Weston seniors reach county cup scratch knockout final

It has been an important month for Weston Golf Club as they have teams in the semi-finals of all of the Somerset Golf Union knockout competitions.

In the seniors’ scratch knockout, the team came up against Saltford at the neutral venue of Wells. Geoff Sinclair got things under way for Weston and having got his match back to all square, lost the 17th hole but remarkably holed out from 170 yards at the 18th to secure a half.

Steve Thomas was unable to overhaul his opponent and went down 3&2, but victories for Dave Rowland (3&2), Clive Stilwell (5&4) and Ron Kelley (3&2) gave the Weston team a 3½-1½ victory. They will now play Enmore Park in the final.

In their latest friendly match, the seniors were unable to make it three wins in a row. Against Lansdown, Paul Chesney and Bill Diamond couldn’t match the putting performances of their opponents as they went down 3&1, but winners by the same score were Pete Hardaway and Don Harris to make the score level.

Robin Webb and John Morgan kept things all square by halving their match, but Ed Langford and John Dixon were beaten 5&4. Parity was restored as Tony Barry and Dave Snowdon won 3&1, but in the deciding match Rob Filer and Mark Fozzard lost 2&1 to give Lansdown a 3½-2½ win.

The scintillating weather was matched by the seniors as they competed for the Ray Hammond Trophy, a betterball pairs competition. Twenty-six pairs entered and all the teams were below par.

The winners with a stunning 50 points were Howard Evans and Rob Filer and two points behind them were the runners-up Ian Pitt and Henry McGrory.

In third place on 47 points were Roger Preston and Roger Magor and in fourth a further point behind came Nick Palmer and Ben Riddell.

There were three groups returning 44 points but with the best back nine to claim fifth place were Graham Osman and Nick Bohin.

Congratulations to Weston’s Jackie Read who walked away with armfuls of silverware from the County Bronze meeting at Worlebury.

Winning overall with 38 points, Jackie was also awarded the Irlam Salver for best Stableford, the Lovell Cup for best score with handicap category 29-35 and The Barlow Cup for best Stableford score from the club qualifiers in May.

The ladies’ Stableford competition played on Saturday and Tuesday was won by Tessa Pitt with a score of 36 points. Kaylee Davey just missed out on the top spot on countback and Anne Blannin and Beryl Robert came third and fourth respectively with 35 points. Lindsay Burley won the nine-hole on Tuesday with Carol Kelley the runner-up.

A hectic few days at Worlebury saw all the sections enjoying success.

It started with acts of charity, a visit from the SLCGA, the junior club championship, the ladies’ Centenary Trophy and Hon Sec’s Cup and the conclusion of the Pro Trophy

Mary’s Day, the annual Bone Cancer Research Trust charity day, was very well supported and raised just over £9,000. Andy Collard and his wife Sue, organised the event to raise funds in memory of their daughter, Mary, who passed away in 2012.

Andy and Sue expressed their thanks to everyone who contributed to the success of the day, but particularly, the members for the use of the course and the clubhouse on a Saturday; the club professionals, Scott Thompson and Roy Baker, Drive Vauxhall for being the main sponsor, the chefs at the hospitality tent and the club and various family members and friends, too numerous to mention.

The golf, in many respects, was incidental but won comfortably by Stan, Olly, John and Neil Cunningham. The other prizes went to the following fourballs: John Jones, Kelvin Betts, Tony McDonald, Tony Foster; Sue Sokol, Katherine Sokol, Helen Clarke, Claire Bayliss; Chris Thorne, Steve Partridge, Geoff Snook, Kevin Marshall and Danny Saunderson, Jon Dyer, Graham Horroll, Martin Morgan.

There was a beat the pro challenge on the 16th against Scott or Roy. Only 10 players beat them all day with Jon Dyer coming top. Nearest the pin prizes went to Ben Mager, John Jones, John Shaw and straightest drive winner was Julian Brown.

Senior club member Bob Darling hosted the Micro Clutch seniors charity. There was a full field and the scoring was incredibly high with many competitors beating their handicap.

Geoff Wildman returned the top score of the day, his 46 points winning Division 2. Chris Harrison pipped the host on countback to take the runners-up position, both scoring 43 points.

Division 1 required a photo finish, the top three each scoring 45 points. John Jones pipped Ken Williamson and Tony McDonald to take first place.

£330 was raised for the club’s charity, The Freewheeelers. Seniors’ captain Mike Strang thanked Bob for sponsoring the event and his members for supporting it.

The juniors held their 36-hole club championship. Junior captain Michael Nicholls who has had a very good season, comfortably won the gross by three shots from Alix Kew.

Golfing chums and promising youngsters, Oli Tripp and Troy Young vied for the nett competition. Oli, with a nett 64, had a commanding lead in the morning. Troy whittled away at the lead in the afternoon but fell just short, Oli winning by a single shot to take the cup with an overall score of 137.

The club were warmly thanked by the Somerset Ladies County Golf Association (SLCGA) for hosting their Bronze Open.

After so many sunny days almost 50 ladies discovered the delights of playing in the rain. Despite a few heavy showers some competitors still managed to return good scores.

The winner with 38 points was Jackie Read from Weston who swept the board. Jackie won the Irlam Salver for the best player, the Lovell Cup for the 29-36 handicaps and the Barlow Cup for her club.

Mairi Wandless of Cricket St Thomas won the Bridge Bowl for handicaps 21-28 and was the Barlow Cup runner-up with 35 points.

The ladies Centenary Trophy was also played in the rain making the conditions tricky. Former lady captain Helen Clarke was undaunted and cruised to victory with a nett 68. Lynne Johnson was runner-up with a 72. Janet Fear’s 73 took third place on countback, pipping Michelle James and Audrey Cowlin.

The ladies’ Hon Sec’s Cup, which drew a very good field, saw Janet Keight win with a fine 45 points. Audrey Cowlin was runner-up on 42 and Carol Cockerham third on 41.

Julie Stafford and Cheryl Saunders just failed in their attempt to reach the final of the Bristol and District Handicap Foursomes.

Their opponents from Lansdown made home advantage count to record a narrow 2&1 win. It was nip and tuck all the way, however, until Lansdown holed a massive putt on the 16th to get their noses in front before sealing the win on the 17th.

Some excellent scores were returned in the Pro Trophy final. Tony Foster was best of the bunch with an excellent nett 63 to win the trophy. Dale Rendall came second on countback from David Grant, both players playing very well to come in with 65s.

Tony continues to make great progress and has had his handicap reduced to 10 with the aim of achieving single figures.

With the seasons changing again and rain appearing for the first time in weeks, it was a week of team events at Wedmore.

The ladies held their Team Trophy, a bowmaker with three players per team with the fairways still running fast. Captain Shirley Gooding took full advantage of this, playing with Sue Chambers and Sally Clifford they massed 86 points to win by four points.

Runners-up were Hazel Gough, Louise Allen, still in good form following her Open Week successes, and Jenny Brown. Two points further back were the third-placed team of Sue McDonald, Heather Abraham and Ashley Ribi.

The pro’s competition at the weekend was a double Stableford with teams of two both needing to score. The winning score of 79 from Nigel Young and Graham Sugg was therefore a brilliant effort, with both players under handicap and gave them a lead of nine points over nearest rivals Brian Webber and Ian Bunn.

Things got much closer then with Trevor Marshal and David Bates just a shot behind in third, while only a further shot behind came Ian Robson and Terry Clark and Don Sarjant and Daniel Milford, with Robson and Clark winning out on countback.

Brean’s Avalon League Division 3 side edged closer to the league title after a 3-2 win at home to Oake Manor.

Team captain Matt Shaw and Leighton Jenkins got them off to a flying start with an emphatic 7&5 win, but the next two matches went the way of the Taunton side. The Brean tail wagged well though with the Roger Vaughan/Dan Williams and Ron Edmondson/Pete Barton partnerships securing victory on the day.

Dick Harvey edged out Ian Rogers on a countback to take top spot in Saturday’s Super Series Bogey competition.

As the recent hot dry spell of weather came to an end, the golf scores were still impressive as the duo both handed in scores of +7. Harvey had the better back nine though to secure the win and deny the in-form Rogers another victory.

Barry Brindley took third after another countback on +4 and with it moved to the top of the overall points table. Mel Brown and Barrie Tucker were the unlucky ones to miss out on a top three finish after also posting +4.

Beverly Cranley won the ladies’ August medal with an excellent nett score of 66. She held a two-stroke advantage at the end of the event over Debbie Windmill and Lyn Bird who handed in nett 68s. Windmill was awarded second spot thanks a superior inward nine score.

Roger Phillips and Mike Drayton are the early leaders of the seniors’ eclectic after the opening round. Both players had nett 64s in the opening round with Phillips getting the win on the day by virtue of his better back nine. Graham Exton was placed third after his nett 66.

The previous day, 36 seniors (and one club professional) made the short trip up the M5 to Thornbury for the annual away day. The temperatures remained hot as the players made their circuit of the South Gloucestershire course.

An individual Stableford for the RW Taylor Shield was the main prize on offer and that provided a close finish, only decided after a countback over the last six holes.

Roger Hurrell and Mike Short both handed in 41 points, but it was Hurrell who collected the shield with the better back six-hole score. Short had to settle for the runners-up spot and was one point clear of another duo on 40.

Graham Exton and Ian Adams were those players with Adams scorching home in 24 points to take third spot.

To add to the prizes on offer, the seniors also do a blind pairs draw afterwards with extra prize vouchers up for grabs. The cards were drawn by captain Chris Stephens and he drew out the cards of both Adams and Exton to give them an unassailable lead on 80 points.

Hurrell was drawn out with Dave Benjafield totalling 78 for second, while Mike Short was paired with Roger Phillips to take third one point further back.