The general feeling about this fixture was that it was a wonderful day's golf, played in a great spirit, against a team of friends. While the Seniors enjoyed their day, they were all mindful of the fact that two of the Newport stalwarts were missing. Everyone was saddened by the fact that Wayne Harries and Rhydian Smith had both died since we were last in each other's company. Brian Waters, in his address following the match, extended the heartfelt sympathy of all the Tenby group to the club and the families of the two men.
Now, according to all players, there was not much of interest in any of the matches, other than the closeness of the encounters and the enjoyment had by all. Unlike last week, there were no halved matches. It was either a win or a loss.
To kick-start the day, Brian Waters enlisted the help of Malcolm Arlott to give Tenby a taste of success. As a pair, they interlocked well to overcome the challenge of Morys Rhys and Roy Bishop. The par three 16th summed up the day. There was one ball to the left of the green and one to the right. Brian landed fairly straight on just in front of the bunker and it was he who chipped up to within two inches to claim the hole and the match.
Freed from the encumbrance of collecting money, Nigel Rimell managed to improve his game on the back nine to help Bob Howse in his quest for another win. Alan Griffiths and Barry Onions declared that they helped them by being good hosts doing their best to enable the visitors to have a good day. Things were fairly even until the last few holes. Barry and Alan peaked at 11 and then just capitulated to allow Bob and Nigel to finalise the match with a two-hole advantage on the 18th.
Stan Hudson, after a long holiday in Canada, was looking for some support from Des Stone to ease him back into match play. However, it was Stan who provided all the impetus on the front nine, until Des had recovered from his defeat at Morriston. Chris James's birdie two on the first was a sign of the close encounter that was to follow. He was well-supported by Tony Bailey as this match went one up, all-square, one down, all-square, one down, all-square. Both Des and Stan lost a ball, and subsequently the hole, on the 10th, and had to dig in to effect a recovery on the 12th. Perseverance paid off as Des par-ed the 16th and 17th, allowing Stan to par the last to round the day off.
There were three other players out on the course who were trying to put the Morriston experience behind them. One of those was John Hall who had Doug Havard for company. They reckoned that the unfamiliarity of the front nine lost them this match - that and the wind! Gareth Evans, now recovered from his operation, and his partner, Phil John went into a two hole lead after the front nine and were able to hold on to it as the match progressed.
The Tenby pair improved on the back nine and a number of holes were halved. They even managed to get within one hole of the Newport pair, but lost out on the final holes, shaking hands on the 16th.
Russell Clarke thought he had expunged the Morriston experience as he and Tony Morgan found themselves two up with nine to play. That included a magnificent birdie by Russell on the ninth - the completely blind hole where you have to play up and over a high ridge and cope with a dogleg left.
On the 12th, however, Tony lost a ball (one of four) in the gorse on the left and Russell lost one on the right. They had no option but to concede and walked to the green. They then allowed Phil Turner and Roy Harper to overtake them and subsequently shook hands on the 16th.
Brian Morgan also played at Morriston and he hoped that the steady play of Martin Neilan would help him recover his winning ways. Unfortunately, Martin had two names to remember this week, Henry (Parry) and Ralph (Nicholas) and this meant a loss of concentration. As a result, his iron play suffered and the Tenby pair struggled somewhat. Perhaps the 17th summed up their frustration. Brian had a four foot putt to win the hole, and the match. He putted - and still had a four foot putt, this time to halve the hole. And - yes, you've guessed it! They conceded with one hole to play.
Now sand played a big part during the afternoon. The greens had recently been dressed an were, consequently, a bit slow. Any ball hit up onto the green would send little puffs of sand up as it bounced along. This was the same for all players so Mr. Gundry's comment about playing on the s------- beach was a fate everyone had to suffer. It wasn't so much the sand as the accurate short game of both Newport players that put paid to the hopes of Roy and Peter Williams.
Cyril Smith and Roy Evans were on good form and took advantage of the eight shots Peter conceded to them. Peter and Roy managed to hold them on the front nine, but the pressure told on Peter as the game progressed. There was an observation that Roy was the best 23 handicapper in South Wales, but which Roy was it?
Sand played a big part in Bart Youll's game and by the sound of it he would have been better off with a bucket and spade on the beach. He had plenty of bunker practice as he and Colin Griffith tried to out-manoeuvre Roy Phillips and Ieuan Davies. However, they found themselves four down after four holes and were fighting a rearguard action for most of the afternoon. They pulled back to within a hole only to lose out on the final hole.
It's amazing who you meet playing Seniors golf. Newman Vincent and Tony Greatrex got chatting and in the course of the conversation they came to the realisation that they were loosely related.
"His uncle Charlie was married to my aunty Mary," said Newman, "and what's more he was prepared to admit to it!"
I don't think it affected the match unless their conversation detracted from their concentration.
To all intents and purpose it was a very close match with Newman playing well. Derek chipped in with a birdie on the third, but even that couldn't give them the advantage. In fact, on the 10th, Newman became a mite agitated as he watched Derek go to pick up his marker, thinking the hole was over. It wasn't and they were able to extend their involvement up to the 17th hole where they gracefully conceded.
Jack and John (not Jack and Jill) were pitting their golfing skills against Ian Artingstall and Richard Watts and Jack Hasdell's habit of chipping in from the bunkers paid dividends as they went into an early lead. In a great afternoon of golf, they reported that there no easy holes as each and every one was keenly contested. However, John Cook and his opposite number, Richard, colluded at the halfway stage and nipped in to the pro's shop to hire a buggy. This match ended in Tenby's favour with three holes left to play.
Another that ended with Tenby in front was the one involving Ken Gouldsbrough and David Llewellyn. Roger Goodwin declared that all four players had genuine handicaps which made for a close game in blustery conditions. Everything was going along smoothly, with both pairs winning holes, and then Ken rather spoilt the party by sinking a long putt, on the eleventh hole, from a long way off the green. Langley Forrest and Roger kept the match live, but never recovered as they conceded with one to play.
There was a tight-lipped silence from Richard when asked how his match went. J.D.R., however piped up that Richard had the onerous task of playing against three this week. Now I don't believe that for one moment. Cled Davies, playing with John Lewis, declared that it had been a privilege for him to watch the golf and thanked the Tenby boys for allowing him to win this friendly encounter.
The general buzz of conversation and laughter in the clubhouse during the meal was an indication of how well these two teams enjoy each other's company.
Results: B. Waters and M. Arlott beat M. Rhys and R. Bishop by three and two; B. Howse and N. Rimell beat A. Griffiths and B. Onions by two and one; S. Hudson and D. Stone beat C. James and T. Bailey by two; J. Hall and D. Havard lost to G. Evans and P. John by four and two; R. Clarke and T. Morgan lost to P. Turner and R. Harper by three and two; P. Williams and R. Gundry lost to C. Smith and R. Evans by four and three; N. Vincent and D. Bath lost to T. Greatrex and S. Lamb by two and one; R. Davies and J.D.R. Williams lost to C. Evans and J. Lewis by four and three; J. Hasdell and J. Cook beat I. Artingstall and R. Watts by four and three; K. Gouldsbrough and D. Llewellyn beat R. Goodwin and L. Forrest by two and one; B. Morgan and M. Neilan lost to H. Parry and R. Nicholas by two and one; C. Griffith and B. Youll lost to R. Phillips and I. Davies by one.