Tenby Seniors were in action on Monday playing two matches in the South Wales Seniors Classic. The A team were drawn against Maesteg A, while the B team faced Gower B and both teams were drawn at home. There were some close and exciting encounters in both matches and Maesteg were hoping to repeat last year's success when they defeated the B team at Tenby to knock them out of the Bowl competition. Conditions were ideal with a light to fresh northerly breeze and warm sunshine. The fast fairways and slick greens made for an exciting prospect. The Maesteg Seniors captain Gwyn and his brother Elfed Evans faced the redoubtable John Hancock and in-form Martin Neilan. Despite having home course advantage, the Tenby duo found themselves under pressure from the start. They went a hole down and struggled to draw level before dropping another hole. As John said, they just couldn't draw ahead, despite some excellent play from himself and Martin, until they reached the 16th. Although both players were in trouble on the left, they were able to just edge out the Maesteg captain with a seven, net six. John was a relieved man when he saw Martin's long putt from off the green curve its way into the hole to give them a half to stay one ahead. And that's how it finished, as they managed a half on the 18th to give the team a positive start. Close behind them were Des Stone and Stan Hudson, who also had misgivings of being shown how to play their own course. The languid, smooth swing of Howard Griffiths was paying dividends as his relaxed style found him driving the fairways with monotonous regularity. Des and Stan had to dig in after finding themselves two down after four holes. Stan had a chance to pull one back on the sixth, but failed to hole a short putt. Des made the most of a shot on the seventh to win back one hole, only for them to lose it again on the ninth as Phil Lewis putted for a par. A win on the 10th and again on the 11th was followed by two halved holes. Stan's par won them the 14th to give them the lead for the first time. Howard found himself with a hanging lie, just off the green for two, on the 16th. Unfortunately, he miss-hit and double hit it and could only salvage a seven. Stan, on the green for three, managed to win the hole with a six. A half was all that was needed on the 17th and as the only one to find the green, Des managed a par to win the match. Bob Howse was somewhat anxious at being the anchor as he and Ken Gouldsbrough faced Gary Thomas and Bob Bassett. Following the Thursday match against Neath, he was hoping for some better form. He found it. A gross 34 on the front nine gave him and Ken a solid start. Ken weighed in with a wonderful contribution on the ninth hole. His drive travelled all of 20 yards, leaving him with a long and difficult chip up to the green. In his words, he 'belted' it up to beyond the fringe, leaving a chip back to the pin. The Maesteg pair were demoralised when they saw Ken chip the ball straight into the hole for a par three to win the hole. Gary and Bob couldn't recover from such play and had to concede with five holes left to play. Could the B team match the success of the A team? They were out on the same afternoon, led by Dave Morgan. He and Geoff Aston were facing Ken Graves and Howell Lewis and like Ken and Bob in the morning they opened up a substantial lead. Dovetailing well, Dave and Geoff tried to make sure that holes were not lost, playing a sensible approach. Such was their dominance they did not need to cross the railway line with match won on the 13th. Howell remarked: "It was like the Manchester United v Roma game - and we were Roma!" He even went as far as comparing Dave Morgan to Roony - the mind boggles! The matches behind them were much closer. Tenby's two left-handers, Richard Davies and Brian Morgan, had been paired as a team 'par excellence'. Bob Hughes and Lyn Evans did not know this and put them to the test. Richard and Brian went two ahead at one stage, but were unable to hold on to this lead. They found themselves one hole down after 16 and were staring at a possible defeat. However, they rallied and won the 17th, allowing them the chance of a victory. It was not to be. Richard had a chance of putting for victory on the 18th, but just lipped out, sharing the honours with the Gower pair. By the time this match ended the one behind had already finished. The news was seeping through that Owen Monaghan and John Hall had lost their encounter. Owen declared that he had not scored so many pars and still lost the hole. Alwyn Jenkins and Dave Morgan had provided tough opposition in a match that saw first one pair in the lead and then the other. The scores were level after 11 holes and then Alwyn and Dave scored birdie, par, par to open up a lead from which the Tenby pair did not recover. The Gower pair were dormie four after 14 and a half on the 15th saw them achieve an away win. This meant that the match was now tied at one- and-a-half each. After much discussion and rule checking, the pairs that halved their match were despatched for a second journey down the first. Brian Morgan had a shot on this hole, but in the end did not need it. The opposition were down for five when he stepped up and putted out for a four net three. He walked back to the clubhouse with a beaming grin on his face. Both teams now wait to see who they will play in the next round. A team results: J. Hancock and M. Neilan beat G. Evans and E. Evans 1 up; S. Hudson and D. Stone beat H. Griffiths and P. Lewis 2 and 1; K. Gouldsbrough and B. Howse beat B. Bassett and G. Thomas 7 and 5. B team results: G. Aston and D. Morgan beat K. Graves and H. Lewis 7 and 5; R. Davies and B. Morgan halved with B. Hughes and L. Evans; O. Monaghan and J. Hall lost to A. Jenkins and D. Morgan 4 and 3.
