Avalon League event held at Worlebury

WORLEBURY played host to the Mockeridge Cup, one of the Avalon League’s premier events.

The competition was inaugurated in the memory of Terry Mockeridge, the first secretary of the Avalon League. The format is a four-ball better-ball Stableford.

Twenty teams took part with many finding that the stiff breeze and tricky pin positions making scoring difficult.

Having no such problem however, were the winners, Farrington Park, their 43 points, beating Stockwood Vale B by two with Long Sutton Levellers third, a further point adrift.

Worlebury, represented by Avalon team captain Tony Westren and his vice-captain Paul Hibbard, played well to finish in mid-table respectability with 36 points.

The winners thanked Worlebury for hosting the competition and paid tribute to the quality of the course.

A MIXED greensomes competition was held at Worlebury Golf Club for the Phillpott Trophy.

The competition was the culmination of a series of greensome events held throughout the winter, and the trophy was won by Darryl and Michelle James with a great score of 42 points.

WESTON put out a strong side to play against Cannington in the first round of the SGU Pickeridge Bowl at Enmore.

Playing off scratch, the team held off the opposition to finish 4-1 winners. Jack Radcliffe won 6&4, Andy Dibble one up, Nigel Browne 3&2 and his son James won 4&3. Freddie Ferrari had a great round, but gave Cannington their only win 6&4.

The prestigious Fourball Cup was held in favourable conditions. Even off a threequarter handicap, the scores were low with half the field of 54 pairs below par nett.

The winning pair of Glen Taylor and Eddie Langford came in with 62, followed by the formidable father and son pairing of Roy and junior captain Harry Turner carding 64. In third place were Rob Brenchley and Stephen Smith and fourth Sam Fernley and George Worthington.

On a blustery day making scoring difficult, Michael Latham came through strongly to shoot a creditable nett 69 to win the seniors’ Derrick Wood Trophy. David Andow was two shots back with 71 and Chris Kelly third on 75.

There was a full field for the ladies’ second millenium qualifier. Cathy Preston came in first with 35 points, Katrena Thomas second on countback with 34 from Di Walker.

In the second round of the Daily Mail Foursomes, Di Walker and Sally Irlam had a 7&6 win. They were up against Jackie Richards and Pat Rogers, a strong pairing from Burnham and Berrow, but secured the win on the 12th hole.

The ladies’ Alliance B team only needed two points to retain their position in the league and although they lost their match against a strong side at Tracy Park, secured their place with four points.

MAIN event of a busy week at Wedmore was the ladies’ spring meeting.

This comprises an individual Stableford in the morning followed by nine-hole bowmaker in the afternoon. Liz Hill was best in the silver division to win the Midgley Cup by three points from Eunice Bond with Carole Lewis a further three points back in third.

The bronze division was more closely contested with Sue Hughes winning the Fry Cup by two points from Deidre Wheadon and Wendy Lucas. It was a double success for Hughes, who followed up her win in the morning with a win in the bowmaker along with Ann Adams and Linda Roberts.

The seniors’ started the week with the captain/pro challenge with Peter Rowntree and pro Nick Pope taking on all-comers and scoring a respectable 36 points. This was not good enough to win though, with John Hogan and Trevor Stone amassing 42 points. The seniors progressed to the second round of the County Scratch Cup with a 3-2 win against Long Sutton. Following wins from Tim Harris and Bill Lander, Tony Glover came from behind to clinch a win on the final hole to save the match.

In the club Stableford, the best scores came in Division 2 with young Sean Gray winning on 42, two better than Derek Moody with Paul Dickie third on 38. Tom Smith won Division 1 on 38, three better than both Jason Hann and Darryl Cornelius.

Division 3 went to Nick Smith with 38 points with Keith Rabbitts just beating John Vowles on countback for third place. Chris Simpson had the best score of the ladies.

NICK Agar won the Stableford at Burnham & Berrow Golf Club with 39 points.

Three points at the difficult last hole provided a one-shot victory over Rob Humphries, Steve Haines and Bryan Gunning, who all scored 38 points.

The cool breeze which turned into a cold wind for the players in the afternoon provided a stiff test to the competitors on the championship links. Division 2 was won by Ron Henderson, who also won with 39 points, two ahead of Chris Perry.

The ladies’ Ping four-ball better-ball competition was won by Jackie Richards and Catherine Turnell with 36 points, two ahead of Jean Booth and Annette Poynton.

SENIORS’ captain Allen Fellingham found out who would join him in June’s pro-celeb am team at Brean following the qualifying round.

Pete Douglas took top spot with his nett 73, beating Barrie Tucker on countback. In third position was Roger Phillips on 74 and the trio will now represent the seniors’ later in the year.

The seniors’ team played the first of their many inter-club games at home to Taunton Vale. Captain Fellingham led his team into battle and the match finished 3-3.

The Avalon League Division 6 side got their campaign underway with a trip to Minehead. The side collected six league points, despite losing 3-2.

The Brean Somerset Bowl team enjoyed more success as they won their first round match in this year’s competition. The 2011 winners whitewashed Tickenham 5-0 at the neutral venue of Worlebury.

Nigel Hodges was the only player over the 40-point mark as he collected the win in the Super Series Stableford. His excellent card of 41 saw him two ahead of Neil Barker, who in turn beat his playing partner Ron Vine by a point.