Testing conditions for Weston golfers

It was a testing day at Weston, with more than 70 golfers taking up the challenge of the monthly Stableford and the final round of the Quarterly Cup.

Division 1 winner was Nigel Browne with 36 points. Runner-up also with 36 was Darren King and Chris Evans third with 35. Division 2 winner was Alan Harris with 33, Steve Blackaller second with 32 and Ian Pitt in third place with 30.

Steve Thomas won the Quarterly Cup accumulating 135 points over four rounds during the winter months. Robbie Orr was runner-up with 133, Nigel Browne third with 131 and Chris Homer fourth with 128.

The Marstons Winter Golf Series fourball betterball was won by a pair from Clevedon Golf Club. James Parker and John Griffiths won the trophy with a fine 43 points.

A beautiful crisp sunny day with a tricky breeze made it difficult for the Weston Seniors five-club competition. With 55 entrants, the winner was Ray Chambers with 38 points, just clear of Dave Garrett whose 37 points beat Stephen Burrough on countback.

Club captain Scott McKechnie handed over the reins to incoming captain Anthony McEvoy at the club’s annual meeting.

Weston is growing in membership and enjoying success on and off the course and Anthony is looking forward to his term of office, which begins in April.

In the ladies section, the Draw for Partners, played in wintry conditions was won by Di Walker with 33 points. Pat Murray was second with 32 and Lynn Perry third.

The Stableford competition winner was Melanie Rossi with an excellent 37 points, five shots clear of runner-up Di Walker with 32. Cath Preston and Lynn Perry were third and fourth with 31 points.

There was a good turnout for the men’s February Stableford at Worlebury and although the prolonged wet spell has continued largely unabated, the course has held up well.

The second division was the most competitive of the three leagues, with Andy Taylor and Steve Ham’s 40 points the day’s best score. Steve played steadily, using his handicap to his advantage and scored well, but it was Andy who took the honours, with a rollercoaster of a round which included three blobs and five birdies.

With a strong inward nine yielding 24 points, Andy took the division on countback. Dave Collard came third on 39 points.

The man in form in Division 1 is former junior captain James Marshall, who won his second monthly Stableford on the bounce. After a poor start, he recovered with 10 pars in an 11-hole burst, which gave him the foundation for his win.

Ross Coyne played steadily to take the runners-up position, beating Malcolm Summers on countback. Malcolm had an excellent outward half, returning 23 points, but could not sustain his momentum and had to be content with third place.

The higher handicapped players in Division 3 found the conditions troublesome. Only Colin Dale played to his handicap, winning with 36 points. Dale Rendall took second place on countback from Julian Brown, both players bagging 35 points.

The ladies held a 15-hole Texas scramble, which was played on a cold but dry day. Amanda Cook, Maxine Gardiner and Sue Kinch combined well and with the help of a rare eagle on the 13th hole, scored a nett 41.4 to pip the trio of Lorna Macivor, Julie Stafford and Jane Wakerley.

They followed closely behind to take the runners-up spot with 41.7, which pushed Angela Bagley, Ginette Bright and Lynne Johnson into third place with 43.4.

Brean Golf Club committee members Graham Foy and Phil Hodgson teamed up to win the Mike Teal Trophy on a wet and windy morning.

With partners being drawn at random the day before, the pair dovetailed perfectly to win by a comfortable four points. Hodgson produced three birdies in his round and when he faltered, Foy was there to ensure their points total kept on building until it reached an impressive 46 at the end of the round.

Runners-up were familiar names in the prizewinners of late in the form of Murray Parsons and Nigel Hodges on 42. Third spot was awarded to Russell Shaw and Simon Baunton on 39, after a countback with Steve Eley and Ian Adams.

Nigel Hodges followed up his second place finish on Saturday by winning the Winter League round 24 hours later. He scored 38 points to beat another Nigel in the shape of the Ellis version into second spot.

Ellis had to defeat Tony Higgins for that position on a countback after both returned 37 points.

In the seniors’ events, octogenarian Pat Mullholland showed that age is no handicap as he scorched around the course in a nett 63 to win the February medal.

An early morning frost saw temporary greens deployed for the opening holes, but this caused no problems for Mullholland as he enjoyed a comfortable seven-stroke winning margin from Mike Allen.

Allen was the final player off the course and reduced Mullholland’s overall advantage as Bill Griffin finished third with a nett 74.

The seniors Winter League round saw a close finish for the top four spots. On a beautiful morning, the best score in the two-ball betterball format was 55 over the 15 holes.

After a countback, Pete Douglas and Ian Welch were declared the winners ahead of Chris Stephens and John Sherwood, Third place also required the application of the countback rules as Bill Griffin and Ray Byatt edged out Tony Roper on John Kerr, after they both posted scores of 56.

The seniors at Wedmore Golf Club had a break from the wet conditions as they headed for the sandy soils of Saunton in their Vets Team Challenge.

Competing against 19 other teams from across the south west, they achieved an excellent third place for the second year running, just behind the home club and Bude.

Back at home there were more good performances in the seniors’ medal. Calvon Poulton-Sadler led the way in Division 1 with a net 66. This gave him a lead of two points over runner-up Steve Lawrence, with Brian Webber another two points back in third.

There was another ntt 66, this time from Ian Hollands to win Division 2 by a clear four shots from David Hollingdale and Philip Horn, with Hollingdale winning out on countback.

Higher handicappers in Division 3 struggled a bit more with Richard Jones taking the honours with a net 73, two better than Keith Rabbitts who beat John Sim on countback.

There were good scores in difficult conditions in the club Stableford. Simon Moore won Division 1 with 38 points, edging out John Russell on 37, with Jim Dobbs third on 35.

There was excellent scoring in Division 2 won by Brian Webber with 41 points. Jay James was second with 40 and Bob Jones third on 39. Marcello di Mascio won Division 3 on 39, three better than runner-up Max Grant and Brian Fry.

The ladies also played a Stableford with new captain Sue Tarry clearly enjoying herself, scoring 37 points to win by five clear points from Cathy Olive.

Hazel Gough was a further two points back in third with Liz Hill and Pam Berry both scoring 29 points to take fourth and fifth place respectively.

The week ended with the qualifier for the Daily Mail foursomes with Dave Skelton and Malcolm Tanner progressing to the regional rounds, scoring 38 points in difficult conditions, just squeezing out Sean and Jim Gray by a single point on countback.