Successful times for two Worlebury golfers

IT has been a successful couple of weeks for two of Worlebury’s golfers, Josh Freeman and Frank Hopkinson.

Five handicapper Josh, who has worked hard on his game, had a convincing win in the Jubilee Shield and Cup. This is the one remaining club event played over 36 holes in the same day.

The foundation for the win was established in the morning when he amassed 44 points (36 gross), which gave him a commanding lead to take into the afternoon session. A solid round of 36 points (31 gross) saw him take the Shield for the gross with 70 points and the Cup for the nett with 80.

Simon Dempsey was runner-up in the gross with 68 and head greenkeeper, Tim Needham, third with 63. Nick Carter came second in the nett with 77 points, beating Ryan Jones by one.

Despite his handicap being cut to four, Freeman went on to win the monthly medal with a one over par round of 71 (nett 67).

Six handicapper Hopkinson, won Division 1 of the seniors’ Centenary Cup with a fine round of 40 points, Malcolm Summers being the overall winner with 41. He followed this up with good performance in the club monthly medal, his nett 68 taking third place in Division 1.

To cap it all, Hopkinson played a prominent role in the Somerset seniors’ scratch quarter-final match against Clevedon, which was played at the neutral venue of Weston.

With Worlebury one behind, Hopkinson, playing the anchor role, won his game to level the match. His solid par on the first extra hole saw Worlebury edge through into the semi-finals. Keri Allchurch, Mike Usher-Clarke, Barrie Saunders and Robbie McMillen completed the line-up.

It was a big day for club captain Paul Gardiner, as he hosted the traditional captain’s day at Worlebury. The weather forecast was not good, but the heavy morning rain did not dampen Paul and his team’s spirits and luckily the rest of the day, on the whole, was bathed in bright sunshine.

The golf was keenly contested with some excellent scores recorded, none more so than the pairing of Simon Gilpin and Danny Marshall, who amassed an amazing 50 points in the men’s competition to win comfortably.

Countback decided second and third place with Nevil Horne and Martin Green edging it from Ron Jamieson and Darell James. Steve Beasley and Tom Bisdee came fourth with 46. Mark Burland and Lee Grant took fifth on countback from Paul Marsh and Graham Hewlett, both pairs scoring 45 points.

The experienced pairing of lady president Jill Phillips and Hazel Cox won the ladies’ competition with 40 points. Second and third was decided on countback, with Emma Limer and Michelle James pipping Helen Clarke and Pauline Smith, both pairs scoring 39.

The nearest the pin prizes were won by Paul Marsh and Tony Westren, the latter almost holing his tee shot on the 12th.

The golf was followed by a social evening in a packed clubhouse with standing room only. The entertainment included an outstanding performance by Elvis that had the clubhouse rocking.

Paul thanked everyone who made the day special particularly his wife, Max, vice-captain Peter Phillips, barbecue chef Geoff Nute, John Phillips and Mandy Cook. who were heavily involved in the build-up.

Most important of all, a figure in the region of £1,000 was raised for the captain’s charity, Cystic Fibrosis.

Josh Freeman receiving the Jubilee Shield and Cup from Worlebury captain Paul Gardiner.

Captain’s day winners at Worlebury: Simon Gilpin (left) and Danny Marshall (right) with club captain Paul Gardiner.

Hazel Cox and Jill Phillips with the captain.

WESTON spirits were not dampened despite continuous rainfall throughout the captain’s charity day, with well over 100 players taking part.

The winning team with a score of 83 was Pete Allen, Jon James, Henry Bladon and John Whittaker. In second place were Glenn Taylor, Eddie Langford, Gerald Taylor and Roy Turner.

Club captain Roy Schubert thanked all the players and sponsors for their generosity for his charity the Children’s Hospice South West.

Fifty Weston seniors contested the annual Dennes Cup in cool showery conditions. The course was in fantastic condition despite recent heavy rain.

Two golfers stood out from the pack with a maiden win for John Rowsell on 41 points and Roger Preston on 40. The final podium went to Peter Lumb on 36.

A full field of ladies took part in the pairs Ping Golf competition, playing a four-ball betterball format.

The winners of this qualifying round go forward for selection in the national plate and grand final to be held at Gainsborough Golf Club in Lincolnshire.

Winning the competition on countback with 39 points were Angela Cook and Joan Jenkinson. Runners-up were Jade Cope and Alysia Rees. In third place with 36 were Sue Andow and Melanie Rossi.

Weston ladies’ winners Joan Jenkinson and Angela Cook.

MORE than130 ladies enjoyed calm conditions at Burnham & Berrow in the ladies’ open three-ball bowmaker.

Kath Shiells and Lesley Moore from Stockwood Vale and Amanda Mayne from Saltford emerged winners by a comfortable six shot margin over Patsy Ashford, Nan Watt and Lesley Floyd in second place with 74 points.

Division 1 of the May medal was won by Mark Parsons with a nett 66, two shots clear of Justin Lane, who produced the best gross score of the day with a one under par 70 for a net score of 68.

Phil Coggins was third, also with a 68, but lost out to Justin on a countback. Trevor Hicks was fourth with a nett score of 69 which also gave him victory in the Palmer Cup, which is contested by the previous years’ medal winners. Division two was won by Andy Holley with a nett 73.

It was a double round of drinks in the bar last week with Roger Tripp and Chris Powell both scoring hole-in-ones on the same day.

Powell, playing in the Captains’ Prize, which is one of the club’s summer knockout competitions, scored a one at the par three 14th hole, and later in the day, Tripp aced the 9th from 155 yards.

The Burnham & Berrow Avalon League team also took a big step forward with their promotion hopes with a 3-2 away win in a local derby match with neighbours Brean.

The ladies’ Bristol and District Alliance team, maintain a healthy lead at the top of Division 3, following another convincing 5-2 home win against Mendip Spring.

THERE were contrasting results for two of the Wedmore teams in the county knockout competitions.

The ladies took on Enmore in the second round of the Rogers Cup at Saltford. After all seven ties had played 18 holes, wins from Liz Hill, Alison Dodkin and Claire Biggs had been matched by three defeats.

Sue Tarry’s match had ended all square, meaning she had to play extra holes to decide the tie. In fact it only took one hole for to clinch the match. The team now face Farrington in the quarter-finals.

The seniors were playing against the Mendip in the second round of the county scratch knockouts at Wells. Wins from new county champion Tim Harris and John Russell gave early hope of progressing, but the last three matches all went to Mendip for them to clinch a narrow victory.

The club medal saw the vagaries of the weather play a major part as the late starters got none of the rain that afflicted the morning.

There were some good scores though, particularly in Division 2 won by Simon Martin with a nett 66. This was one shot better than Richard Ham in second, with Ian Robson a shot further away in third.

David Eley was also under par winning Division 1 on 69, three clear of Mark Hayes-Williams with John Wormald in third.

A close finish in Division 3 saw Derek Osborn beat Marcello di Mascio on countback, after both scored 72, with Ken Willetts third on 73.

The ladies held their invitation day with invited guests paired up with a home player. There was a tight finish which saw Ann Search with her guest Julie Nuttall winning by a single point with 41.

Second and third could only be split on countback with Judy Brooking-Clark and Glynis Slater just finishing ahead of Maggie Morris and Sheila Ayliffe, after both had scored 40 points.

Wedmore ladies’ winning Rogers Cup team.

STEVE Bateman was one of the first players out on the Brean course and he also ended the day in first place in the June monthly medal, which had the EGU Gold Medal running alongside it.

The weather was dry during play, but a stiff breeze led to no-one in the large field beating their handicap. Bateman was the best in Division 1 with his nett 70 finished three ahead of club champion Dan Broom.

Neil Barker took the Division 2 honours with a nett 71, leading Ian Adams home by four. Gordy Wheelaghan claimed Division 3 with his nett 73 and Phil Barry was the runner-up on 75. Ladies’ captain Annie Williams was the winner ahead of Gail Mason.

Jim McLauchlan claimed his first seniors’ win for a while as he secured their June Stableford along with the Vic Rowe Trophy.

His winning score of 38 points was one better than Bill Griffin, who featured around the top of a leaderboard for the second week running. Third place was taken by Ken Ponter, who matched his handicap with his 36 point card.

Earlier in the week, over a third of the field either matched or beat their handicap in June’s seniors’ medal and the bunched up scoring meant the countback rules did some overtime.

The top three all scored nett 68s, with the win being awarded to Barrie Yearsley on the better back nine holes. Mike Allen was deemed to be the runner-up just edging out John Sherwood.

The Division 6 Avalon League team recorded a narrow home win against a strong Minehead side. The final game was decided on the final green as Graham Foy and Clive Goode brought the result home in the favour of the hosts.

Pete Barton and Dave Bradley also continued their winning ways by chalking up their fifth wins in five games together.

Murray Parsons hit the shot of the day as he holed in one on the 17th in the Pro Shop Stableford. His eight iron shot found the bottom of the cup when it came to rest and allowed him to scoop the two’s pot.

However, he did not win the event as two players bettered his 38-point total. Mike Porter and new member Gavin Nicol both scored impressive cards of 42, with Porter’s better back nine denying Nicol a debut win.