Isle of Wedmore Golf Club held its AGM and the new captains took over.

CHANGE was in the air at Wedmore as November moved into December and the Club held its annual meeting.

Outgoing captain Tom Bennett could look back on a successful season crowned by the winning of the Somerset Bowl before handing over to new captain Brad Ruddick.

He could also report on the raising of £6,000 for charity which was divided between Prostate Cancer Research and the Alzheimer’s Society. There was also a farewell from one of the original director’s of the club, Andrew Edwards who is now enjoying a well-earned retirement.

On the golfing front, the seniors were in Christmas mood with festive meat and drinks as prizes for the Christmas Bowmaker.

There was an extremely close finish with the team of John Hogan, Eddie Parlour and Tom Bennett coming third with 88 points, losing out on countback to runners-up Ray Fisher, Bob Jackson and Tony Glover.

There were clear winners though, albeit by only one point and these were Nick Bennett, Phil Incledon and Steve Lawrence who will be heading to the butchers to pick up their prizes.

The annual contest between Cheddar and the Rest of the World took place. Cheddar have won this for the last two years and made it three in a row with a convincing 18½ to 11½ victory with the opposition perhaps suffering from the language barriers in a multi-national team.

In the final event of the week, the pre-AGM bowmaker, there was a victory for new ladies captain Ange Webber. Partnered by husband Brian Webber and Pete Beavan, they ran up 46 points over the front nine holes to secure the prize.

THE annual committee v staff Texas scramble took place at Worlebury.

Played in teams of three, the winners were the trio of professional Gary Marks, ladies’ captain Pam Burnell and committee member Geoff Nute. They narrowly beat the team of chairman of match and handicap Pete Nuttall, head greenkeeper Tim Needham and committee member Mike Strang. In third place were managing secretary Andy Horsburgh, club president Frank Barlow and Stragglers captain Martin Morgan.

In the post match dinner, club chairman Keri Allchurch paid tribute to all staff and committee members who have worked extremely hard to help the club recover from a shaky start to the season due to the wet weather to finish the year on a high.

In the monthly Stableford, the lowest handicapped player in the field, Alan Hartree, had the best score of the day, his excellent 43 points easily winning the First Division. Runner-up was Nathan Talbot with 40, Keith Thomas taking third with 39, pipping Andy Ball on countback.

The Second Division was a close run affair with Gary Harding winning it on countback from Mike Knight, both players scoring 39 points. Malcolm Summers came third, a point adrift; taking it on countback from Dave Blackhurst.

Richard Brown was a comfortable winner in Division 3, with a fine haul of 40 points. Veteran Lenny Thomas was runner-up with 37, a point ahead of Jason Dean, who beat a host of players to take third place on countback.

A LARGE field congregated for the popular Lukee Christmas Cup at Brean.

Over 50 players took to the course for the shotgun start where everyone wins a prize and the leading score in this year’s competition came from Steve Bateman. He carded a superb 42 points to win the overall trophy and his division by two points.

Murray Parsons was the next best score on the day but had to settle for the runners-up spot to Bateman after his 40 point score. The Division 2 top man was Ron Vine with 39 points, just ahead of Pete Dunn on 38.

The victor of Division 3 was 10-year-old Ben Haines who won with 36 points. He held a three point winning margin over Jim McLauchlan. The ladies’ event was won by captain Sheila Rouse, ahead of her captain-elect Annie Williams.

The Sam Smalldon Memorial Trophy is also heading Steve Bateman’s way this year after a spectacular 48-point score in the monthly Stableford.

Despite being one of the lowest handicapped players in the club, the former club champion carded seven birdies and no bogies in his round which saw temporary greens in use for the first six holes.

Runner-up to him in Division 1 was Steve Jones on 40 points. Division 2 winner was Dave Bradley with 42 points, followed by Phil Aspinall on 41, while Mo Sanders won Division 3. Youngster Ben Haines had a storming back nine to take second spot with 33. Suzanne Hatfield won the ladies’ event from Gail Mason.

Murray Parsons and Russell Shaw mastered the three formats, scramble, greensomes and foursomes, which make up the Ransome competition.

A sub par front nine score by the pair paved their way to success as they won by just under a shot from club champion Dan Broom and Pete Barton. Club captain Brian Read and his captain-elect Paul Jones were third.

Dave Benjafield and John Sherwood won the latest round of the seniors Winter League event, finishing with a nett 66.3, giving them a 0.7 winning margin over seniors chairman Wally Pape and Geoff Seaman. In third place were Dai Wood and Chris Stephens on 69.