Weston’s Jade crowned ladies county champion

CONGRATULATIONS go to Weston’s Jade Cope, who is the new Somerset ladies county champion.

The tournament was hosted by Minehead & West Somerset Golf Club and conditions were not easy for the players.

Jade won her first match against Laura Herbert to go into the quarter-finals in the afternoon taking on Julie Kinsey. She took the match 2&1, which placed her into the semi-final the following morning against Aimee Sawyer.

Jade won 4&2 putting her into the final against Gill Brown. It was the first time both Jade and Gill have made it to the final and the match was played in great spirit with Jade taking the lead to win 3&2.

The ladies Coronation foursomes winners were Bobby Ferrari and Ruth Forte with 37 points, five ahead of the runners-up Tessa Pitt and Alison Whitewood with 32. In third place were Zena Balcombe and Sally Brosnan.

The ladies A team beat Henbury 10-4. Congratulations to Glenda’s team. The final of the winter fours between Jan Bishop and Sue Garrett against Wendy Thomas and Jade Cope was won by Sue and Jan on the 18th.

Sally Brosnan and Zena Balcombe won their handicap foursomes match against The Mendip 4/3.

Gerald Taylor won his second trophy in two weeks, taking the seniors’ St George’s Trophy with an outstanding score of nett 63 and has seen his handicap reduced to nine as a result.

In second place with another excellent score of 64 was Peter Lumb who, on any other day could have expected to win easily. Third slot went to John Rowsell with a creditable 66.

A LARGE field of over 100, with visitors from far and wide, turned out for the Worlebury mixed open.

Countback was required to decide the final placings, with three pairs each scoring 43 points. One of the three, John Crump and Olga Lidbury from Stover, had the best gross score of the day, leaving the winners of the nett as Sam and Graham Hewlett, who pushed fellow Worlebury members, Lynn and Dave Pope, into second place. Home players Pauline Smith and Kevin Fudge, came third with 42 points, beating Cassie and Mike Davies, from Long Ashton, on countback.

Nearest the pin prizes were won by Worlebury members, club vice-captain Paul Lintern and Sam Hewlett.

Ladies’ captain Maxine Gardiner, presented the prizes and thanked everyone who contributed to the success of the day

The seniors travelled to play their Somerset Scratch match against Taunton and Pickeridge at Enmore Park. It was a close contest which saw them lose out by the narrowest of margins.

Keri Allchurch and Dave Treleaven had given them hope by winning their games to level the score at two apiece. The result hinged on the final game which was all square after 18 holes. Frank Hopkinson unfortunately, lost on the first extra hole.

The seniors’ social matches continue unabated and in their latest encounters they lost away to Enmore by 5.5 to 2.5, but won at home 3.5 to 2.5 against The Bristol.

The Bill Eynon Cup attracted a good field of seniors and was won in fine style by Mike Amesbury with a nett 66.

Countback was required to decide the second, third and fourth places. Alan Woolford prevailed over John Langdon and Kenny Yam, each returning 67s. Tony Evans came fifth with a 68.

It was a successful weekend for both Avalon sides. Paul Hibbard’s experienced team had a good 3-2 win away to Mendip Spring to gain vital bonus points.

The Royals, under the leadership of Nathan Talbot, built on last week’s win with a further success, this time a convincing 4-1 home victory against Wheathill.

FOLLOWING the captains away weekend last week, the seniors were also in Wiltshire, this time at Kingsdown for their spring away day.

David Adams found 30 points enough to win Division 3 from Alasdair McDonald and Dennis Howard. Martin Peakman was again in the prizes, winning Division 2 on 33, a point better than David Bates with Mike Tanswell third.

Calvon Poulton-Sadler won in a tight finish in Division 1 with 31 points, just ahead of John Russell and Tom Bennett. Ellis Nearn was the best of the over-70s with 32, but clearly the best round of the day came from Roy Tomlins with 35 points to take the overall win by two points.

The ladies played greensomes, pairing-up high and low handicaps. Maggie Dommett made a welcome return to the podium, finishing third on 34 points in partnership with Ronnie Follenfant.

This was a point behind runners-up Sue Tarry and Desiree McGowan. The only pair achieving level handicap and therefore winning were Betty Norman and Audrey Cowlin coming in on 36 points.

At the weekend, professional Nick Pope teamed up with the three captains, Mike Garbutt, Ann Adams and Jim Crick in a bowmaker. Their total of 75 points was only beaten by five other teams.

Best on the day were Jon Thompson, Max Grant, Mike Snelgrove and Rich Vowles with a massive 86 points. This was just one point better than the runners-up, who were Tony Ribi, David Bedford, Steve Smith and Terry Simpson.

A HIGHBRIDGE golfer will have no excuse for missing his next tee-time after winning a limited-edition BOSS watch for achieving a hole-in-one.

Derek Moody, aged 63, scored his ace on the 155-yard, par-three second at Isle of Wedmore Golf Club, and the 14-handicapper was rewarded with membership of the exclusive BOSS Watches H1Club and a specially-commissioned, commemorative timepiece.