Mark wins Murphy Cup at Worlebury

THE winners of the last year’s monthly medals competed at Worlebury for the Murphy Cup for the best nett score and the Tilke Putter for the best gross.

It was a close contest and despite junior Matty Blackman having a hole in one on the 12th, it was Mark Otterburn who won the cup with a fine round of 67.

This was one shot better than Henri Josling, who took second place on countback from Steve Biddle and Steve Taylor. Club champion, two-handicapper Josh Freeman, took the Tilke Putter with a gross score of 72.

The seniors held their annual past captains match and dinner with 15 contestants taking to the course. The match was played in dry, but rather windy conditions which made scoring difficult.

The winner of the competition on countback with a score of 37 points was last year’s captain Jerry Miles, who beat Brian Eleanor on countback.

Fifteen juniors competed in their 36-hole club championship. The morning round was played in cool, rainy conditions which made scoring tricky The exception was Jack Partridge, playing off six, who scored an excellent 71 gross which gave him a seven-shot lead in the gross and three shots in the nett.

With better conditions in the afternoon, the scores improved as the field attempted to close in on the leader. Despite having three double bogies on the front nine, Jack recovered to win the Phillips Maggs Shield for best gross with a total of 150, three shots ahead of Miles Richardson.

Davina Xahn won the Praill Cup for the best nett. A superb 61 in the afternoon took her clear of the field after a solid 71 in the morning. A special mention goes to Sam Grant, who, in only his second competition had a second round score of 62 nett to finish second on 135, pipping Jack Butterfield on countback.

Thanks to club member Mike Ham for donating golf balls as prizes to the winners and Denis Thompson for nearest the pin prizes.

Another good field of 13 competed for the Centenary Trophy, the final junior competition of the summer holidays.

The day resulted in some excellent scoring with the higher handicappers showing their future potential. Alex Chandler (20) was pushed into third on countback by George Williams (22) with nett scores of 66.

The winner added the trophy to his excellent performance the week before, as Sam Grant carded another nett 62, his performances has seen his handicap reduced by seven shots in one week.

THE highly-successful junior academy at Worlebury Golf Club, which has been in existence for over two years, will be starting up again at the end of September and running on a weekly basis until the end of November.

Sarah Burnell, who has done valuable work with the academy has moved to pastures new, therefore the club’s resident professional, Gary Marks, will be running it with the assistance of fellow professional, Iain Rankin, and members of the junior organising team.

Children aged six or older are most welcome and parents should contact Gary on 01934 623932 or email him on worleburygolfpro@gmail.com

Josh Freeman receiving his prize from club captain Paul Gardiner, along with Martin Green, who, with his partner Joe Dale, won last week’s Tag competition.

Worlebury seniors pictured prior to dinner.

WESTON Golf Club again hosted the SLCGA Generation Cups competition.

The day produced some excellent scores from these young, up-and-coming county competitors. Weston’s Reine O’Reilly and her partner Chloe Wedlake, from Tickenham, won with an impressive 43 points, winning for the second consecutive year.

Playing a greensomes Stableford format, they scored 19 points on the front nine and 24 on the back. The competition, organised by Sally Irlam, a member of the county junior committee, comprises of a county junior player partnered by a lady player, one of whom must have a bronze handicap.

In the same competition, Beryl Richards, who plays off nine from Taunton Vale, scored a hole in one on the 11th hole.

The Avalon A team played their final fixture of the season away at Long Sutton. The team finished comfortably mid-table, despite their 4-1 defeat.

The first team played away at Kingsdown and halved their match, while the ladies’ A team had a fantastic win away against Shirehampton. They won five matches, gaining a valuable 10 league points.

Despite some challenging conditions, the ladies’ Teachers Trophy brought in the top three scores well under par. Jan Bishop took the trophy with a superb nett 67 on countback from Sally Irlam, also with 67. One shot behind was Melanie Rossi with a nett and Wendy Homer in fourth place with a 74.

The ladies’ friendly team had an honourable half at home against Oake Manor.

In the Silver Open at The Bath, Weston player Jade Cope won the Jenny Hobbs Trophy with a nett 74.

Reine O’Reilly, Sally Irlam and Chloe Wedlake with Generation Cups.

THE golfing week got off to a wet start at Wedmore with the Richard Banks Trophy, a bowmaker in memory of the popular member of the club.

It was a tribute to him that few were put off by the torrential rain and most came in with respectable scores.

Leading the way with a more than respectable 88 points were Sue and Alan Chambers, Brian Warner and Chris Norris. This put them three points clear of Graham Clifford, Derek Osborn, Jim Crick and Nick Smith, who just edged out Dennis Howard, David Russell, Barry Royal and Clive Williams by a single point. The event also raised £225 for Weston Hospicecare.

The ladies played another of their combined events with the medal also incorporating the James Jug, a trophy for those players on a 30+ handicap.

There was a close finish in this with both Linda Roberts and Alison Owen finishing on nett 79.

An eight on the penultimate hole nearly cost Roberts the trophy, but she recovered to par the final hole to win on countback, with Ruth Pearson a shot behind in third place.

The medal itself had a clear winner with Diane Miller the only player to play under par on the day, her 71 putting her two ahead of Maggie Morris with Ange Webber claiming third place on countback from Hazel Gough on countback, after both finished on 74.

On the same day, a group of the lower handicap players travelled to Bath to play in the County Silver Championship. Most players struggled in wet and blustery conditions, but Liz Hill claimed runners-up place in the Dickenson Cup, behind Gill Brown of Mendip with a nett 78.

Chris Norris, Brian Warner, Sue and Alan Chambers together with runners-up Nick Smith and Jim Crick, receiving their prizes from Ann Banks and captains Brad Ruddick and Ange Webber, following the Richard Banks Trophy at Wedmore.

PETE Douglas produced a stunning nett 63 to win the Brean seniors’ August medal with shots to spare.

He raced to the turn in three under par gross 32 in probably the worst of the wet conditions and his back nine of 41 gave him a four-stroke cushion over Tony Roper. Roper was two clear of a pair of players on 69, who tied for third spot with George Stratford just edging out Barry Fisher for the bronze position.

Woodspring seniors came and conquered the Brean seniors in an inter-club match. The visitors seemed to enjoy the sea air and won by 4.5 games to 1.5. The dependable Barry Fisher and Mo Sanders were the only winners for the home team, while Ken Rouse and Charlie Hastie halved their game.

Chris Payne racked up a superb 45 points to win by four shots in the Super Series. Even though he dropped four shots to par in the last five holes, he still held a comfortable advantage over Suzanne Hatfield, who took the runners-up position.

Fresh from a midweek lesson, Hatfield put the advice to good effect as she produced a round which saw her handicap drop another shot to 18. Third place went to Murray Parsons on 37.

The following day Tony Groves took the top spot in the Super Series round with a 39 point score. He defied the stiff breeze to collect the win by a single point from Pete Dunn.

Five players all returned 37 points to tie for third, which was eventually awarded to Phil Barry after a countback.

The annual mixed match against Worlebury was hosted by Brean with the Breanbury Trophy up for grabs.

The match was a close affair and the final scoreline reflected that with both sides earning 3.5 apiece to end all square overall.

The Avalon Division 2 side ended their home games for the season with a swift rematch against Windwhistle. Having faced each other last weekend, it was the Brean players who edged the close match.

The deciding match saw Dave Porter and Phil Hodgson three down with three to play, but they won the final three holes to secure the crucial half point which brought a winning 3-2 scoreline for the hosts.