Last Saturday, the 36-hole Cobb Cup and Regimental Bowl was played on an absolutely gorgeous sunny and hot day.

The morning started off very serenely, with early starters arriving shortly before 7 am. One of the first group due to tee-off at 7.30 am was Andy Pouton. He arrived in the shop to enquire if he could book a tee time later that day, completely oblivious of the fact he was playing.

When I pointed this out to him, he said he thought it was the next day, on Sunday. The look of horror on his face caused a lot of amusement when he realised he had just twenty minutes to get ready. A frenetic phone call to his wife to advise her of his changed circumstances, he then hurriedly rushed to get himself ready for his 7.30 am tee slot.

He was not the only player to find himself under pressure that morning to make his tee time. Among the late starters, one player had to be retrieved by Tom Hilling, who took a buggy down on to the end of the practice ground to drive him back. The player arrived on the tee with just three minutes to spare. Four shanks later and with a double digit score on the first, he offered his apologies to his two playing partners and graciously retired!

Because of the fine weather, the two trophies were laid out on a bedecked covered table glinting in the bright sunlight adjacent to the first tee. In the morning round, many players found the greens rather indifferent, with some a bit on the slower side which caught a few of them out. Also, a lot of the bunkers had not been properly raked having some deep footmarks in them which added some additional shots to their score.

With the CSS of 73 in the morning round, the best gross posted was by the defending champion Johnny Morris who carded a two under par 70. Five shots back were his two playing partners Paul Haley and Andy Pouton on 75, with defending Regimental Bowl champion, David Webb, shooting a very creditable 76.

In the handicap section for the Regimental Bowl, Terry Davies had the best round with a nett 66 (89. Two shots back were two players, Neil Moffatt 68 (85) and Paul Davies 68 (91), with Johnny Morris's 70 giving him fourth spot.

After a leisurely lunch, the first group were ready to go off a bit earlier, well two of them were! The third member, our Andy Pouton, had shot off home to make some apologies to his lovely lady wife and to grab some added requirements for his afternoon round. With six minutes to go and no sign of Andy, the starter, captain John Stenson and the organiser, Jim Martin, were getting very concerned that he was not going to arrive in time and incur a two-shot penalty, or even worse, arrive over five minutes late and be disqualified! Just in the nick of time, Andy arrived with four minutes to spare and the group duly teed-off at the correct time! Phew!

Whether it was something Andy ate or perhaps some soothing words from his wife, Andy proceeded to shoot a stunning afternoon score of 69. More on that later; in second place, David Webb followed up his morning score with a 75 in the second round to put him in front on the leader board for the Regimental Bowl. A position he held until late in the day. Nick Thomas also had a fine round, finishing in third place on 76. This nearly included a hole-in-one on the 17th. His lovely tee shot landed in the perfect place and gently rolled down to the hole, striking the flag stick. I witnessed this and had no doubt if the flag had of been out, it would have dropped - hard luck Nick.

Johnny Morris was disappointed to only score 76, while many around him were scoring as good as or better than their morning round. Steve Sutcliffe was well pleased with his return of 77; he too played some fine shots. Poor Doc Huw Roberts, who had felt none too well when he got up that morning, was taken ill out in the hot afternoon sun and had to retire. Hope you are feeling a lot better now Huw; also I was only joking when I referred to your stature, so please sharpen those needles up!

One amusing moment during the afternoon occurred on the 14th; Jim Martin was marshalling the course and noticed that a group was waiting on the tee, not able to drive as someone was wandering down the fairway. On driving across, he found a little old lady from Pembroke Dock who had decided to have a day trip to Tenby. On explaining to her that people were playing golf, she readily accepted Jim's offer to have a lift to the clubhouse. She had never been in a buggy before and thoroughly enjoyed her short trip, thanking Jim for making her day!

Among the handicap section (Regimental Bowl), Darren Thomas led the afternoon round with a nett 68 (85) and a chop of two shots. Some said well overdue! Andy's 68 (69) put him into second place and Nick Thomas's fine round 69 (75) put him into third place. David Webb's 70 (75) and Steve Sutcliffe's 70 (76) fine rounds put them in fourth and fifth spot, respectively. As a result of the improved afternoon returns, the CSS dropped to 72 for the second round.

So to the overall events; in the Regimental Bowl, Terry Davies, who had led in the morning round with an excellent 66, followed up it up in the afternoon with a very good 71 (23), to shoot a two-round nett aggregate of 137. A result that has seen him drop three shots to 20.

When presented with the Bowl, he spoke well of his playing partners and the organising of the competition. In second place was Paul Davies 140, earning him a cut of two to 21. Last year's winner, David Webb, who had led the field for much of the day, had to console himself with third spot on 141.

Captain John Stenson then presented the Scratch Cup to the well-deserved winner, Andy Pouton. He was very gracious in his acceptance speech to his two playing partners, Paul Haley and Johnny Morris, and put his win down to playing in such exalted company. He thanked the green staff for their immaculate preparation of the course and the organisers for making sure the competitors were well looked after. Many congratulations, Andy, it was a well-deserved win.

Well, what can we say of the 2010 scratch stroke play champion, Andy Pouton, winning the Cobb Cup with an aggregate of 144! Andy, it must have seemed a distance dream when you arrived that morning, totally unprepared for what you had planned for that day. To his credit, he must have reorganised his scrambled brain very well to play two very fine rounds and deservedly win the Cobb Cup.

Finally, I would like to thank the captain, John Stenson, for acting as one of the starters and presenting the prizes, plus Ken Gouldsbrough, who assisted him on the starting duties in the afternoon. I also thank John Hunt for stepping in very late to assist me in the morning starting duties. I also thank Richard Reed, who helped sort the cards in the morning round, and Danny Owen, who helped to produce the results. I must mention Johnny Morris, who helped me re-organise the afternoon cards. Many thanks John.

Above all though, I thank all the players for making it such a wonderful competition. It was a real pleasure for me to see them play the event in such a sporting, but keenly contested manner.

J.D.M.