Tuesday, May 17
St. Petersburg BC is the third of the Florida clubs, with just as great of a facility as the others. Charlie Gill presented me with a St Petersburg shirt which he suggested that I wear to the remaining clubs on the tour. He presented rank advancements to club members before the game. They had a cocktail party with wine, hors d’oeuvres and desserts for 45 minutes before the game also. I played with Charlie and we started against Donna and Eric Rodwell. On the first hand Donna opened 1♥ with Axx 10xxxxx void A10xx. Eric bid 6H holding 10xxxx AKQxx AQx void. One of Donna’s spades went on the diamond ace and -1430 was worth 1/2 matchpoint. I don’t learn quickly, on the second hand I held x AKQJxx AQ Kxxx. Eric opened 2♠, I doubled, Donna bid 4♠, two passes, I bid 5♥, Donna bid 5♠ and I doubled. Donna tabled A10xxxx x KJx AJ9. We now had 1 matchpoint after two boards. We rallied to 3rd but there was no trifecta.
It was a great two days on great Tampa Bay, seeing three great clubs and lots of people who love the game. My thanks go out to everyone who came out to welcome me. I left for Mississippi and still feel great.
Eric Rodwell
Craig modeling the shirt he was given by St. Petersburg BC
ACBL President Craig Robinson
100 Clubs in 100 Days 