Three hole-in-ones recorded on one day at Weston

THE final Weston men’s open of the year saw three hole-in-ones recorded during the day.

The men’s four-ball betterball was won by local pair of Tristan Keight and Steve Blackaller with 44 points, winning on the back nine holes from Ian Hillier and G Williams. Third on 43 was Kevin Lane and Dave Hayward, followed by Andy Gill and James Lane with junior captain and county player George Worthington and Ronnie Mitchell also on 43.

However, the main competition was overshadowed by three hole-in-ones on three different holes and three different people. The first was on the third hole by Dave Richardson, with Nick Walker acing the 11th.

Finally, Somerset Golf Union secretary Nigel Long completed the hat-trick at the 14th hole. At the time of going to press, the club is trying to find out if this is some type of record.

The ladies have excelled once again by getting to the final of the National Golf Club Challenge (Help for Heroes).

In 2013, they beat off strong opposition to get to the final at Turnberry, courtesy of Volvo. This year, the Weston scores were the best out of the top 25 teams in the UK and will once again compete at Turnberry on October 19-20th.

The team of five will be Jan Bishop, Tessa Pitt, Sue Garrett, Sally Brosnan and Sue Osman.

The seniors’ Dennes Cup had to contend with driving rain and unpleasant conditions for golf. Twenty-one players battled through with Mark Fozzard scoring 36 points to secure the cup.

Runner up on 34 was Clive Pearce, with Marshall McKee third, heading a group of four players who all scored 32, but were divided on countback.

The ladies received a warm welcome at Newport Golf Club for the captain’s away day. The persistent morning rain stopped on cue and all the teams enjoyed the bowmaker in fine weather.

The winning trio of Carole Menzies, Tessa Pitt and Alison Whitewood thanked the lady captain and Newport for a superb day. Runners-up were Wendy Thomas, Kaylee Davey and Jo Blackhurst. Nearest the pin were Sally Irlam (silver) and Cathy Preston (bronze).

THE highlight of the week, indeed the season at Worlebury, was Simon Dempsey breaking his own course record.

The previous record of 65 was jointly held by Simon and Worlebury legend, Alan Hartree, which they set in 2010.

Club champion Simon, playing in the Murphy Cup final, an end-of-season contest for the winners of the previous year’s monthly medals, returned an incredible gross 62, a record which will take some beating.

His round contained eagles at holes eight and 15 and five birdies, with only one blemish, a bogey on the 11th. This gave him a nett 60 and the Murphy Cup, beating Jamie Crandon by two shots. Simon’s achievement eclipsed that of Chris Mannings-Hill, who had a hole-in-one on the 12th in his round of 66, giving him third place.

Simon also won the Mike Tilke Putter for returning the best gross score of the day and has had his handicap reduced to 0.7.

Simon, aged 26, has come a long way since joining Worlebury as a junior at the age of 14, when he recalls, being so nervous, his first tee shot hit a clubhouse window ledge.

His golfing ability, solid temperament and easy-going manner have made him a well respected figure at the club. He is one of a batch of talented young golfers at Worlebury who, pleasingly, have graduated from the junior section in recent years and have inspired each other to greater heights.

The ladies held a bowmaker which was won in fine style by the team of club champion Claire Bayliss, partnered by Lorna Mcivor and Judith Nicol. Their 78 points beat off their nearest challengers Lisa Griffiths, Lynne Johnson and Isabella Swift by three. Emma Bourton, Janet Jamieson and Marnie Sweet came third with 73.

Simon Dempsey is pictured with president Keith Wharton (left) and captain Peter Phillips (right).

Worlebury Royals held an end-of-season get-together with a round of golf and a few drinks to celebrate their league success. The jubilant squad are pictured prior to the round.

TWO major events were held at Wedmore, with the ladies holding their autumn meeting and the captains organising a weekend of events.

The ladies started with a Stableford with four trophies. The Committee Cup went to Margaret Rogers, who won the bronze division with 35 points, one point ahead of runner-up Ali Owen with Linda Rogers two shots further back in third.

In the silver division, the Tarry Cup went to Rachel Lockley, whose 37 points put her three ahead of second-placed Carole Lewis, with Ange Webber third on 33.

This left the overall trophies to be decided with the Allington Cup going to Ronnie Follenfant, who played excellently to record 39 points, but a strong finish from Liz Hill was enough to get her to 40 and swing the result in her favour.

A nine-hole bowmaker followed in the afternoon with first place going to the team of Carole Lewis, Jenny Thomas and Sue Hughes, with second place going to two pairs, Beryl Richards, Vera Ireland and Maggie Morris and Cathy Olive, Gina Falcon and Jennifer Kellaway, who could not be split.

The captains’ weekend started with a Stableford for the Captains’ Cups, with over 100 players taking part. The ladies’ bronze trophy, donated by Alison Dodkin, went to Judy Cutter, who beat Pauline Hales on countback, both scoring 35, with Sue Edwards third.

Alison Dodkin received a trophy, winning the silver division trophy donated by Hilary Crandon with 37, ahead of Claire Biggs and Cathy Olive.

The men’s Division 2 went to Dale Worthington on 40 points, two better than Charles Woodard with Terry Simpson a shot back in third. Best score of the day came from Division 1 winner Rich Vowles, who scored 41, just one better than runner-up Bob Jones and Tim Harris, despite his one over par 71.

The final event was a fun waltz bowmaker, but Dale Worthington was there again, winning alongside Liam Cann, Greg Cox and Simon Moore on 94 points, ahead of Josh and Ben Barwell with Pete Beavan and Tony Hoskings on 91.

Overall winner Liz Hill with other prize winners at Wedmore ladies’ autumn.

AARON Puddy won the September monthly medal at Brean with a stunning nett 63, which as well as giving him the Division 3 award, also reduced his handicap by five shots.

Following on from his recent win in a Super Series event, he beat the Lismore brothers into second and third, with Scott edging out Byron for second.

The other two divisions were both won with nett 66s, with Steve Jones victorious in the top flight and Steve Mason winning Division 2. Jones had company in Division 1 as Paul McLanaghan matched his score, but lost out on countback. Last week’s D&C Open winner Adam Cox continued his good form as he followed home Mason in Division 2 with a 67.

Dai Wood and Phil Aspinall were the clear winners of the Treasurer’s Trophy on a foggy morning. They were delayed from teeing off until the fog cleared, but once they got going there no stopping them.

They even failed to score in the greensomes Stableford format on two holes, yet still racked up an amazing 44 points. Such was their dominance they were four clear of their nearest challengers, who were Steve Mason and Matt Haskins with 40. Third place went to Russell Shaw and Murray Parsons with 39.

Two more knockout finals were concluded and both were blessed with some high quality golf. In the Upton and Scott greensomes final, Stewart Garrett and Nigel Ellis won 5&3 against club captains current and future in the form of Stuart Wills and Andy Thomas.

In the other game, Tom Broom won the Ian Ross Trophy, which is the Division 1 singles knockout event. He beat Pete Barton on the 17th hole in a game where both players were well below their respective 11 handicaps.

Barrie Tucker produced a 40-point score in less than favourable conditions to top the leaderboard in the Veterans Trophy. He won by two from Pete Douglas and Pat Mullholland, with Douglas edging out Mullholland on a countback.

A team of 14 travelled over the Severn Bridge to take on their friends from Caerleon in the second leg of the annual match. As always the game was played in great spirit and the Brean team emerged winners by 5.5 to 1.5, giving them the win overall and ensuring the cup stays in Brean.

Brean professional Andrew March missed out at the semi-final stage for the third year running in the Gloucestershire and Somerset PGA matchplay championship at Chipping Sodbury.

After coming through his opening two games with victories, he missed out by 3&1 to eventual champion Giuseppe Licata and now turns his attention to the winter series of medals which start next week.