Third time lucky for Worlebury captain

IT was third time lucky for Worlebury Golf Club captain Paul Gardiner’s drive-in, his previous two curtain raisers being cancelled due to inclement weather.

By comparison, he was blessed with a beautiful morning and his year got off to a bright start. The drive, however, showed room for improvement in the season that lies ahead.

It delighted former Avalon captain, Tony Westren, who won the £100 prize for the most accurate prediction of the drive’s resting place. The balance of the sum collected from the generous members of £940 went into the captain’s charity.

It was then on to the serious business of the greensomes competition, which resulted in a tight finish with RAF veterans Jim Skinner and Pete Wyatt’s 43 points prevailing. Frank Hopkinson and Brian Maidment came a close second on 42, pipping the established pairing of Pete Gilpin and David Mellor, who were a point adrift.

The lesser prizes were taken by the pairings of Tom Lennon and Eoin Anderson, and Dave Collard partnering Ben Dolbear, both teams recording 40 points.

The weather has had an impact on the scoring in recent winter Stableford competitions. The one exception has been Paul Shearing, who has been in sparkling form, winning his second competition on the bounce.

He won Division 3 with 40 points with Adrian Marshman second on 37 and John Flannigan third on 34. Dave Pope won Division 1 with a modest 36 points, with Jack Partridge second on 34 and Mark Otterburn third on 33.

Scoring was better in Division 2, Terry Santo winning it with 39 points. Dave Collard was runner-up with 38 and Barry Stone third on 37.

The seniors have been active as of late and two Stablefords have been held in quick succession. John Langdon won Division 1 with 39 points, followed by Malcolm Summers on 38 and Frank Hopkinson on 37.

Division 2 was won on countback by Frank Woolman with 39 points from Bob Saddler, with Rob Rogers third on 38.

The following week, Mike Parfitt won Division 1 with 38 points beating Tom Blackett by one point and Tony Foster by two. Division 2 was won by John Taylor on countback, his 35 points pipping Ken Lohman. Dave Brimfield came third with 33.

The junior Stableford was won by high handicapper Henry Court with a fine haul of 44 points. Charlie Camper and Jack Partridge, with handicaps of 10 and four respectively, played well to take second and third places with 37.

Jim Skinner (left), Pete Wyatt (right) with Worlebury captain Paul Gardiner.

Paul Shearing with Worlebury captain Paul Gardiner.

THE clubhouse was packed for the annual meeting at Weston Golf Club.

Chairman Robin Webb welcomed the new general manager, Peter Lowery, from the Grove in Herefordshire, and wished him every success when he takes up the post in March.

Robin paid tribute to John Poole for three years of hard work and dedication as club president and welcomed Gary Homer who will take up the reins in April. Captain Steve Corrick thanked Robin for his immense input as chairman and wished his successor Gordon Robert every success for the coming year.

Subscription levels were agreed and the meeting closed with drinks at the bar courtesy of Roy and Gary.

Anyone interested in golf packages ranging from full, flexi to nine-hole membership, please contact the office on 01934 626968.

With the course fully in play and in remarkably good condition after the recent deluges, 14 teams of seniors played in a three-man competition.

The weather held for the early starters, but rain caught out the tailenders. With two scores counting and the field playing off threequarter handicap, the top scorers were Robin Webb, Tony Barry and Nigel Jillings with 72 points.

Following closely on their heels were Mike Dyer, Eddie Langford and Gerald Taylor with 70 points.

The ladies enjoyed 18 holes in warm sunshine for their Stableford competition. Coming in with 38 points was Sue Garrett, followed in second place by Mel Rossi with 36 and Caroline Poole with 35.

Current Weston captain Steve Corrick congratulates incoming captain Roy Schubert.

STEVE Thomas and Symon Clifford won the final of the West of England Winter Foursomes at Burnham & Berrow Golf Club.

Playing against another home club pairing of Tony Mason and Andy Limage, who was hoping to become a three-time winner of the tournament, the 36-hole final looked as if it was going to be a close-run affair with both pairs scoring well, exchanging many birdies on the first nine with Clifford and Thomas one up.

However, the back nine playing into a strong wind proved decisive with Clifford and Thomas winning the 11th, 12th and 13th holes, before halving the 14th, followed by another run of three wins from the 15th hole leaving the pair in a commanding position of seven up standing on the 18th tee.

Mason and Limage rallied to win the last hole before lunch to get back to six down and hoped the comeback would continue in the second round.

The damage of the back nine in the morning left the pair too much to do and they remained six down at the turn in the afternoon, but following wins at the 10th and 11th holes for Clifford and Thomas the match was won.

This is the second time Clifford has won the prestigious tournament, the previous occasion was in 2009, playing with David Neville from Carlyon Bay in Cornwall, who made the journey to Somerset to support his friend.

The 18-hole final of the plate competition was won by the Burnham & Berrow pairing of Kevin Steer and Alex Kidd, with a comfortable 6&5 victory over F Marchington and N Hessey from Minchinhampton.

Troy Crandon won Division 1 of the Saturday Stableford with 41 points. Playing the front nine in one over, he picked up three birdies on the back nine. Despite a bogey at the 18th hole, a one under par back nine including three birdies for 21 points secured a two-shot victory over Steve O’Connell (39) and also a handicap reduction back to four.

Division 2 was won by Wilson Marshall with 38 points, also by a two-shot margin over Steve Cartwright and Geoffrey Dyer both scoring 36.

WITH just a hint of spring in the air, golf became somewhat more enjoyable again at Wedmore.

The seniors were out in force for the monthly medal and returned some excellent scores. Leading the way in Division 1 was Mike Munns, whose nett 64 put him two shots clear of Tony Roe. Third place went to John Bennett after he and Tony Biggs both recorded 68, countback on the back six just seeing him home.

Brian Kidd was the pacemaker in Division 2 and his score of 65 was enough to take him four shots clear of Peter Searle, with Jim Crick a further two shots back in third place. David Dams took Ddivision 3 by virtue of a fine 66 which was three better than Barry Stone with John Sim third on 69.

Unimpressed by the Winter Olympics, the ladies avoided the slippery slopes of the back nine and played a 15-hole Stableford. Eunice Bond recorded her second win in the month scoring 28 points.

This was just one clear of second placed Linda Roberts. Both Ange Webber and Jane Hewitt scored 26 points, with countback giving Webber third place. Maggs Willetts was a further point back in fifth.

DAVE Porter and namesake Mike Porter were drawn out of the hat when the pairings were established for the Mike Teal Trophy at Brean Golf Club.

They combined superbly and produced a stunning back nine to take the silverware by the narrowest of margins. No less than five pairs handed in scores of 44 points in the betterball Sstableford competition, so a detailed countback was required.

Team Porter took the title thanks to their birdie laden homeward run of 26 points, edging captain-elect Stuart Wills and Dai Wood into second as they score 24 points on the back nine.

Phil Hodgson and Steve Mason, club captain Paul Jones and Stewart Garrett and Tony Roper and Paul McLanaghan were the others to post 44 points, but missed out on the countback.

The following day, the quest for qualification to the Winter League final resumed. With the wind freshening as the day progressed, the leading score was returned by early starter Roger Vaughan.

He returned a superb 42 points, which was nine better than anyone else could manage. Runner-up was Tony Higgins on 33 after a storming finish to his round, while Brian Read took third on 32.

Barrie Tucker returned his handicap to single figures as he won the February seniors’ medal after being the only player to beat his handicap. His two under par nett 68 was three clear of the runner-up Pete Douglas, with Barrie Yearsley rounding out the top three with a 72.