Having lost the away match at Cardigan by seven games to two, Brian Waters was expecting a tough battle with this home fixture, and he was not to be disappointed. The general comments from senior members was that many of the matches were close run affairs - enjoyable but tight.

The seniors' captain was not aware of the struggles going on behind him as he and Brian Morgan pitched in against Keith Lewis and Nigel Clarke. Brian Waters has been playing well of late and in this encounter he was matched by his namesake Brian Morgan, who fulfilled his obligation on the holes that his captain missed. The captain's drives were straight down the middle, while his erstwhile partner sent his ball out on the wind, only to land on the fairway.

A typical example of the conditions saw Morgie arc two balls off the tee on the fourth to land them on or near the beach. However, he made up for it with a good putt on the seventh to win the hole. Keith and Nigel helped the pair of Brians by both losing a ball on the eighth and with a captain's contribution, Brian Waters sealed their win with a long putt on the 13th.

The first of the hard fought matches was being played out behind them. During the course of the afternoon, Des Stone discovered that he shared a birthday with his opposite number, Ted Wells. These two had played each other before and knew that it would be a tight match. Des's partner started slowly, as did Ted's partner, Hywel Richards. With his first drive, Dave Morgan stumbled out of bounds just 20 feet from the tee.

The home pair still managed to edge ahead by two holes, only for Ted's long drives to claw that back to all-square after nine. From then on, most holes were halved, with Ted and Hywel winning the 14th to go one up. This was nullified with a three on the 17th to level the score. Des had a poor lie on the 18th for his second shot, but Dave rescued them, landing just on the edge of the green with his. Their hearts were in their mouths as they watched Ted's 15-foot putt roll directly up to the hole and stop with a quarter of the ball hanging over the edge. A half was a fair result!

Dave Morgan almost claimed a birdie on the 12th. He stopped his buggy alongside a pigeon on the pathway leading to the hole. Thinking it would move, he stepped out of the buggy and almost put paid to the bird when he stepped on it. Unharmed, it fluttered away, but not far. It appeared to be a racing pigeon suffering exhaustion after a long flight. It was still there on Saturday.

John Hancock was out with Paul Bradley, again, and they claimed that they upheld the spirit of seniors' golf by coming in with a half. In what they described as a classic encounter, against Brian Huggett and Ken Hadley, it was shot for shot all the way. Neither pair could establish a commanding lead and many of the holes were halved. An amicable shake of the hands on the 18th was followed by some great food and excellent company.

Just ahead of them were Stan Hudson and John Hall, a pairing that looked good on paper. But then you don't play golf on paper! This was another of the very close encounters, with Ken Robinson and Keith Lewis flying the flag for Cardigan. This match was still live on the 18th green with the Cardigan pair dormie-one. Stan and John had been unable, all afternoon, to get ahead. Halving the first, they then went two down after four holes. John's birdie two on the sixth and a win on the eighth brought them level. Keith and Ken kept the door firmly closed all the way home with the 21-handicapper, Keith, getting a three on the 17th to put them one up starting the 18th. Although Stan and John had putts to halve the hole, they were unable to convert them and so lost another hole to the Cardigan pair.

Two halves, one win and one loss - call in the golfers! Up on the first tee stepped the in-form Roy Morgan partnered by the long hitting Owen Monaghan. Could they restore the balance? Ken Evans and Glyn Davies made sure that they couldn't. Ken was the leading light in this match and when he came up short on a hole, his partner filled in to close out the Tenby pair.

We were undone by a competent 15-handicapper, was Roy's comment as they rued the chances they missed. It didn't help that Owen ran out of matches on the sixth and became more irascible as the round went on and he was unable to have a smoke! This match was a close affair until the 13th when they were all-square. Lack of stamina, and fags, led to the loss of the 14th and 15th holes. This match ended on the 17th in Cardigan's favour.

Nigel Rimell looked rather weary and forlorn as he came in to order his pint. The concentration needed to perform against the evergreen Mike King supported by Mike Amphlett had taken its toll. Even the good chipping skills of Rod Clarke couldn't help them overcome a tough Cardigan pair. They struggled on, with most holes being halved and neither pair gaining more than one-hole advantage. Their fate was sealed on the 16th when Mike King demoralised them with a long putt across the green to claim the match.

In contrast, Ken Gouldsbrough was high on success, whistling a happy tune as he walked on air for his meal. He and Malcolm Arlott had restored some pride on their home turf as they led Ieuan Davies and Roland Lloyd around the course. As a nine-handicapper, Roland had to concede all the shots and Ken and Malcolm were only too ready to accept them. Ieuan had a birdie on the sixth to keep them in the match, while Malcolm sunk a 30-foot putt on the fifth and followed it up with a 10-foot putt on the 16th to win the match.

"We were given a golfing lesson on our own course!" That is not the comment you would expect to hear from Peter Williams and Geoff Aston - another pairing that looked a sure bet on the team sheet. Chris Burgess single-putted the first nine holes and his partner, Peter Merryweather, followed this up with four consecutive birdies on the back nine, the best of which was a long chip up on the 15th, followed by a short putt. Shell-shocked, Peter and Geoff conceded that they did not rise to their usual high standard and had to concede on the 15th.

Bob Howse and Richard Davies did though. They won the first, third and sixth holes in their match against Brian Hankey and Ray West to open up a lead. Brian, however, demonstrated that they would not have it all their own way. He was on the bank, in the rough, for three on the fourth hole. He took his sand wedge and hoisted his ball into the air, watching it as it bounced on the fringe, rolled up to the hole and plopped in for a four. Undaunted, Bob and Richard continued to win holes despite shots like Ray's 15-foot downhill putt on the ninth. This match also ended on the 15th.

Tenby were one point down with Newman Vincent and Mike Fox the only pair still on the course. Things were tense as Brian almost wore the carpet out trudging back and fore to the locker room to find out the result. In this match, Newman and Mike had put themselves out of one hole. Newman hit his own trolley with a shot and Mike hit the wrong ball. The smile on Graham's face was priceless as he realised he only had to hole out to win the hole.

Mike declared that like a good wine, Newman was improving with age - or was it he was dark, musky and alcoholic. Obviously it was a sense of humour that kept this pair going as they outmanoeuvred Graham Walker and Dave Edwards in windy conditions. Brian Waters breathed a sigh of relief as the win was confirmed and the match halved.

Jim Martin, Stan Hudson and Ray West were the winners in Brian Morgan's charity raffle.

Results: B. Waters and B. Morgan beat K. Lewis and N. Clarke 6 and 5; D. Stone and D. Morgan halved with T. Wells and H. Richards; S. Hudson and J. Hall lost to K. Robinson and K.. Lewis 2 down; J. Hancock and P. Bradley halved with B. Huggett and K. Hadley; B. Howse and R. Davies beat B. Hankey and R. West 4 and 3; R. Morgan and O. Monaghan lost to K. Evans and G. Davies 3 and 1; R. Clarke and N. Rimell lost to M. King and M. Amphlett 2 and 1; K. Gouldsbrough and M. Arlott beat I. Evans and R. Lloyd 3 and 2; G. Aston and P. Williams lost to C. Burgess and P. Merryweather 4 and 3; N. Vincent and M. Fox beat G. Walker and D. Edwards 2 and 1.