Weston ladies through to the next round of the Mail on Sunday competition

The Weston Ladies Mail on Sunday team were tested to the limit in gale force winds and rain.

Captain Alysia Rees and her team of Sue Andow, Wendy Thomas, Zena Balcombe and Joan Jenkinson had a resounding 5-0 win over Long Ashton to take them through to the third round.

The ladies winter eclectic completion could not have been closer with Wendy Thomas and Lynn Perry both achieving 63.5, but Wendy won on countback.

The ladies played a Texas Scramble on Tuesday in fine weather. The winning trio were Joan Jenkinson, Gay Long and Julie Ward scoring 63. Runners-up were Zena Balcombe, Sally Brosnan and Angela Cook with 63.7 and in third place were Jade Cope, Sue Garrett and Wendy Thomas with 63.8.

With spring in the air and improving weather conditions, the competitive golfing season at Worlebury has moved up a gear.

This was illustrated with full fields, particularly for the March Stableford and also the annual England versus the Rest of the World encounter.

The latter is now an established fixture which is arranged to coincide with the 6 Nations rugby match between England and Wales.

Pete Nuttall’s England put up a good fight, but they were no match for the rich diversity of players at Keri Allchurch’s disposal. Although Nuttall, partnered by Keith Wharton, put one over Allchurch and his partner Ray Collick, in their individual tussle, the Rest of the World took the trophy by 12.5 to 9.5.

Fittingly, the winning putt was sunk by birthday boy Derek Pounsberry, who used all of his 50 years’ experience to help win the day. Partnered by Rich Exon, they recorded a vital win over club captain Paul Lintern and Andy Collard, vice-captain.

It was standing room only in the clubhouse to see England win a rugby match of secondary importance, which rounded off a great day for the club.

A modest field turned out for the PGA qualifier. This did not deter Joe Joyce, the 15 handicapper won Division 2 and the overall event with an impressive nett 66. This was enough to pip Paul Jenkins by one shot, who took the runners-up slot in this division by a similar margin from John Jones.

Ian Smith won Division 1 with an excellent nett 67. John Wright came second with 68, beating Jack Partridge on countback.

Joe will go on to partner club pro Gary Marks, at the regional qualifier at Bovey Tracey in June, with the prospect of a trip to Portugal thereafter on offer.

There was a better turnout for the March Stableford the following day. The man in form, Paul McAdams, did it again. His 39 points comfortably winning Division 2. Joe Joyce, with a two shot reduction in his handicap, rounded off a good weekend by taking the runners-up slot with 36 points, pipping Ray Baxter and Graham Hewlett on countback.

Bob Spence also returned 39 points to take Division 1, closely followed by Stuart Fawcett on 38 and Pete Gilpin on 37.

The higher handicappers in Division 3 found it more difficult, with Eoin Anderson winning with 37 points, closely followed by Dale Rendall on 3, who beat Trevor Isaac on countback.

A stormy week at Wedmore started off calmly enough with the seniors’ medal and a win for former captain Peter Rowntree with a nett 67 to edge out Chris Norris by a single shot, with current captain Mike Tanswell third with 70.

Terry Simpson continued his run of good form, winning Division 2 with 68, two shots better than Ian Hollands, with Gordon Summers the best of a group of players on 71.

Bob Jackson won Division 3 with a level par 70, two shots ahead of Alasdair McDonald and a further shot better than Derek Meades.

The storms of Wednesday caused postponement of the ladies’ opening rounds of the Daily Mail Foursomes and Mail on Sunday team singles until Thursday, but both proved disappointing against tough opponents from Farrington and Burnham and Berrow.

Meanwhile, the regular ladies’ competition was a greensome and featured a sterling performance from Carole Lewis and Carol Jackson , the only pair to beat par with 37 points.

This was three points better than runners-up Sue Tarry and Deidre Wheadon and a full six points better than third-placed Ann Adams and Mary-Lou Denny.

The men’s team played their version of the Mail on Sunday team event and it turned out to be an extraordinary match against Mendip Spring. At the end of the five matches, the scores were level, leaving the final pair to play on to a sudden death result.

Sudden death was not really appropriate as six tied holes frayed nerves on both sides, before Tim Harris finally closed out the match for Wedmore on the seventh.

In the monthly Stableford, not for the first time, two Cornishes led Division 1, Darren Cornish winning with 40, followed by Mark on 37, Jim Dobbs was third on 35.

Ian Robson won Division 2 with 40 points, two better than Jay James with Charlie Woodard third on 35. Terry Simpson won his second competition of the week in Division 3 with best score of the day 44, with Brian Fry second on 42 and Paul Stevenson third on 39.

If a surname began with V, then there was a good chance they tasted success in the March Stableford at Brean.

Roger Vaughan took Division 1 with 38 points ahead of Matt Shaw, while Ron Vine was victorious in Division 2o with a best of the day 43 points.

Armed with a newly-adapted putter grip, Vine beat his nearest rival Eamonn Wynne by five as he saw his handicap reduced down to 12 at the end of the competition.

The only non-V winner was Rich Lambert in Division 3 with 35 points ahead of Mel Brown on 33. Jenny Vaughan was the best ladies’ score with 29 points.

Murray Parsons led the qualifiers for the Winter League and he converted that into the overall win with a solid showing on finals day.

His five bonus points for being the top qualifier were added to his 36 point score to win by three. His nearest challenger was Tony Richards who also scored 36 points, but with only two bonus points giving him 38 overall.

Third place was claimed by Mike Porter with his bonus point free 37-point card. In the consolation Stableford running alongside the final, Matt Shaw was the winner with 41 points, ahead of Dave Porter on 38.

The final round of the seniors’ Winter League also took place with a Chinese greensome being the format. The winners were Eric Jones and Charlie Hastie with 35 points, which was well ahead of their nearest challengers.

The runners-up spot was decided by a countback on 29 points with Mike Porter and George Thomas pipping Mike Allen and Bob Toller for the position.

The points over the winter were totted up and the overall victor was declared as Chris Stephens with 67 points. He held a slender one-point advantage over Bob Toller with Dai Wood and Charlie Hastie sharing third on 64.

The seniors’ March medal winner was George Stratford, who was the only player to match his handicap in the final medal played over the soon to be old layout. His level par nett 70 beat Barrie Yearsley by one and was four clear of third-placed man Pete Douglas.