Jack emerges winner of the Scratch Salver at Worlebury

HIGHLIGHT of the week at Worlebury was the final of the Scratch Salver, which was contested by two of the club’s most promising youngsters, Jack Partridge and Matty Blackman.

In a high quality final, which was a credit to both players, 15-year-old Jack edged out Matty on the first extra hole. The weather was unkind but the protagonists seemed unaffected and the golf was first class.

Matty had a comfortable lead of three up after the morning session, shooting an excellent 68 in a round sprinkled with birdies. Jack was no slouch, returning a gross 72.

In the afternoon session, he set about clawing back Matty’s lead, which he did so by the turn. He built on this and was two up with three to play, only for Matty to rally and win 16 and 17.

After 36 holes the pair could not be separated and it was Jack who held his nerve with a par on the first extra hole to win the day.

After a lull, the Avalon teams were back in action, but both teams struggled. It was particularly disappointing finish for the Royals, who signed off the season with two defeats and their hopes of winning Division 7 is now out of their hands.

A narrow loss of 8-6 away to their nearest rivals Mendip Spring B, was followed by a similar result at home to Wheathill C. Wins for John Melwani/Jack Allen and Mark Puddy/Leigh White got the Royals off to a flying start against Wheathill, but vice-captain Adrian Marshman and Dave Collard and captain Nathan Talbot and Paul Coumis, lost their matches.

James Marshall and Tom Main worked hard for a vital halve on the last hole, which may prove invaluable come the end of the season.

The Royals remain the top of the table, 19 points clear of their nearest challengers Mendip Spring B, who have two games remaining, so it is going to be a close run thing for the top spot.

Nathan and Adrian would wish to thank all the players who have turned out for the team, as well as the club for accommodating the team and guests so well

Paul Hibbard’s team in Division 3 still have one game left. They are safe from relegation in a competitive league and this is to their credit.

They put in a sterling performance at home to league leaders, Taunton and Pickeridge, but went down by three matches to two. Good wins were recorded by Jeff Banfield/Jim Skinner and Rob Furlong/Andy Collard.

The pairings of Stewart Fawcett/John Wright and Tony Westren/Mick McManners battled hard, but both lost one down. The last pairing of Mark Otterburn and debutant Russell Priest, went down 4&3, despite the former being level par gross when they lost.

The team then lost heavily at Enmore. Only two games were finished because of thunder and lightning. Paul and Rob McMillen decided to concede the match in view of the conditions just before the klaxon sounded. The end result was a 4-1 win for Enmore.

The seniors have had a busy few days with two social matches and also the serious business of a board competition.

Competitors in the Bernard Oldfield Salver were greeted with heavy downpours, which led to a number of call-offs, but 44 intrepid souls were not cowed by the conditions and braved the elements.

Of these, 29 finished the round and should be congratulated on their fortitude. The winner with a nett 66 was John Millar, who joined Worlebury recently from Mendip Spring.

It was a double first for John as he also won the charity raffle. Stuart Lock continued his fine run of form taking the runners-up position with a 68. Countback was required to decide third place, which was taken by Mike Parfitt over Alan Hartree and John Roberts, each returning 70.

Cannington were put to the sword in a social match, Worlebury running out 5-1 winners. The recent rain and good management had left the course in fine fettle.

Seniors’ vice-captain Ron Stevens and partner Malcolm Simpson played very well and won 7&5, but were upstaged by the deadly duo of Ron Jamieson and Fred Spearing, who romped home to another fine win, this time by 7&6.

Tony Williams of Cannington was nearest the pin on the 12th. The prize for this, earned on the 18th at Tall Pines a week ago, was kindly donated by Worlebury member, Tony Foster.

The seniors had their come-uppance, however, when they played the ladies in their annual encounter. Smarting from a heavy defeat last year, the ladies, under the leadership of vice-captain Michelle James, came out fighting and won narrowly by five matches to four.

Seasoned campaigners, lady president Jill Phillips and her partner Hazel Cox, four down with five to play, somehow turned it around to record an unlikely win one up and this proved decisive.

A sumptuous cream tea went some way to easing the seniors’ pain as captain Mike Williams, presented the coveted trophy to Michelle.

Club captain Peter Phillips, hosted the past captain’s annual summer bash with 15 taking to this course for a 15-hole competition and 17 having dinner. Martin Green won the competition with 34 points, pipping Steve Rowlands and Jim Sutherland by one.

Pleasingly, each of the last 10 captains were in attendance as well as a number of more senior figures. It was an opportunity to present a gift to Eric Waghorn in recognition of his 90th birthday and to give best wishes to two captains on the eve of their birthdays - Paul Gardiner on his 60th and the “father of the house” - the longest serving captain Ray Dunston, who is slightly older.

FORTY-FOUR players enjoyed a celebratory lunch at Weston Golf Club following the captain’s drive-in.

The ceremony had been postponed due to adverse conditions in March and the weather threatened a repeat performance. In anticipation, ladies’ captain Julie Ward kindly provided suitable headwear for her team.

However, after a damp start, the skies cleared and an enjoyable round was had by all. The four captains - Scott McKechnie, Julie Ward, John Morgan and George Worthington teed off successfully to much applause.

The winners in the clubhouse were Mel Rossi, Adrian Gillett, Dave Ward and Roger Preston. Runners-up were Sue Garrett, Dave Cummins, Eddie Langford and Mick McKee. In third place were Beryl Robert, Ian Goldsworthy, Cathy Preston and Dave Chance.

The prize for the brightest dressed team went to Steve Corrick, Fred Donbavand, Les O’Reilly and Bobby Ferrari. The winner guessing the combined length of the drives was Jill Walker. The distance was 708 yards.

Continuous heavy rain drenched the entrants participating in the seniors’ Texas scramble. Despite the atrocious conditions, the course was in superb condition and the scores were low.

The winners were Anthony Barry, Stephen Burrough, Nigel Jillings and Roy Schubert with 60.7. Runners-up with 61.9 were Derek Cook, Jim Ness, Dave Reynolds and Peter Sedley-Jones. Dennis Chilcott, Mike Dyer, Eddie Langford and Gerald Taylor were third with 62.4.

The aggregate of two bogey competitions brought in some good scores from the ladies. Gay Long was the overall winner with an excellent +2. In second place was Kath Farrant (0) and third to sixth place were all -1, Alysia Rees taking third on countback.

The ladies’ medal was won by Kath Farrant with 70, followed closely by Bobby Ferrari also on 70 and new member, Jean Cooper on 71.

IT WAS a quieter week at Wedmore, but not necessarily for the seniors, who fitted in three matches during the week.

These started with a convincing win over Mendip Spring, followed by two hard fought draws against Long Ashton and Weston, as perhaps tiredness began to take its toll.

The ladies were also in action as usual, holding their monthly medal which also incorporated the James Jug, a competition specifically for higher handicaps, won this year by Jill Cornelius.

There were some good scores in the medal, although the heavy rain earlier in the week took some of the run out of the ball. The winner and only player to come in under par, was Diane Miller who recorded a nett 71.

This put her four ahead of second-placed Jan Jenkins, who had a strong finish after struggling on the par fives. Ladies’ captain Ann Adams took third place on 76, just beating Sarah Mathews on countback. Cathy Olive was third on 77, ahead of a group of players on 78.

The week finished on a high note with a win in the mixed friendly against Long Sutton in an enjoyable, but close match. Wedmore winning by four matches to three.

DAVE Bradley had the round of the day in the August monthly Stableford, which also incorporated the annual international match for the members.

He notched a superb 46 points to win Division 2 by four shots from Chris Payne and with it reduce his handicap by three shots.

With all the players representing one of the four home nations, Bradley helped his adopted Scotland and their captain Stewart Garrett to victory ahead of Ireland.

The Division 1 Stableford award went to Steven Eley with 40 points, ahead of club champion Stuart Wills on 37. Roger Broom was the Division 3 victor with a 41 point card, as he held a four-point winning margin over Gordy Wheelaghan.

On a damp Bank Holiday Sunday morning, 15 teams headed out to contest the Margaret Copp Chalice, played in memory of the popular former ladies’ captain.

Scoring was low in the four-player scramble, with over half the nett scores being in the 50s. The winning quartet consisted of Murray Parsons, Andy Chapple, Tony Richards and Russell Shaw, who carded a gross 60, which equated to a nett 54.9 when their handicap allowance had been removed.

Runners-up were Stuart Wills, Andy Thomas, Paul McLanaghan and Eamonn Wynne on 55.9, while Phil Hodgson, Dave Porter, Steve Eley and Simon Baunton were third with their 56.4 score.

Barrie Yearsley was top of the pile in the August seniors’ medal. He carded both the lowest gross and nett scores on the day when his 11 strokes were deducted from his 77, to leave him with the winning score of 66.

It was one better than the runner-up Roger Phillips, who shaved a shot off his handicap with his 67. Third place was decided after a three-way countback, with Ken Ponter getting the nod for third.