Three outstanding rounds of golf were recorded in the May medal at Worlebury Golf Club.

The May medal produced three outstanding rounds of golf in Division 1 at Worlebury Golf Club.

Andy Cooper, playing off two, had six birdies in his fine round, a gross 69, but this was only good enough for third place. Course record holder, one handicapper, Simon Demsey, also shot six birdies in his magnificent gross 66 to take the runners-up spot.

They were eclipsed however by Pete Gilpin, his brilliant gross 69, with four birdies, gave him a nett 64 and the prize

Popular Pete, who has been a member at Worlebury for over 40 years since he joined as a junior, is one of the finest golfers the club has produced. This is the best score he has shot for over a decade and his current handicap, just reduced to four, is approaching the lowest he has achieved in the game.

Veteran Alan Woolford won Division 2 with a fine nett 66, edging out Craig Buck by a shot. Dave Collard took third place with a 69, pipping Mark Burland and Andy Taylor on countback.

Adrian Heeney won Division 3 with a nett 67. Dale Rendall took his customary runners-up spot with a 69. Andy Judkins’ 71 took third place, pipping Frank Woolman and Simon Cowgill.

By comparison, the scores in the first round of the Pro Trophy were poor, which could largely be attributed to the weather conditions. The early starters had the best of the day but the majority of the field had to battle against a strong wind, squally showers and, to cap it all, hailstones.

By the time professional Gary Marks went out to play, the wind had picked up and the temperature had plummeted and the end result was that a higher than usual proportion of the field qualified for the final.

The best score of the day was returned by Somerset Bowl captain Mark Otterburn, with a highly creditable nett 68. Bill Watson shot a very good 70 to take the runners-up prize. Dave Pope came third on countback, pipping Mark Puddy, Josh Freeman and Ben Main, each scoring 71s.

The ladies held their Ping four-ball better-ball competition. This was won by Emma Bourton and Ginette Bright with 37 points. Maxine Gardiner and Marnie Sweet came a close second with 36 and third, with 34, were Angela Bagley and Lorna Macivor.

Worlebury’s teams were in action with pride of place going to the five who won through against Tall Pines in the Pickeridge Bowl scratch competition. Following close behind, was an fine performance by the Avalon Royals, who recorded their second win in quick succession against Mendip Spring B, to see them go top of their league.

Playing at the neutral venue of Clevedon, Worlebury were too strong for Tall Pines and won 4.5 to 0.5. There were comfortable wins for Andy Cooper, Jack Butterfield, Chris Mannings-Hill and Simon Dempsey, with Tim Needham gaining a half.

The Royals put in another solid performance to record an excellent win away from home to gain valuable bonus points.

The unbeaten pairing of James Marshall and Tom Main continued their winning streak with a comfortable win. Will Denyer, made his Royals debut partnering Dave Collard, with the pair losing a close contest on the last.

Mark Puddy and Leigh White were the biggest winners of the day, cruising to a 3&2 win. Captain John Melwani partnering Ben Main were three up just after the turn, but their opponents finished strongly and the game ended in a half. Terry Santo and Craig Young secured their second win on the bounce, 2&1.

Captains, Paul Lintern and Michelle James led a team to The Mendip for the annual centenary match, the two clubs having been founded in 1908. Mendip proved much too strong and emerged comfortable 8.5-3.5 winners. Thanks were recorded to John Keight for organising a highly-enjoyable day so well.

The Stragglers, captained by Martin Morgan, took on Minehead Warreners in the first leg of their long-established challenge and managed to get their noses in front, winning 2.5 to 0.5.

A friendly at home to Filton did not go so well and Martin’s team went down 3.5 to 1.5.

The seniors had away matches to Burnham & Berrow and The Mendip, but found their hosts, on the course, not terribly hospitable. Worlebury went down 4.5 to 0.5 and by five matches to one respectively.

Paul McAdams and Nick Ryan secured the solitary half and Clive Rides and Tony McDonald the point. To compensate, the after match camaraderie more than made up for the shortcomings on the course.

Club chairman Keri Allchurch and the council hosted an open forum with the chairs of each committee giving short presentations. Treasurer, Graham Hewlett, outlined the financial position and head greenkeeper, Tim Needham, was on hand to discuss course matters.

Four golfers from Weston joined teams from all over the county for the Somerset ladies’ past captains event at Donnington Valley Golf Club in Berkshire.

The annual competition is now in its 10th year and teams of four compete for best score on day one and two and best score over 36 holes. The Weston Seagals won best team prize on day one, while ladies from Bath won overall.

Weston Ladies A team played against a strong team from Farrington in the Bristol and District League. Two matches finished on the 18th giving Weston two wins and one match halved gaining enough points to remain in Division 1.

The club mixed friendly was played at home in glorious sunshine against Wedmore. An enjoyable day was had by all with Weston winning 5-2.

The seniors at Wedmore held their open day with 63 visitors competing alongside 43 home players.

Despite the numerical advantage, home advantage told more with Wedmore players scooping the majority of the prizes.

Overall winner of the event, sponsored by Butcombe, was Steve Lawrence scoring 39 points to take the trophy. This score was matched by David Taylor who took first place in Division 1, two points ahead of Terry Clark and Chris Norris.

Best visitor on the day was Ian Clements from Cumberwell Park, his 38 points being only one off the main prize. David Bates also had 38 points to take the over-70s trophy.

Division 2 was a close affair with Gordon Summers just holding off John Hogan on countback, both scoring 38 points with Philip Horn third on 36. Countback sorted out Division 2 as well with Mike Nicholls edging out Clive Warren-Smith after both scored 36. Peter Waters from Enmore was third on 35.

The ladies’ medal incorporated the qualifier for the Dickinson Cup, part of the county silver division tournament. The medal itself was a triumph for Audrey Cowlin, coming in with a level par nett 72. This was just one better than Sarah Mathews, who in turn was a shot better than Sue Hughes in third place.

Best silver score of the day, and therefore qualifying for the Dickinson Cup, was Cathy Olive whose 74 was one better than Catherine Nicholson, who had the best gross score of the day, 78.

Each Monday night at Wedmore, 10 teams compete in the Skittlers League. This week’s competition produced some remarkable scores starting on the first hole when past captain Mike Garbutt scored an albatross two on the par five, yielding six Stableford points.

Then came a hole-in-one on the 11th hole from Grahame Cox on his way to 44 points, best of the evening, despite failing to score on two holes. This was hard on Tim Harris and Ben Barwell, both of whom went round in level par gross, but were only second and third.

Brean Golf Club captain Andy Thomas hosted his captain’s charity day and it proved to be a successful day.

With everything added up, it saw just over £2,000 added to the fund for the year for his chosen charity, Prostate Cancer.

It was Andy’s counterpart Suzanne Hatfield who was the most successful captain on the golf course on the day as she was part of the victorious team. She was joined by secretary Mike Carter and Roger and Annie Williams to post a superb 87 points and claim a two-point win.

Runners-up were father and son Pete and Byron Lismore along with Adam Cox and Neil Barker on 85, ahead of last year’s winners, the Clutterbuck’s consisting of Les Clutterbuck, Mel Brown, Eric and Dave Jones with 83 points.

The following day the new course layout made for an interesting first playing of the open bowmaker. The winners were Clive Goode, Phil Barry and Stewart Garrett and their score of 124 brought them victory. Second place went to a trio of Welshmen on 126 in the shape of the Jenkins brothers, Mark and Leighton, along with Jason Kidley.

Third place was decided on countback after two teams posted 127. Roger Phillips, Kevin Davies and David Hunter had the better back nine ahead of the Lismore family, Pete linking up with sons Byron and Scott.

The final open event of the weekend saw youth win the day with two junior girls helping Steve Jones to victory. Steve was accompanied by his 11-year-old daughter Millie and her good friend Jessie Haines, daughter of former Brean professional David.

The trio matched the course par of 69 and with a healthy stroke allowance of 13 shots, their nett 56 left them top of the pile. Runners-up were Andy Thomas, last year’s captain Stuart Wills and Martyn Cahill on 58.8, ahead of Phil Aspinall, Tony Romeo and Trevor Pitt on 59.2. The final prize winners were Neil Barker, Richard Triscott and Mike Carter in fourth with 59.8.

Mike Allen won the John Heath Memorial Stableford with the only sub-handicap round with 37 points. This gave Allen the trophy thanks to a point cushion over Pete Douglas. Douglas defeated Colin Roberts after a back nine countback for second spot on 36.

A quest to win Europe’s biggest pro-am begins for Harvey Sampson and his Burnham & Berrow PGA professional Graham Coombe when they tee up in a forthcoming Lombard Trophy regional final at their home course on June 9.

They will be up against 64 other clubs with the winning club going through to compete in the 36-hole final at Portugal’s luxurious Pestana Vila Sol Golf & Hotel resort on the Algarve in September.

Sampson landed a chance to have a tilt at qualifying for the grand final when he won his club qualifying competition with a nett score of 71.

Sampson is a 63-year-old medical practitioner from Burnham. He has been playing golf for 49 years and plays off a handicap of seven.

Graham Coombe, aged 51, has been a professional at Burnham & Berrow for two years.