Three hole-in-ones recorded at Wedmore Open Week

Seven days of hot sunshine, more than 1,000 competitors and three hole-in-ones - open week at Wedmore.

First winners on Sunday were Keith Thomas and Daniel Milford, scoring 46 points to win the Geoff Brown betterball. Hectors Farm Shops sponsored the Stableford with Alasdair McDonald claiming the overall trophy with 42 points, two better than Mike Garbutt and David Russell, Division 1 and 2 winners respectively.

In the ladies, Sue Edwards won on 40, also two better than divisional winners Georgia Pope and Glenda Donald.

Temperatures soared into the thirties for the Brent House bowmaker and the team of Liam Cann, Simon Moore, Tom Smith and Mark Sweeting soared to 92, three clear of runners-up Jan Jenkins, John Russell, John Vowles and Pete Restorick, with a clutch of teams on 88.

Wednesday was only slightly cooler for the Footjoy greensomes. Father and son Ben and Josh Barwell won a close finish with 43 points, just one better than both Richard MacArthur and Jim Baker and Georgia Pope and Jennifer Hughes.

Thursday was the Glenmuir medal when for once the best score of the day came from the ladies with Cathy Olive winning overall on 66, five shots clear of the rest of the field.

Ange Webber took divisional one honours on 71, with Sarah Mathews winning division two on 72. Ian Robson had the week’s first hole-in-one in the men’s medal, but the overall trophy went to Josh Barwell, his second win of the week. Geoff Fisher and Ernie Sutton both scored 68 to win division one and two respectively.

Friday is Zone Contracts Texas scramble day. Oli Noel won a Golf Breaks holiday with a hole-in-one on the ninth and Joan Peck scored another on the 11th.

Winners were club captain Toni Ribi with wife Ashley, Jill Cornelius and Trevor Stone on 57.2 followed by Alan Hurford, Mike Sullivan and, Ian Lane and Gordon Baxter from Enmore.

A long week ended with the CJ Hole sponsored betterball on Saturday won by youngsters Georgia Pope and Jennifer Hughes on 46, one better than the slightly older Saybria Sims and Jim Dobbs .

Playing in one of the hottest days of the year, Worlebury ladies simultaneously contested the Vets and Grannies trophy and an alternate medal.

Six handicapper Sue Sokol played very well to pip Pauline Smith to the trophy on countback, both scoring nett 75s.

Shot of the day, however, was struck by Emma Bourton to bag an eagle in the alternate medal. Emma is on a roll, this being her third eagle in a month. It paved the way for her to win the silver division with a fine nett 68. This score was equalled by Louise Goodrum to win the bronze division.

The ladies played a strong Clevedon B side in an Alliance match and despite a spirited performance went down 8-6.

Captain Michelle James, aided by volunteers, hosted a successful taster day where a good number of potential members were introduced to the club, its facilities and the game.

The players were put through their paces by professionals, Gary Marks and Ian Rankin. The soggy conditions did not dampen the ladies’ spirits and they found the session informative and enjoyable and has led to several new members joining.

Two past lady captains, Jan Simms and Janet Jamieson, held a car boot sale in Burnham to raise money for the lady captain’s charity, Above and Beyond and £115 was raised by their efforts and the pair plan two more sales to try and reach a target of £300.

Seniors’ vice-captain Barry Newson continued his impressive run as stand-in captain when he led the team to a fine 4-2 away win at Minehead in the Rod Rufus Memorial Trophy.

Although Newson and his partner, Martin Ford, came second best in their match, the side more than made up for the pair’s shortcomings with an impressive team performance.

Good wins in tight matches were recorded by the pairings of John Hobbs/John Millar, Barry Warburton/Bob Oram, Stuart Macivor/Dave Treleaven and Pete Melhuish/Paul McAdams. It was not Gerry Miles and Nick Ryan’s day, however, as they slumped to a heavy defeat.

Having established a healthy 5-1 lead from the home leg, Worlebury retained the trophy. The nearest the pin prize was won by Paul McAdams, who edged out the unlucky Newson.

Following the first part of the professional’s weekend, an individual competition, the second part, a fourball betterball was held.

Clear winners with 63 points were the pairing of John Flannigan and Trevor Isaac. The fight for the other prizes was more competitive and it was seasoned campaigners, Barry Newson and Pete Cornish, who took the runners-up prize with 57 points. Malcolm Summers and Frank Hopkinson came third with 56. Dave Brown and Simon Cowgill took fourth place on countback from Simon Dempsey and Eoin Anderson, both pairs scoring 55 points.

The latest round of the captain/pro challenge saw the experienced pairing of Jim Skinner and Pete Wyatt chancing their arm. Club professional Gary Marks was quick out the traps and an eagle and three birdies on the outward nine put him and club captain Paul Lintern in a commanding position.

Lintern played his part by winning the three par threes. Skinner and Wyatt dug in deep, but they eventually succumbed 3&2.

Weston Mercury sports editor Dave Bickell, made a welcome return visit to Worlebury for his annual challenge match when he partners club press officer Dougie Woods against chairman Keri Allchurch and centenary captain, Steve Rowlands.

Woods was a late withdrawal due to injury and Bickell partnered Weston member, Chris Slocombe. Rowlands was also unavailable due to his recent hospitalisation and seniors’ Avalon captain Tony Westren, stepped into the breach.

Clearly Woods was no loss, as Bickell, on the third time of asking, in an enjoyable encounter, managed a narrow win.

A full field at Weston played the NGCC On Course Foundation Stableford, with the course hard running with bouncy fairways and the greens at 11ft on the stimpmeter.

The top score was recorded by Sam Jones with 40 points, winning on the back nine holes from Graham Hicken, with new member Rob Chalker third a point behind on 39.

In Division 2, Andrew Jones scored 39 points, with former Somerset cricketer Graham Tripp, aged 83, shooting under his age again with 38 and long-standing member David Andow on 37.

Monday saw the senior captain’s charity day in MacMillan Cancer support with 64 players competing on beautiful day with raffles, beat the pro and a lovely buffet afterwards.

The winners were led by club president Gary Homer, David Andow, Paul Chesney and Tripp, shooting 74 gross. Hence to say on 94 points they won by five from Terry Holden, Tim Latcham, Maurice Miller and Vic Bush on 89.

Third also on 89 were John Poole, Bill Menzies, John Blackett and Norman Hunt, followed by Robin Webb, Steve Strange, Dave Garrett and Nigel Jillings on 88.

Nearest the pin on the third hole was Phil Eastman with 31in, while Eddie Langford took the honours on the 14th hole with 25in and nearest the barrel was won by Howard Sims. The main winner of the day was the charity and over £600 was raised.

A hot Monday greeted the competitors for the seniors’ Eric Benn Trophy. This annual greensomes Stableford attracted a field of 21 pairs, all hoping to lift the trophy.

That honour went to Ray Harris and Maurice Miller, who carded a remarkable 45 points to leave the field trailing by three points. Runners-up on 42 were Howard Evans and Robert Filer, with Peter Hardaway and Nigel Jillings third on 39, after a countback with two other teams.

The stifling heat defeated some of the ladies playing for the Teachers Trophy, but those that did complete 18 holes were rewarded with some excellent scores.

Pam Hudson took the trophy with a brilliant 68, followed by Kaylee Davey with 70, while Katrena Thomas was third with 73.

The ladies’ friendly team played at home against Enmore Park, winning four matches to one. Two games were halved, so the team did not lose a match. Last week’s nine-hole competition was won by Mandy McEvoy.

For the first time since 2012, the FosseBrean Trophy will return to reside in the Brean clubhouse for the next 12 months.

Holding a narrow 4-2 lead from the first leg at Brean earlier in the year, the seniors travelled to the short, but tight nine-hole layout in Midsomer Norton. They managed to repeat the same scoreline in the sweltering heat to finish with an overall winning margin of 8-4.

The July seniors’ medal took place two days later with the overall winner also collecting the Phil Fudge Trophy. The person holding the silverware at the end of the day was Barrie Yearsley, who claimed top spot in Division 1 with a nett 66 and overall victory.

Colin Roberts was the runner-up in the top flight with a 67, which matched the winning score in Division 2. George Thomas was the owner of that winning scorecard and he held a two-stroke advantage over nearest challenger Mike Allen.

Ian Adams won the latest Super Series with 42 points to collect the full 10 points on offer. Second place was decided on a countback with Adam Cox holding off John Rabbetts for the runners-up prize money after they both scored 41.

Andy Chapple won Sunday’s Super Series round. In often damp conditions, he produced a card of 43 points, but he only won on countback. Jason Kidley matched that total but Chapple’s 24 points on the inward nine gave him the top spot. Mel Brown, who ended one shy of the top duo was third.

It was a busy weekend for Avalon league matches with three games played in total. The Division 5 Avalon League team enjoyed the only win as they defeated their Wheathill counterparts 3-2 at Brean.

After the home side secured victories in the top two games, the visitors fought back, but the final pairing of team captain Mike Carter and Chris Fairchild saw Brean home in the bottom game.

A 3-2 defeat away at Farrington Park for the Division 2 side does not sound like a bad result. Two of the five pairings held two-hole leads with just three holes to play, but unfortunately only managed to halve their games allowing the home side to sneak an overall victory.

The following day back at Brean, they suffered their second 3-2 defeat of the weekend against Isle of Wedmore.

The ladies’ Secretary Shanker event sees each player using just two clubs and a putter for the 18 holes. Sue Wright chose wisely to take the win as she beat captain Suzanne Hatfield by two points, with Debbie Windmill ending up in third.

Early starter Bob Smith made the most of the cooler early morning conditions to win the midweek Stableford. He carded 43 points on his way to a four-point victory ahead of Steve Mason, who defeated Smith’s playing partner Trevor Searle on countback for the runners-up prize.