Invitation day at Worlebury

A STRONG field took to the course at the annual invitation day at Worlebury.

The early starters enjoyed the best of the weather with the partnership of Berry and Dodd taking full advantage to edge home with 42 points, beating Nicholls and Gait by a single point. In third place were Griffiths and Pounsberry, who lost out on countback.

The June medal was also a close affair with good entries in all three divisions. Winning the first division was Jim Walton with a nett 67, pipping Malcolm Summers by one point with veteran Nick Extence, a further two points adrift.

In Division 2, Phil Hawkins was a clear winner with a nett 68, followed by Andy Collard on 71 and Colin Cleeves with a 72. Andy Ullyott won the third division with a 67, Terry Santo had a 68 with Steve Cornish on 69.

The annual triangular match between the past captains of Worlebury, Enmore and Wells took place with the latter making home advantage count to take the trophy from Worlebury’s grasp. This event is its 17th year and marks the close relationship between the three clubs.

The seniors held their annual Hall of Fame competition, the overall winner being John Ratajczac, who won the second division with 37 points. Mike Bibb had 36 and Ken Hirst 35.

The first division was won by John Jones who also had 37 points, with the Malcolm’s, Summers and Simpson both having 35s.

Worlebury Golf Club winners with club captain Keith Wharton.

EACH month, the Platinum Golf Academy at Bleadn, runs a competition for their most improved student.

This accolade can be awarded for improvements made during a single month, a major change to technique over a long period of time, the winning of a major competition or a noticeable reduction in handicap.

This month, Brian Warner of Wedmore Golf Club has been named as student of the month for the outstanding changes he has made to his swing. Even though Brian has a low handicap of 10, he had been struggling with his swing.

After a recommendation from another student of the Platinum Golf Academy, Brian decided to pay them a visit. In just over a month, Brian has begun to make big steps towards improving his game, working closely with head coach Scott Thompson.

This was a closely run competition, with fellow pupils of the academy, Chris Davidson and Craig Conway winning the gross and nett club championship at local course Worlebury.

To view the changes Brian has made please visit our website www.platinumgolf.co.uk.

IT was another busy week at Wedmore which ended with a Stableford competition for the PGA Trophy.

The ladies played in two divisions with, strangely, matching results. Ladies’ captain Deidre Wheadon scored 36 points to win Division 2 with a five point margin over Di Cornelius. Judy Cutter also scored 36 to beat Carol Jackson into second place in Division 1, again by five points.

There was a clear overall winner though with Dawn Chadwick playing below her already low handicap to amass 37 points to claim the trophy.

The men’s competition produced a much closer finish. Both Steve Lockley and Matt Berry had fantastic rounds to score 43 points. It took a birdie from Lockley on the final hole to give him the edge over Berry on countback and take the trophy.

This left Berry as winner of Division 1, four points clear of Graham Sugg, who again needed countback to get the edge over John Melwani. Division 2 went to Darren Cornish whose 42 put him just one behind the leaders and two clear of runner-up Dave Craddock. Nigel Young was third with 39 points.

Earlier in the week, the ladies held their monthly medal which incorporated a gross competition for the Summer Bowl, as well as a prize for the least putts in the round.

The Summer Bowl was won by Liz Hill who went round in an excellent gross 85. Val Rosser took just 27 putts in her round to win the putting competition.

There were some very good scores in the medal, despite a strong breeze with Marie Wurttemberg winning with a one-under 71. This put her a shot ahead of Liz Sims in second, who was a further shot ahead of Nan Watt.

The event was followed by a garden party, which despite some rain, raised a wonderful £338 to boost the captains’ charities.

Wedmore PGA Trophy winner Steve Lockley, supported by daughter Ffion, and Dawn Chadwick, receiving their trophies from captains Deidre Wheadon and Tom Bennett.

ISLE of Wedmore ended Brean hopes of another Somerset Bowl win as they won in a close match at Weston.

With the tie all square at two games each, the Jones brothers, Steve and Paul, found themselves heading back up extra holes to decide the outcome of the match. They missed an opportunity to win the game at the 20th hole, but succumbed at the short par three 21st to end Brean’s interest in the event for 2013.

Steve Bateman and Tony Roper and Andy Thomas and Stuart Wills were the winning pairs for Brean.

The Division 6 Avalon League team went down to a 3.5-1.5 defeat at Wells Golf Club. Despite the loss it was an improvement on the 5-0 whitewash they suffered at the same venue 12 months earlier.

Brean ladies travelled south to Taunton Vale for a match and lost out by two games to one to their hosts with Liz Blackwell and Irene Trumper securing the point for Brean.

Alan Marshall continued his good form as he secured a second win in four days at Brean. Hot on the heels of his monthly Stableford success, he beat his new handicap by three to win the third round of the Seniors’ Captains Cup which was played in conjunction with the monthly medal.

His nett 67 shaved yet another shot from his handicap and was five better than runner-up Colin Roberts. Third place went to George Stratford on 73.

John Owen produced a spectacular round as he won the opening round of the new Super Series. He amassed 45 points to win by three from Ron Vine.

Third place went to Roger Phillips on a countback from Ian Adams and Tom Broom after they all handed in cards of 39 points.

In the Texas scramble event, Dan and Tom Broom made light of being a player short to win. Playing in the calmer early morning weather they took full advantage to post a winning score of 56.3 over the 18 holes.

Second place went to another early starting trio in the form of Wally Pape, Tony Higgins and Ian Adams who ended up just 0.5 of a shot behind the winners. Third place went to Gordy and Craig Wheelaghan alongside club champion Charlie Huggins on 57.2.

Brean’s director of golf David Haines accompanied member’s secretary Graham Exton to the regional final of the National Pro Am. It was played at Bovey Castle, on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, but unfortunately the pair did not enjoy the best of days scoring wise.

In the betterball format, they both suffered disasters at the same time meaning that their final score of 75 was not in contention.