Finals day at the Isle of Wedmore

IT was finals day at Wedmore, a culmination of all the knockout summer competitions.

A break in the weather meant most of the matches were played in sunshine except for the men’s singles played over 36 holes starting in the morning rain. Geoff Fisher struggled in the conditions and was nine holes down after the first round to Graham Sugg. The lead proved too much and despite a fightback, Sugg won comfortably, 8&7.

Leading off the afternoon matches was the ladies’ silver division singles. The benefits of a quick start were shown as Ailene Robertson cruised to a four-hole lead at the turn against Rachel Lockley and went on to win 4&2.

The ladies’ bronze division singles was a closer affair. By the time June Smith and Deidre Wheadon reached the 18th, they were still all square. Both were on the green for three and after Wheadon missed a long putt, Smith held her nerve to sink her putt and claim the trophy.

In the ladies’ Pinks Plate, Linda Roberts always held the edge over Joan Joy and wins at 15 and 16 saw her close the match out 3&2.

The seniors’ singles was another tight affair with Steve Lawrence holding a slight lead down 17, but then driving into water. Mike Munns failed to take advantage leaving Lawrence the winner 2&1.

The seniors’ plate saw David Taylor take a three-hole lead, lose it all to Peter Rowntree, but then fight back again to close the match 3&1 in a tense finish.

Liz Hill and Hazel Gough took a commanding lead over Jane Hewitt and Alison Dodkin, but this slipped down to one before they closed out on the 17th to win 2&1.

Earlier, John Russell and Vera Ireland played impressively to win the mixed competition 5&4 against Carol Jackson and Ian Robson.

In the closest final of all, Mike Garbutt and Bill Lander went down the 19th to beat Rich and James Vowles.

Wedmore ladies captain Deidre Wheadon with the finalists of the pairs Jane Hewitt, Alison Dodkin, Liz Hill and Hazel Gough, with sponsor Hilary Crandon.

IT was a busy weekend for mixed golf at Weston Golf Club with the prestigious Claude Lalonde Trophy reaching its climax.

The eight final couples faced a gruelling 54 holes over two days if they were to take the trophy. The quarter-finals were played in blustery conditions and it was the Weston pairs who advanced at the expense of visiting couples.

In the semi-finals it was the local pairs of Andy and Zena Balcombe and Dave and Sue Garrett who triumphed and contested the foursomes final on Sunday afternoon.

In poor conditions, it was the Garretts who seized the initiative and held a slender lead through most of the match. They consolidated their position by gaining an unlikely half on the 14th with a great shot from a greenside bunker.

With a final desperate attempt to get back on terms, the Balcombes went out of bounds on the 17th and conceded the match 2&1.

It was a double triumph for the Garretts as they were also presented with the Baldwin Stephens Trophy, which is the summer knockout for mixed pairs.

The Walker Plate, a competition for couples who did not qualify for the Claude Lalonde Trophy, was won by Jill Walker herself, partnered by former captain Roger Magor.

It was last year’s winners Les and Vicki Brewin who held the clubhouse lead for most of the afternoon, but just fell short when the winners came in with 37 points, thanks to some superb putting from Walker.

Roger Magor, Jill Walker, John Poole (president), Sue Garrett and Dave Garrett

THE seniors and Stragglers sections at Worlebury have both had a hectic schedule of social fixtures during the course of the season.

They went head to head as the season draws to a close and it was the seniors who prevailed in a lively encounter. The match was closer than the 4-2 scoreline suggests, with two games going down to the final putt.

With the temperatures dropping it was perhaps apt that the seniors held their Christmas bottles competition. The winner in the Division 1 with the best score of the day of 40 points, was John Langdon.

Brian Book’s fine 37 took second place, beating David Clark by a single point. Division 2 was a close-run affair with countback deciding the first two places, Frank Woolman pipping Fred Spearing, both scoring 38 points. Richard Davies was third, one point adrift.

In the latest round of the Order of Merit, Jack Partridge won comfortably with 38 points taking his handicap down to 4.6.

TOM Broom is seeing the benefit of the hard work he is putting into his game as he secured another win in the October medal.

His nett 63 won by four from Stuart Wills, while Mark Hatfield was third on 68. The Division 2 winner was Phil Aspinall, who needed a countback to fend off Dave Bradley and Ian Adams after they all returned nett 67s.

The scoring in Division 3 did not quite match the levels of the higher two flights, but Dai Wood was the victor on nett 75, beating Bob Masterman on countback.

Pete Dunn, Pat Mullholland and Jim McLauchlan joined forces to secure success in the Bowmaker Trophy. They fended off the challenges of the other 15 teams to post a winning total of 129, giving them a one-shot winning margin over Matt Haskins, Steve Mason and Pete Barton.

Third place went to Ian Adams, Roger Phillips and Tony Romeo who were another stroke further back, while Clive Goode, Nigel Ellis and Steve Foy took fourth on 132.

Roger Phillips enjoyed a good day with the putter as he won the October seniors’ medal. His round of nett 64 was three better than Barrie Yearsley. Barrie Tucker was third after his nett 72.