Burnham win county shield at last

BURNHAM and Berrow finally won the Somerset County Pickeridge Bowl, having reached the final for the last four years with a convincing 4.5-0.5 win over Tall Pines at Clevedon.

Burnham, currently the champion club of Somerset, fielded a strong scratch team who were in no mood to be runners-up once again.

John Whitcutt, a current Welsh senior international, returned from international duty where he was undefeated and got the team off to a great start in the top match with a 3& 2 win. Ellis Cook, current county junior captain, beat Phil Dando by a resounding 5&3.

Justin Lane filled the role of anchor man and when he shook hands to win 5&4, he was four under par.

Team captain Adrian Deakins praised his side with the magnificent team spirit getting special mention.

Championship venue Burnham and Berrow also has a nine-hole course (Channel Course) and 13 teams entered the first running of the Channel Course Cup

A magnificent score of 54 points by Team Smith was too much for the rest of the field. Martin Preddy & Martin Brown, Richard Brown & Paul Jenkins, Mark Shepperd &Steve Chivers returned scores of 45 points to take the runners-up spots.

ISLE of Wedmore had a beautiful day for their finals, with five trophies being competed for.

First off was the Frank Edwards men's singles, between Peter Rowntree and Tony Rymell and played over 36 holes. After the morning round which was played to a high standard, Tony had moved into a three-shot lead. In the afternoon, there were no decisive moves until Peter holed his bunker shot to win the ninth.

This seemed to swing the momentum his way so that with just five holes to go the scores were back to all square. However, bunker trouble on the 14th and the two shots being given late in the round proved too much and Tony came back to win 2&1 in an excellent match.

Oddly, this was the closest of all the finals. Ray Dodkin, despite conceding shots came through to beat vice-captain David Russell for the seniors' singles title, the Wilks Cup.

Likewise Wendy Lucas overcame the handicap to convincingly beat Margaret Rogers who had done well to reach the final of the Pinks' Plate in her first full season of competitive golf.

In the ladies' pairs competition, the Crandon Cup, Ange Thorp and Chris Simpson never got their game together and lost convincingly to Maggs Willetts and Marlyn Jackson. The mixed pairs, the Guys 'n' Gals was also won convincingly, by Glenda Donald and Bill Lander, with opponents Alison Dodkin and Jim Sims never being able to get back on terms after a poor start.

This was some compensation for Bill, who on the previous day together with Mike Garbutt had lost the men's pairs, the Peter Hathaway Four Ball Better Ball, to father and son combination Terry and Harry Edwards.

The day was finished off with the presentation of prizes and it was great to see this attended by every single finalist, including June Smith who had won her match the previous week. A good number of spectators as well as players stayed on for a meal to finish off an extremely enjoyable day.

WESTON seniors' autumn golfing season has commenced with a Stableford competition played in wonderful conditions, a little run on the fairways and the greens a little slow allowing the players to score well.

Congratulations to Ray on his splendid score, nice to see that his recovery from the recent illness is progressing well.

Results: R Hammond 43 points; V Bush41; J Ness 41; J A M Morgan 41;G Somerville 40; R Harris 40; J Blackhurst 40; D L Bates 39.

Don Rowland Trophy (Bogey competition): Winner D Edwards +6.

Division 1: D Edwards +6; S Wylie +3; T Jenkinson +2; N Cook +2.

Division 2: W Chase +6; A Morgan +4; J Greaves +3; A Zanelli +2.

WORLEBURY Ladies' Weekend Medal: J Tiney 76 nett. September Medal,

Silver: H Cox 72 nett; H Clarke 75. Bronze, EGWA Medal and LGU Brooch: R Firth 66; M Sweet 71; I Swift 73.

Weekend Stableford: H Clarke 39 points. September Monthly Stableford,

Silver: E Limer 34. Bronze: J Nicol 41; W Larner 40; M Sweet 39.