Graham captures Bristol Trophy at Weston

THE Bristol Trophy, played at Weston in an ever-freshening wind, brought in some surprisingly good scores.

Graham Osman was the winner with a magnificent nett 64, closely followed by Steve Burroughs (65) and Andy Balcombe (67) in third place.

The previous day, the captain, vice-captain, president and chairman entertained their counterparts from Worlebury in the first leg of the Cream Trophy. The Worlebury team captain and vice-captain played particularly well to take a two-hole lead into the second leg which will be played at Worlebury.

Burnham and Berrow’s club team visited Weston for a five pairs fourball better-ball match. It was closely contested with Weston just coming out the winners by three games to two. The Burnham members complimented Weston on a super day and were particularly delighted with the exceptional Sunday roast following the match.

The ladies’ Alliance B team played an away match against Bath B. Kaylee Davey made an impressive debut appearance for the team with an eagle two on the par four 280-yard hole.

Four matches were live after 15 holes, but only Wendy Thomas went on to win. The team remain second in their division with one home match to play this season.

The ladies played their 6-6-6 match with the team of Joan Jenkinson, Chriss Read and Wendy Thomas taking first place with 65 points. Runners-up were Sue Osman, Pauline Lancaster and Virginia Rossi with 60.

The final of the Boulton Cup was played in perfect conditions between Carole Menzies and Di Walker. It was a close match all the way, but Carole played some excellent golf to take the lead, winning on the 16th.

Weston Golf Club is currently offering some attractive packages for golf and social membership. To find out more, call the general manager, Peter Lowery on 626968.

IT WAS fun and frolics at Worlebury Golf Club on Bank Holiday Saturday.

In the morning, there was a fun competition with a number of twists and turns. It was played in pairs, with one partner hitting at least two consecutive shots, but a maximum of three before tagging their partner to take over on a similar basis.

On the first, a persimmon wood had to be used to get the round underway. On the 12th, points could be doubled by going for the more difficult of two pin positions, and on the last hole, the players had to putt with a broomstick putter.

On the 16th hole, professional Gary Marks provided burgers and beer which were expertly served up by Geoff and Marianne Nute.

One of the pair then had to take on the crash helmet challenge. Club captain Paul Gardiner hit a fine tee shot down the middle which, unfortunately, finished slightly short of the green.

The winners of the competition were former club captain, Martin Green and Fallon Trophy holder, Joe Dale. They pipped Malcolm Summers and his partner, Barry Saunders, on countback, both pairings scoring 44 points. A point adrift were chairman of match and handicap, Pete Nuttall and Martin Philip, who beat Craig Conway and Adam Day on countback.

Following this, there was an ice bucket challenge on the first tee. The ice cool recipient was the first team sponsor and captain of this season’s successful Somerset Bowl team, Mick Keen.

Much to the amusement of the assembled throng, Mick demonstrated the art of teeing off before being suitably drenched by two buckets of icy water. Mick showed the grit and determination that will stand him in good stead when he leads the team in the Somerset Bowl final on September 21 against Oake Manor.

It was then down to some serious business for the Avalon team as they took on Mendip Spring, knowing a win would ensure survival in the third division of the league.

The whole team played well to record a convincing win by 4.5-0.5. The match started well with wins for Keri Allchurch and Graham Hewlett by (2&1), and Mike Usher-Clark and Paul Marsh (4&3).

The next two matches were vital, with a half for Robbie McMillen and Jeff Banfield, followed by Stuart Fawcett and Mark Otterburn winning one up. The final match saw captain Tony Westren and Rob Furlong winning 4&3. The defeat for Mendip Spring, has left them in a relegation dogfight.

There was a good turnout for the seniors’ Stableford with Division 1 producing high scores. It was won by Tom Blackett with a fine score of 42 points. Frank Hopkinson was second with 41 and Pete Melhuish third with 40.

It was more of a struggle Division 2, with Tony Evans coming out on top with 38 points, narrowly beating Clive Mealing on countback. Bob Saddler was third with 37.

The Stragglers had a highly entertaining game at Shirehampton which ended honours even. It was an opportunity for captain Martin Morgan to thank club member Paul McAdams for his generous sponsorship this season in providing team shirts.

THREE different competitions at Wedmore started with the seniors’ Stableford.

There was some heavy scoring particularly in Division 3. Barry Royal took first place with a stunning 45 points, which was only one better than both Eddie Parlour and John Sim, with Parlour just winning out on countback.

There were more 40+ scores in Division 1 with John Bennett winning with 42, two better than Mike Munns, with Graham Clifford a shot back in third. Mike Peacock also beat the 40 barrier to win Division 2 on 41 points, with Brian Kidd second on 39 and John Hogan third with 38.

The ladies went for a Bowmaker with two scores out of three to count. Leading the way and winning the team trophy were Eunice Bond, Jenny Thomas and Wendy Lucas, who amassed a score of 84.

In second place was a team of captains, past and present, comprising Alison Dodkin, Ange Webber and Deidre Wheadon, who scored 81 points, pushing the team of Margaret Rogers, Alison Owen and Ann Search into third place by a single point.

The club medal saw the best score of the day coming from new recruit Liam Cann with a six under par 64 to win Division 3 by seven shots from Jay James, with Brian Fry a shot back in third.

Close finishes in the other divisions saw Jeremy Richards win Division 1 with 66, with John Russell a shot back in third with a trio of players on 68, Rob Davis just taking third on countback.

There was a remarkably similar finish to Division 2 with Frank Denniston still maturing with age, winning on 66, ahead of Bobby Jones on 67 and Dom Channon, who beat David Coggan on countback after both scored 68.

There were good scores from the ladies too, with Val Webber winning on 70, one better than Dawn Chadwick, with the ever-improving Hannah Abraham third on level par 72.

IN RECENT weeks, 41 points would have been a winning score in most events at Brean, but not in the August seniors’ Stableford.

Barry Fisher posted that score and did not even end up in the top three such was the great scoring. Leading the way with a massive 47 points was Colin Roberts, but his winning margin was only a single point from Mike Haskins, who chased him all the way with his 46-point return.

Barrie Yearsley was the third player to keep Fisher out of the prizes as his 42-point haul brought him third spot.

The seniors are coming to the end of their summer inter-club matches and their latest match was away to Cannington. Despite an enjoyable day all round, the result went the way of the hosts by four games to two. Brean’s winners were the Pete Lock/Jeremy Savill and Ken Rouse/Barry Fisher pairings.

The seniors’ team also managed to get the victory in the annual triangular match, but only after the equivalent of a stewards inquiry. It was originally believed that the ladies had retained the trophy, but it was discovered that one of the scores had somehow been miscalculated by three points.

The ladies thought they had 180 as a total score, with the seniors on 178, but with three points deducted, they missed out to the most experienced team by a single point. The main club had a disappointing day and brought up the rear on just 153.

Simon Baunton added another win as he topped the pile in the Saturday’s Super Series Stableford with a 43-point return. Tony Richards took second just a single point shy of the winners total and Roger Phillips was third another point back.

The following day it was also Super Series action with afternoon starter Mark Hatfield producing the winning score of 41 points. Runner-up on 39 was Chris Payne, ahead of Steve Mason in third.

Andy Thomas was the big winner in the midweek Stableford as not only did he win with 39 points, one ahead of Steve Mason, he also scooped the healthy rollover two’s pot on offer.