Roy Baker is the toast of Brean Golf Club as he first won the club championship and then holed the winning putt to send the club into the Somerset Bowl semi-finals.

ROY Baker was the toast of Brean Golf Club as he firstly won the club championship and then later in the day holed the winning putt to send the club into the semi-finals of the Somerset Bowl.

He was one of the early starters on Saturday in the first round and made that advantage count as he returned a one over par 72. Steve Peates ended day one as his closest challenger after a 74 and a trio of players comprising of defending champion Steve Bateman, Andy Thomas and Jordan Harris sat two shots further back.

Playing in the final group alongside Baker on day two, were Peates and Bateman who hoped to put some early pressure on the leader.

Baker made a mess of the par three eighth hole running up a triple bogey, which blew the event wide open again. A birdie at the 13th saw him take a narrow lead, but Peates’ challenge faded away after a disastrous nine at the 15th, but he still managed to take third spot overall.

Baker and Bateman both birdied the 16th and Baker then gained another couple of shots on his challengers at the closing two holes to secure a three shot victory.

In the ladies’ event, captain Jenny Vaughan started as the favourite and lived up to that billing with two excellent rounds to claim her hat trick of championship titles.

She returned an 88 on the opening day and improved by four on the second day to pull away from the rest. Shelia Rouse and Irene Trumper took second and third respectively behind Vaughan.

In the men’s club championship nett event, Graham Foy showed the rest a clean pair of heels as he had superb scores of 69 and 65 on his way to a convincing four stroke success. Chris Stephens was the runner-up after scores of 71, 67, with John Cullinan taking third one shot further back.

After the trophy presentation and a brief rest, quite a few of the competitors moved onto Weston Golf Club where they faced Mendip Spring in the quarter-finals of the Somerset Bowl.

The Brean players ignored their tiredness to secure a stunning victory and move the club into the semi-finals of the event. Fittingly new club champion Baker holed the putt to give Brean their third and the decisive point of the tie.

Barry Tucker won the Phil Fudge Trophy played in conjunction with the seniors’ monthly medal. His nett 70 headed Pete Lock and Barrie Yearsley by two shots with Lock taking the runners-up spot on countback.

Two days earlier, the seniors’ team suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Farrington, as they only won one match in seven at the venue.

Brean Professionals David Haines and Andrew March finished well down the field in the West Region Players Championship at Cumberwell Park last week.

? OVER the past two weeks, Weston seniors’ have held two of their most important events of the year.

Over 150 senior golfers from all over the country attended their open day. They were rewarded with a fine day and a golf course in magnificent condition. This meant that the scoring was good in all the categories.

The overall winner was Welshman, J Davies, from Pontnewydd, who beat last year’s Weston seniors’ captain, Rick Fowler, on countback. As the winner could only receive one trophy, regular visitor Ian Sinclair from Clevedon took the prize for the best visitor score.

The day was a tremendous success and congratulations must go to Bob Laband for his organisation before and on the day.

Seniors Open results - overall winner: J Davies (Pontnewydd) 42pts; Hutton Cup (for best Weston player): Rick Fowler 42; best visitor: I Sinclair Clevedon 41; Over-55: P Parker Enmore Park 40; P Horlock (Clevedon) 38; M Wilks (Puckrup Hall) 38; M Leat (Clevedon) 38; M O’Donnell (Reditch) 37; P Cook (Long Sutton) 37.

Over-65: R Blackwell (Brean) 41; D Reynolds (Weston) 40; A Tucker (Weston) 37; G Reice (Lansdown) 37; A Lyon (Long Sutton) 37; S Meyrick (Clevedon) 36. Over-75: D Dodgson (Weston) 38; A Cooksley (Weston) 38; K Davey (Weston) 37.

Best gross: P Isaacs (Long Ashton) 34; A King (Taunton Vale) 29; J Hobday (Tall Pines) 29. Nearest the pin (7th): J Biggs (Worlebury); (11th): P Owen (Weston).

Captain’s Day was held in aid of Roy Schubert’s chosen charity of Children’s Hospice South West. A shotgun start at 8.30am meant that most of the field of 57 got round in the dry.

The winning score of 75 points came from the team of Terry Waite, Keith Hood and Rick Fowler. The competition was followed by a splendid buffet lunch and raffle which helped boost the donation to the charity.

Results: Terry Waite, Rick Fowler, Keith Hood 75pts; John Kane, Jim Brown, Derek Heslington 72; Nigel Long, Keith Davey, Idris Woodfine 70; Alan Tucker, Tom Bacon, Ranjit Mal 69; Robin Webb, Mo Sweeney, Tony Cooksley 68.

Nearest the pin (10th): Tom Bacon; 11th: Ray Harris.

? THERE were two important relegation battles for Weston teams this weekend.

Weston A team entertained promotion chasing Taunton & Pickeridge in Division 5 of the Avalon League.

Roger Thompson and Pete Blunden were first off for Weston, and were quickly four down. However, a magnificent one under par back nine, started by Roger and finishing with four straight pars from Pete saw the Weston pair win two up.

The junior pairing of Sam Fernley and James Browne also staged a terrific comeback from four down with eight to play, only to lose on the 18th. Andy Fernley and Gavin Somers gained control of their match before the turn and held on to win 2&1.

Nigel Browne and Oz Denison were ahead through the front nine, but couldn’t hold off a strong back nine performance from their opponents and lost 3&2. Chris Rimmer and Rob Tate were up against some sub-par golf from the Taunton pair, losing their match 6&4. The final result was a disappointing 3-2 home loss for Weston.

In the Bristol & District League, Weston second team took on fellow strugglers Chipping Sodbury.

The strong pairing of Joe Neary and John McGrail led off for Weston and brought home the first point for the home side, winning 4&3. Steve Thomas and Pete Blunden never got going and went down by 3&2.

Ian Hudson and Kevin Lane played some solid golf and comfortably saw off their opponents. After a shaky start, Nigel and James Browne finally went ahead on the 17th. James then holed a crucial five foot putt on the final green to win the game one up.

In a topsy-turvy match Andy Balcombe and Graham Hicken saw a three hole lead evaporate into two down with two to play, but won the last two holes to secure a valuable half in their game. That meant a vital 3.5-1.5 home victory for Weston.

Meanwhile, Weston Avalon B team travelled to Wheathill and managed to grab a draw from the jaws of victory.

First out, Andy Smith and Jack Radcliffe lost 3&1, but new pairing John Whitewood and Chris Homer easily righted the position with a 4&3 victory. Gary Homer and Steve Corrick contrived to lose two of the last three holes for a one-hole defeat.

Steady performers Steve Blackaller and Dan Hewlett after being four up after 12, needed a classy chip on 18 from Steve to take a one up win. With the final pairing of Kenton Simpson and Alan Harris winning 17 with a putt from Alan, they only needed a half at 18, but Alan’s putting heroics deserted him in front of a packed crowd and an honourable half meant a draw overall.

Special mention to Chris Homer and John Whitewood, who are both undefeated this season in three matches.

? WORLEBURY seniors played two social matches this week drawing both fixtures.

The first match at Lansdown was played in windy and damp conditions, resulting in a 3.5-3.5 draw.

The second match was home against the Isle of Wedmore, which again was drawn 4-4. This extends an unbeaten run to eight matches without loss.

The first team however, have not fared quite so well. In a competitive division, they stopped the rot with a good 4-1 victory at home to Bristol & Clifton.

July monthly medal – Division 1: John Wright 67; Mike Amesbury 67; Martin Green 67. Division 2: Barry Stone 65; Richard Gorton 67; Max Pitcher 67. Division 3: James Walton 61; Kevin Etchells 65; Graham Griffiths 65.

The ladies golf introduction day at Worlebury was a successful event, with many first time players turning up and trying their hand at chipping and putting, under the direction of coach Sarah Burnell.

? WIND, rain, occasional sunshine, over 1,000 rounds of golf, three holes-in-one and lots of happy prize-winners meant it must be Open Week at Wedmore Golf Club.

Play started early on Sunday with a the fourball betterball won by Nigel Jones and Morian Cook with 42 points scored in the worst of the weather. Dave King and Mark Gibbs took second from Claire and Tony Biggs.

Monday was Stableford with visitor Russell James from Durham, winning by three clear shots on 42 points. Divisional wins went to Peter Brown (38) and John Sim (39). Claire Biggs took the ladies’ trophy with 38 points, whilst the divisional honours went to Cathy Olive (37) and Wendy Lucas (32).

Tuesday was a bowmaker with Burnham and Berrow players to the fore. Their team of Justin and Richard Lane, Steve Seamore and D Petrie came first with 84 points, winning on countback from fellow club members Brett Halling Brown and Brian Cains, playing with Steve O’Connell from Mendip and Mark Braley from Villamoura.

Locals Terry and Harry Edwards with Darryl Corelius and John Wormold were third. The Wednesday greensomes went to Bill Lander and Brad Ruddick with 47, the best score of the week. They were followed by Richard Macarthur and Peter Brown and Clive and Sarah Mathews.

Thursday’s medal was won with an impressive net 64 by John Clayton, again from Burnham, with divisional wins from James Sowerby (67) from Yeovil and Greg Cox (68).

Ladies’ winner was Carol Jackson with 71, whilst divisional wins went to Claire Biggs (72) and Esme Gulliver (74).

The Friday Texas scramble always brings incredible scores, despite greenkeeper Kevin Innals’ efforts to hide the holes away. Burnham won again through John Clayton, Ian Lewis and Steve Fraser with token local player Simon Martin with a net 56.3.

Steve and Rachel Lockley, Tony Hoskings and John Marsh were second on 57.2.

That left Saturday, another fourball betterball and a Wedmore clean sweep with a win for Darryl Cornelius and John Wormold with 43 points, one clear of Marlyn and Keith Jackson and Perry Snelgrove and Geoff Fisher.