club, and is followed by the AGM at the same venue.
The three trophies played for at the first three meetings are still being played for today and are as follows:
Spring: Joan Hughes trophy (donated by the Society's first Vice-Captain)
Summer: Joyce Critchley trophy (donated by the Society's first President)
Autumn: Doreen Collins trophy (donated by the Society's first Captain)
Phyl Vaughan initiated the President's Prize.
The current format for every golf meeting is a stableford competition with various prizes being played for.
First prize: trophy and voucher
Second prize: voucher
Third prize: voucher
Front nine prize: trophy and voucher
Back nine prize: prize provided by the President
Sealed holes prize: prize provided by the Captain
One of the front nine trophies was donated by Gwenda Graves of Llanwern Golf Club.
See separate section with details of all past winners on the cometition results page.

Matches
Matches are played annually against Somerset ladies past captains and Gloucester ladies past captains. These are played home and away bi-annually, so that each year one inter-county event is at home and one away. The format is generally four ball better ball with sixteen ladies (eight pairs) playing on each side. These are very sociable matches with lunch and an evening meal hosted by the home side. Travel to away matches is subsidised by the society, with players encouraged to travel together.
A further match is played against the men’s Gwent Past Captains Society. There is a trophy for this match. These sixteen a side matches are generally held at Greenmeadow Golf Club (hosted by the men) or another member club, mostly recently Pontnewydd Golf Club (hosted by the ladies) on alternate years. The format is a four ball better ball stableford competition with the best total score (ladies or men) winning the trophy, normally the men taking the honours!!

Reps Trophy
This is awarded to the rep who has played in all three meetings and has the best overall stableford score combined. The annual prize is donated by the Captain and is presented at the Reps Christmas Dinner.

Marion Protheroe Trophy
This is awarded to the player who has played in all three meetings and has the best scores of two cards combined.

Annual Dinner / Lunch
This has been held at the following venues:
Parc Golf Club
The Coldra Hilton Newport
Celtic Manor Hotel (new and old)
Glan-ar-afon Hotel, Usk
A thirtieth anniversary lunch was held in 2013 at St Mellons Golf Club, organised by Sydney Hoskins. Since 2022 the annual dinner changed to a luncheon. To date it has been held at Tedegar Park GC and Pntypool GC.

Since 2023 the dinner is a luncheon event. There was no dinner held in 2020 - 2022.

Annual Reps Christmas Dinner
This has been held at the fllowing venues:
Greenmeadow Golf Club
Parc Golf Club
St Mellons Golf Club
Tredegar Parc Golf Club
Newport Golf Club
There was no dinner held 2020-2022

Past Captains Kit
A white top and blue trousers/shorts/skirt have remained throuhout. The original jumper colour was grey, which was later expanded to winter white. In 2023 te jumper changed to royal blue. The jumper bears the Society logo.