It must have been the excitement of seeing the sun shining which provided the anticipation of a good day's golf. Whatever it was, there was a buzz of activity around the clubhouse as the 'Old Fogeys' busied themselves with preparation, and even a little practice.

Balls were wiped and suitably marked in preparation for an anticipated good round. The first drive is the important one and sets the tone for the rest of the round. Imagine Bob Howse's consternation, then, when he realised that Tony Ranoe had outdriven him by about 200 yards (Tony Ranoe's yards, that is).

He rallied to get a birdie on the second, but failed to capitalise on this early success. With a better putter, he might have improved on his below average 25. Tony Ranoe ended his round one shot behind.

It was a mistake to put Fike Mox and Brian Morgan together. Their act was rather cartoonish on the ninth. Mike tee-ed up, unaware that Brian had swapped his ball for an exploding one. With a magnificent swipe, Mike fell back in amazement as the ball exploded at his feet and, for the first time in the day, was rendered speechless! Now that's something that doesn't happen often.

Needless to say, his second attempt ended up in the bushes to the right of the tee. With his ego dented and Brian teasing all the way round, he failed to perform to his full potential, ending up one off the bottom.

Meanwhile, back on the fifth, Chris Sierwald was enacting his own pantomime act. Touching the control on his buggy, his machine sprung to life and shot off in front of him, with the handle trailing along on the grass. His endeavours to put his foot out to stop it had little effect and he ended up chasing this inanimate object down the fairway. Realising that he was losing ground, he dived forward, belly-flopping close enough to grab hold of the handle and cling on for dear life. The dented ego failed to recover enough to improve on 26 for the round.

You could tell his mind was not totally on the game as he suggested that the seniors turn their hand to 'bog snorkelling' next week, on the 16th and 18th fairways. Some seniors might find that more rewarding!

Owen Monaghan failed to break 20 this week. His mind was still in Singapore, or, perhaps I should say, one of the islands off the coast where he was thrilled and entertained by the female caddies. Looking at his photographs, his mind was anywhere but on the golf, and it showed in his game. He may change his putter by next week!

On the first tee he kept looking around expecting to see an attractive young lady coming to help him out. Not on Seniors day Owen.

His playing partner, Ray Ford, was also fresh from a holiday. He had been on the Red Sea coast and this must have affected his game since he - 'played like an Egyptian'. His score was close to Owen's and, though he drove well on many holes, he failed to capitalise on good position.

Clifton John had a good day -he only lost two balls! That didn't stop him finishing with a 29. Playing with him, Colin Griffith did not fare quite so well, ending up with the same score as Tony Ranoe and Peter Woodhouse. It was with an element of glee that he informed Des Stone, as they crossed on the course, that he had found one of his balls. He continued to play out the round with it and duly returned it in the clubhouse.

Two players having steady rounds were John Cook and David Llewellyn and their respective playing partners praised and admired their consistently long, straight drives. David made the most of his positional play with some great putting, while Cooky three-putted most of the greens, so deflating his score.

Joining them in the consistency stakes was club pesident, Geoff Aston, giving the leaders a run for their money. John Charnock was delighted with his two on the 17th, more so because he failed to put his tee in the slot and had to putt off the mat itself.

"We were consistent in our mediocrity," was the quote from Peter Williams as he and his playing partners, Ken Gouldsbrough and Peter Woodhouse, were reflective in the parity of their performances.

Seniors' captain, Brian Waters, rued his performance on the back nine, scoring 10, while his playing partner, John Hayhoe, revelled in his 19 over the same holes. Alongside them, Richard Davies was his usual consistent self, except for his prowess with the putter, thus keeping him out of the prize money.

All members were delighted to see Tony Morris in the clubhouse, enjoying a game of snooker with JDR. They were also pleased to hear that Mike Nesbitt-Hawes was well on the way to recovery in Morriston Hospital.

There were 39 out on the course and Bob Creese had the honour of being this week's strong man. Eleven of the 39 scored 30 or more points and included Meurig Jones, John Hall, John Hayhoe, David Lamb, John Cook, Richard Davies, Stan Hudson and Brian Morgan.

Taking home the prize money this week were: David Llewellyn (37 pts), Geoff Aston (35 pts) and Malcolm Arlott (34 pts, back nine).

The twos pot was shared among six, with Malcolm Arlott getting two of them, one on the 12th and one on the 17th. Joining him on the 17th were John Charnock, John Hayhoe, Rob Wilkins and Dudley Williams. Brian Morgan was the only one to score a two on the sixth.

This week's raffle was won by Ken Gouldsbrough and Peter Woodhouse.

In the Eclectic league, with the exception of three players and three players returning their first cards for this half of the eclectic, everyone made inroads to their eclectic scores, ranging from one to four shots. In the gross there are two joint leaders, separated only by a better back three score! In fact, only five shots cover the top eight players. In the best aggregate, the leader heads the field by four shots, with four shots separating second and third place.

In the net section, the leader heads the field by four shots, but only five shots cover the next 14 players. In the overall aggregate, it is becoming very tight between two players for the Seniors Cup.

Next week will be a break from the eclectic with a Chapman Foursomes. In the following three weeks will be the final counting eclectic competitions.