Burnham & Berrow through to the final of the Somerset Bowl

BURNHAM & Berrow Golf Club are through to the final of the Somerset Bowl after a thrilling victory over Tall Pines at Clevedon.

Second match out, Neil Folland and Matt Houghton lost a tight match on the 18th, before the pairing of Andy Fisher and Dave Pearce won comfortably 5&4.

The debutant pairing of Jim Vearncombe and Jack Palmer were two up through 12 when Jack twisted his ankle, but he soldiered on with the help of club captain Martin Wilkins, the pair eventually winning two up.

The previously unbeaten anchor pairing of Neil Darby and Justin Lane were defeated 2&1, which left the match in the hands of match one, Adrian Deakins and Harvey Sampson. Two down with two to play, they won 17 and 18 to take the match to an extra hole. They held their nerve to win the hole with a par four.

The Burnham junior team of Miles Richardson, Charlie Huggins and Dan Solomon won the Somerset Junior League Knockout Cup against Farrington at Cannington.

The match was played in a competitive spirit with both teams showing good respect to their opponents. Solomon went down 3&2 after some good play by his opponent. Richardson holed a 25-foot putt on the 18th to win the hole and take the match to an extra hole, which he won with a par four.

Huggins’ match also finished all square and went down the 19th. Charlie’s approach just missed the green, but managed a birdie to win the match in dramatic fashion.

Image shows members of both teams after the match.

Miles Richardson, Charlie Huggins and Dan Solomon.

WESTON and Worlebury Golf Clubs hosted their 25th annual golf tournament.

In contrast to recent years, the weather was exceptional, which encouraged large entries from both clubs as well as many visiting golfers. Each day competitions were sponsored by local businesses, including the Beachlands Hotel and Stephen and Co, who have remained sponsors of this event since it began in 1988.

Congratulations to all winners during the week, many of whom were visiting players. The stand-out performance of the week was from Weston players Carl Hall and Adam Sloan who, in the final event of the week, won the BWOC Trophy with an astonishing 48 points – nine under par gross betterball.

The final prize giving presentation was held at Weston, with Steve Corrick and Keith Wharton, captains of Weston and Worlebury Golf Clubs respectively, presenting the prizes and trophies, which was followed by the traditional buffet reception for guests and winners.

Weston captain Steve Corrick (left) and Worlebury captain Keith Wharton (right) with the week’s prize winners.

WESTON hosted its four-ball better-ball open with a large field of 70 teams.

The winners were Weston pair of Aussie Dennison and Dave Twigg, who went out early when the wind was at its worst. It was a remarkable performance from Dennison, whose score counted on all of the last 14 holes.

The winning score of 43 points included three birdies, but it was an eagle on the 13th for five points which proved decisive. Runners-up were John Greaves and Stephen Welling (42) included too many single point holes.

After a lengthy process of qualifying rounds followed by a knockout, the seniors finally reached the conclusion of the Alan Holt Trophy. The matchplay singles final was played between Nigel Jillings and Ray Harris.

It was a close match being all-square after 18 holes. The first extra hole finally decided the outcome, Nigel Jillings winning the trophy.

Mixed weather conditions welcomed the seniors for their first Texas scramble of the autumn. The team of Mike Dyer, Mike Hill, Gerry Taylor and Peter Sedley-Jones won with a gross 65 (nett 56). Runners-up were Bob Yeomans, Terry Holden, Ken Matthews and John Rowsell (58.5).

Weston ladies friendly team ended a successful and entertaining season with a fine home win over local rivals Burnham and Berrow, who as usual, fielded a strong team. The win ensured that Weston’s ladies maintained a 100 per cent winning record at home this season.

THE senior section at Worlebury have enjoyed a busy few days.

Their open Stableford attracted a number of visitors from neighbouring clubs, but local knowledge prevailed with members bagging the prizes. The clear winner, with his best round for quite some time, was Nick Rowden, with an impressive haul of 45 points.

In second place, making a rare visit to the winner’s enclosure was Ron Jamieson with 39. Clive Mealing was third with 38, beating Bob Anderson on countback.

In the seniors’ medal, Mike Amesbury won Division 1 with a fine nett 68, closely followed by John Williams on 69, with former champion, Alan Hartree, one shot adrift.

Division 2 competitors found the windy conditions tricky, which was reflected in the scoring. It was won on countback by John Ratajczak with 71, pipping former seniors’ captain Kevin Pendergast. David Brimfield was third with a 73.

In the men’s section, the midweek Stableford was won by 26 handicapper Steve Cornish, with an amazing 49 points. Former juniors took second and third places, Jeremy Blackman’s 40 points beating Alex Winn by one.

TWO medals and a Stableford were on offer at Wedmore last week.

The ladies were playing the Stableford and there was also a trophy on offer, the Grannies Cup. The winner this year was vice-captain Ange Webber, who scored an excellent 40 points.

This also put her first in Division 2, but only a single point clear of both Jan Jenkins, who was runner-up on countback and Di Miller. There was a relatively small field in silver division, but still some good scores with Maggie Morris winning on countback from Sue Tarry, both scoring 37 points. Alison Dodkin was third with 36.

There was a familiar name at the head of Division 1 in the club medal as Josh Barwell continued his remarkable run of successes. His handicap fell again as he recorded a nett 68 to beat Dominic Smith (69) and Steve Lockley (70).

Best score of the day came in Division 2 won by Mike Sartain whose 67 put him four shots clear of Mark Cornish (71), with Robert Cornish a shot back in third.

There was a tight finish to Division 3 with Jim Crick winning on 68, one clear of Nigel Young and David Stacey with Young taking second place on countback. In a small ladies’ field, Alison Dodkin won with a nett 71.

Best scores of the week came in the seniors’ medal. This was particularly true in Division 1 with Martin Easton winning with a nett 63, pushing club captain Tom Bennett into second place despite scoring 64 himself. Ray Dodkin was third with 67.

Easton’s was not the only 63 of the day as Tony Metcalf matched this score to win Division 2, putting him five shots clear of second-placed Richard Sanders with Colin Clegg a further shot back in third.

Division 3 went to Clive Williams (68), winning by two shots from both Jim Sims and Bernard Abbott, with Sims taking second place on countback.

Vice-captain Ange Webber, winner of the Grannies Cup at Wedmore.

PHIL Hodgson won the prestigious D&C Open for the second time in three years as he triumphed at Brean.

He returned a superb nett 66, which was also matched by captain-elect Paul Jones, but Hodgson took the silverware on countback. Another countback was needed for third place with Nigel Ellis beating Roger Phillips to fourth spot after both had scored 67. Steve Bateman handed in the lowest gross score of the day with a 73.

Mark and Suzanne Hatfield were the winners of the open mixed greensomes with a 36 point total. This gave them victory by a single point over two pairs who ended up on 35. Ken and Sheila Rouse were declared runners-up ahead of Steve and Gail Mason.

Brean’s bar manager Les Byrne competed in the 25th staging of the Bristol Half Marathon to raise money for the captains charity, Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

He managed to beat last year’s time by just under 10 minutes. He completed the course in 2.21.20.

The annual seniors fun day was played in a different format this year as the competitors were faced with a cross country course.

The layout was designed by Tony Roper and his 10-hole creation was well received by the members. The highlight of the day was treasurer’s Dave Barthram’s hole-in-one playing from the 12th tee to the 11th green (123 yards).

Barthram’s ace helped to be part of the winning team along with Tony Grimes and Bob Masterman with a nett of 34.2. The trio of Chris Stephens, Barrie Yearsley and Bob Hurrell were second with net 35.5, with course designer Roper, Dave Benjafield and Annie Williams taking third with net 36.7.

In addition to the team prizes, there were also some local spot prizes of nearest to the special flags placed around the course. These prizes were mostly claimed by Roy Snell, who found the short range targets to his liking.

Afterwards, the old 18th par three hole was re-incarnated for a one-off nearest the pin competition. This hole has been greatly missed in the revised layouts and the prize was claimed by Ken Rouse who finished two inches inside Roper’s opening pitch.

Les Byrne with his Bristol Half Marathon medal.

THERE were two trophies to be played for in as many weeks for the ladies at Worlebury Golf Club.

The first was the Hon Secretary’s Cup, which is a Stableford competition. The winner with 40 points was Janet Jamieson, runner-up was Amanda Cook with 38.

The second trophy was the Vets and Grannies Cup. Wendy Larner won this with a nett 72 (26) on the back nine from Jill Webb 72 (21).

The St Dunstan’s Cup was also played for which is a mixed foursomes competition. The winners with an excellent 44 points were Martin Chambers and Kate Brown, runners-up with 42 were Peter Phillips and Hazel Cox.