Neath Vets captain Iorrie Rees thought that he had a trump card when he selected their Eclectic winner, Brin Thomas, to partner him last week and as a more than competent 22-handicapper he was on to good thing. In this first match they set off at a cracking pace, partly due to a slow and indifferent start by Des and Stan Hudson. The home pairing realised that they had to improve their game and Stan gave them the kick-start they needed when he drove the green on the fifth hole to draw level. The lead was relinquished again on the sixth. Des had a four- foot putt for a three and was amazed to hear Iorrie say 'You can have that.' When Brin picked himself up, he pulled himself together and proceeded to putt out for the hole - fortunately! Des weighed in by scoring a two on the eighth and later driving the green on the 13th to earn a three and lead by four holes. It was 'three bunker Stan' on the 14th as he drove into the first, hit the lip and found himself in the adjacent bunker and chipped out, much to everyone's amusement, into the third. They lost that hole and had to fight it out over the line, managing to close out the match on the 17th. Brian Waters and Geoff Aston found themselves embroiled in a tough match as Mike Bradley and Stuart Penny made sure that they did not have things all their own way. Eleven of the holes played were halved in a match which saw the lead change hands more than once. One behind crossing the line, they won the 16th and 17th and thought that that was enough. It took a resilient stand by Brian when he sunk a long putt to earn a half and win the match. Since Martin Neilan was disappointed at losing his last two matches, it was thought he needed geeing up and who better to do that than Brian Morgan. Watching Brian fire way out to the right and still land on the fairway would be enough to inspire anyone - that and his caustic quips! Did it work - but of course! By all accounts this match went birdie, par, birdie, par or something like that! Brian reckoned that Martin was on fire this week as they proceeded to show Colin Lloyd and Merv Rees where to hit the ball on a fast Tenby course. Colin and Merv did not play badly - indeed they shared some of the birdies and pars. However, they could not catch the in-form Martin and Moggie once they established a lead and had to concede on the 13th. A fourball match can be great fun, especially when you can enjoy the company of another club member as well as the opposition. Unfortunately, Newman Vincent and Jack Hasdell both had to play a Neath pair on their own. This was due to a combination of one member not turning up and mistaken identity. It appears that we have yet another Morgan in the Seniors section and one with the same initial as an existing member. Confusing? I'll say it is! While both Newman and Jack managed to hold out for much of the round, the pressure eventually got to them. Jack held out until the ninth, making the most of his five shots, but the strain of maintaining concentration took its toll as Dave Williams and John Solly slowly turned the screw to ensure that Jack wouldn't overcome them. Newman also struggled on manfully, but had to concede to John Jones and Dave Lewis on the 16th. It was a touch of deja vu for Bob Howse this week. He walked to the first tee to meet up with Jeff Hopkins, one of the pair who had beaten him in the Seniors Classic semi-final match last year at Inco. He and Derek Bath, however, got off to a good start when they went two up after six holes. Bob thought that he might avenge last year's defeat, but Jeff had another trick up his sleeve - well in his bag really. He offered round a bag of sweets and Bob and Derek politely accepted. From then on their game went to 'pot'. Bob muttered something about wheels and trolleys and losing five holes on the trot. He said that the link between his brain and his hand became completely severed as Jeff and John Edwards forged ahead to establish an unassailable lead. The Seniors had never seen Bob so deflated and even Derek's jovial ebullience couldn't kick-start his normal game, so they conceded and shook hands on the 15th. Bob and Derek would like some more of those sweets! 'Nip and tuck' were out again, this time in the company of Malcolm Arlott and Dave Morgan. Robert Jones and Rhidian Lewis held them in a close encounter until the eighth. After that, Malcolm and Dave cut loose and won the next three holes to establish a lead. From there they hung on, but only because "Dave heeded my advice and did as the club captain advised," quipped Malcolm. Another sterling performance was enacted by Ken Gouldsbrough, aided and abetted this week by John Hall, in an interesting match with Alan Lloyd and Ron Matthews. They went from one down to all square, to one down and back to all square. The turning point came on the eighth green when Ken and John had driven well to find themselves one three feet short and the other a similar distance long. John was on the edge of the green and proceeded to sink his putt in between the Tenby pair's balls for a two. Fortunately, both John and Ken putted out to halve the hole in two. They then struck out to establish a lead which they managed to hang on to and shook hands on the 15th. Doug Havard came in with a smile on his face; he had won three holes on the trot in his match against Bill Cantwell and Mansel Hughes. However, he conceded that David Kaye had carried him for most of the round, but that he was delighted to make a contribution in their win. This was a game that could have gone either way, but Doug's lucky streak swung it in Tenby's favour. Owen Monaghan and John Williams enjoyed a great game of golf as they tried to overcome a three-hole deficit in their match against Alan Philips and Colin Jones. Having established a lead, the Neath pair were loath to relinquish it and kept John and Owen on the back foot for the rest of the afternoon. The Tenby duo never recovered and had to concede on the 16th. The sunshine and warmth had kept everyone in jovial mood, which continued throughout the excellent meal and into the after-dinner address. Results: D. Stone and S. Hudson beat I. Rees and B. Thomas 3 and 1; B. Waters and G. Aston beat M. Bradley and S. Penny 1 up; M. Neilan and B. Morgan beat C. Lloyd and M. Rees 7 and 5; O. Monaghan and J. D. R. Williams lost to A. Philips and C. Jones 3 and 2; B. Howse and D. Bath lost to J. Hopkins and J. Edwards 4 and 3; M. Arlott and D. Morgan beat R. Jones and R. Lewis 2 and 1; J. Hall and G. Gouldsbrough beat A. Lloyd and R. Matthews 5 and 3; N. Vincent lost to J. Jones and D. Lewis 4 and 2; D. Kaye and D. Havard beat B. Cantwell and M. Hughes 3 and 1; J. Hasdell lost to D. Williams and J. Solly 5 and 3.
