Andrew in the new captain of county PGA

BREAN Golf Club Professional Andrew March this week took over the captaincy of the Gloucester and Somerset Professional Golfers Association from the 2009 incumbent John Goymer from The Mendip.

Andrew has supported the G&S events over 15 years and also for many years served on the county committee. In this time he has strived to increase the playing opportunities afforded to the players of the two counties over the winter months, as well as performing many other duties for the association. March is looking forward to an enjoyable year in office and one thing he won't have problems doing is contacting the G&S PGA chairman David Haines, as he works alongside him at Brean Golf Club and Burnham Golf Range. Ed Goodwin from Cirencester has been appointed as vice-captain for the coming year.

If you wish to contact Andrew please do so at either Brean Golf Club or Burnham Golf Range or on the Gloucester and Somerset PGA mobile number of 07962 887416.

GEORGE Ryall, Ed Goodwin and Giuseppe Licata all got their 2010 G&S PGA campaigns off to victorious starts as they shared the spoils at Weston after all carding three under par rounds of 67.

The Weston course was in superb condition considering the recent weather and the greenstaff had the greens in excellent shape. With a tricky wind blowing across the links the club had taken the par three seventh hole was out of play, but it's replacement 17A certainly didn't made the task any easier for the competitors.

Licata was the first back in the clubhouse with his 67. It was an eventful round as on the eighth hole, his ball was inadvertently picked up by a member and it took a while to rectify the situation. He did eventually go on to make his first birdie of the day on that hole and that was the catalyst for a run of low scoring over the homeward nine.

An eagle two at the 10th was followed by birdies at the 12th, 14th, 15th and 17th as it only took him 30 shots to cover the back nine. He held the lead right up until the final group came off the course.

This group consisted of George Ryall and Ed Goodwin alongside David Haines. Although Haines didn't feature in the prizes after his round of 71 which was a real rollercoaster affair and included no less than seven birdies, meaning he shared the birdie sweep with Licata.

Ryall, on a course he knows well, opened with an ouble bogey six, but that would be the only shots he would drop all day. He added five birdies over the remaining holes which came at the fifth, eighth, 13th, 14th and 17th holes.

Goodwin was delayed in traffic en route to Weston and only just arrived before his tee time, but he shrugged this off as he made a solid start. After a birdieless front nine he stood at one over par, but just like Licata he made his score coming home. He gained shots at the 10th, 13th (with an eagle), 14th and crucially the closing hole to claim his share of the prize money.

Fourth place went to Trevor Jones on 68, whilst Andrew March took fifth after his round of 69.

A GOOD field of 52 players from Weston Seniors Golf Club completed the 18-hole Stableford competition.

A cracking score of 44 points by Chris Kelly was a clear winner, with John Poole returning an excellent 41 points in second place.

David Bates will remember this day, achieving his first hole in one. He hit a rescue club with the slight draw which finished just behind the hole and resting against the pin. The ball disappeared down the hole as the group arrived at the green. Congratulations David.

Results: C Kelly 44 pts; J Poole 41; G Somerville 40; R Hodgin 40; J Humphrey 39; A Tucker 39; G Tripp 38; T Latchem 37.

WESTON Midweek Stableford - Division 1: J Searle 44 pts; S Acton 40; A Heeney 37; P McKechan 31; K Aplin 26.

GOLFERS at Brean have been playing catch up for some of the competitions which fell victim to the recent poor weather.

The first to be played was the January Monthly Stableford on Saturday contested over a layout suffering after the thaw the snow, followed by more heavy rain and then just to top it off an overnight frost. Credit must go to the greenstaff for ensuring play could go ahead as planned.

This frost meant the temporary greens were yet again employed and scoring was very good. Leading the way with the best score of the day was Mike Carter with a mammoth 50 points.

This gave him a clear victory in Division Two. Runner-up behind Mike in that Division went to Dave Bailey with 47. Wayne Barrett just failed to match Carter's half century of points as he won the Third Division with 49. He was seven clear of Tony Romeo. Steve Mason and Stuart Wills both carded 44 points in the First Division, with Mason securing the prize thanks to a better back nine.

The following day it was the Pairs Aggregate Medal that was re-arranged. Again another frost decreed the temporary greens stayed in play and after more low scoring the leading pair were Stewart Garrett and David Bradley.

Their combined total of 123, with Garrett scoring one less than Bradley, was good enough for a two stroke victory. It was a close run thing for second place as two pairs totalled 125. Graham Foy had the lowest individual score of the day with a nett 59 and his partner Bob Masterman had a 66, but unfortunately their back nine was not quite as good as Trevor Pitt's and Steve Moore's, who had 65 and 60 respectively as they took second.

The only exception to this is on the 17th as the green has been re-laid and a regulation size hole is used. This didn't stop Murray Parsons from recording the first hole-in-one of the year and with it he claimed the entire two's pot.

AFTER a couple of weeks of enforced inactivity, the course at Wedmore showed the first tentative signs of the new season.

First up were the seniors on Monday with an arithmetic bowmaker, The mixture of high and low handicappers always provides a close finish and this week proved no exception with just a single point separating the first three places.

Winners were Paul Burkhill, Ron Vine and John Bussell with 69 points. This was just one point ahead of Frank Denniston, Tony Hoskings and David Russell, who themselves were a further point ahead of Phil Incledon, Graham Jones and Richard Banks.

The ladies moved into more serious action on Wednesday with the first round of the national knockout competition for the Mail on Sunday trophy.

The frosty weather conditions threw the match into doubt in the morning, but the co-operation of head greenkeeper Kevin Innals, combined with the willingness of both sides to get the match played, resulted in a hard-fought but friendly encounter with the ladies from Worlebury.

Eventually the home team of Alison Dodkin, Claire Biggs, Liz Hill, Sue Tarry and Jane Hewitt triumphed by 4-1. The ladies were back again on Thursday for a Stableford. Conditions were no better and this was reflected in the scores. Aileen Robertson took Division 1 with an excellent 35 points, followed by Claire Biggs (33) and Sue Tarry (32).

Maggs Willetts was kicking herself for failing to sign in, as this cost her a win in Division 2. Linda Roberts came out winner with 33 points, followed by Jenny Cornwell (32) and Joan Peck (29).

The final event of the week was the mixed greensomes on Sunday. In frosty but otherwise pleasant conditions, Maggs Willetts made up for her early blunder, when partnering Bob Jones. They romped home to win with a massive 44 points, three ahead of runners up Claire Biggs and Alan Hill.

VISION North Somerset are asking teams of four to enter their seventh annual charity golf day at Worlebury Golf Club on May 7.

Entry fee is �150 per team which includes 18 holes of golf, refreshments on arrival and a two-course carvery. Maximum handicap for men is 28 and 36 for women.

If you don't play golf, why not sponsor a tee for �50 and advertise your business to over 150 possible new business clients on the day.

Entry forms are available from Gary Marks in the pro shop on 01934 623932, Sue Potepa, Vision North Somerset on 01934 419393 or 07549 050 155, e-mail sue.potepa@visionns.org.uk

Russ Nickells 07507 859 228 or e-mail russ.nickells@talktalk.net