Tenby Seniors basked in glorious sunshine as they drew the curtain on this season's match programme. They entertained, for the first time, a team of 16 players from Fairwood Park, many of whom were playing the course for the first time. Due to a misunderstanding with dates, they did not make last year's fixture and it was only when they concluded this match that they realised what they had missed.

They were somewhat overawed by the course, with its speedy fairways, its tantalising rough and fast greens. It was the greens that caught out many of the visitors who were, nonetheless, full of praise for their experience and were full of compliments for the greens staff.

As he has done all season, Stan Hudson led his team off the first tee, with Robin Hagley to support him. Brian Maunder and Huw Mainwaring were too enamoured with the state of the course to realise that Stan and Robin had crept into the lead. They praised, but couldn't handle the greens and could only watch and admire as Stan showed them how to putt, dropping only two shots after six holes.

They were five up after nine holes and kept up the pressure, until the 10th when they had a mishap. Even though Stan had a par, Robin chipped out of the rough and hit Stan's buggy so, being the gentlemen they are, they conceded the hole. It did not slow them up and they concluded this match on the 14th.

Brian Morgan stated that he was either rubbish or superb - there was no in between as he and Martin Neilan battled it out against Bryn Pennock and Ewart Tucker. It didn't seem to matter since, when he was out of the hole, Martin stepped up to claim it. He did this without the aid of his Tic-tacs, the white ones that is. He had some orange ones, but they were not as effective! After halving the first two holes, they opened up a lead and just never looked back. Martin's consistency kept them ahead until they shook hands on the 13th.

Bryn birdied the eighth and although he and Ewart mastered the pace of the greens they couldn't outsmart the Tenby pair who killed them off by winning holes 9, 10, 11 and 12. Morgie was birdied on the last hole. A raven picked up his ball from the bank and deposited it 40 yards further back - much to his dismay.

George Ellis was one who was enamoured with the course and declared that he intends to return to challenge it again. His partner, Keith Mollett, also enjoyed himself, but said that he found the distances between tees a bit long and tiring. It did not stop them providing Ken Gouldsbrough and Tony Morgan with a serious challenge. I'm not quite sure what he meant, but Tony opined that he played like a 'drain.' He had a nine-foot putt on the 18th to win the match, but failed to convert it and Ken's par was not good enough to win it either. They ended with an honourable half, despite Keith's birdies on the ninth and 16th.

Terry Boobier and Henry Williams were new to the course, but had Des Stone and Jim Martin to guide them through their ordeal. Not having played for a week or so, Henry miss-hit a few shots in the early holes and it took him a while to adjust to the course. Terry was straight and long -but then so was Jim!

The home pair managed to use their skills well to make sure that one or other was in the hole with a chance and were able to establish a two-hole lead after nine holes. By then Jim had warmed up and kept the opposition at bay to close this match out on the 17th.

Tony Ranoe set off on his own, assuming he was not needed, and had reached the seventh tee when Geoff Aston came racing out in a buggy to enlist his help. Geoff's partner had not turned up, so he and Tony ended up being the last pair out playing Terry Arnall and David Evans. As a result of all the excitement, it took them some while to settle. The result was that they could only halve the first two holes, before losing the third.

They were behind and managed to stay behind for the rest of the day in what was described as a reasonable match, with no one setting the course alight. Terry and David played a steady game and were able to manage the greens well enough to stay ahead. The result was finalised on the 16th.

Allen Watts was smiling. "They gave me a decent partner this week!" he said. Who was that partner? - Brian Jones. Even so, they found themselves two down after eight holes against Terry Williams and John Jones. "And that's when I had to buck my ideas up!" said Brian. They won holes 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 to wrest the lead from the visitors and held on to it until the match ended on the 16th. That was where Allen was putting downhill from the back of the green for an eagle. He caught the ball a bit firm and saw it race down the slope, only to hit the back of the cup and lip out. He was close enough to finish it off.

How do you play the course without a putter? Ask Derek Bath. You've guessed it, he left his putter on the first tee and no-one noticed it, until the last pair set off. After a few attempts with a four-iron, it was agreed that he could make use of his partner's putter. "He did nothing but moan,'" said John Hayhoe, "the putter was too light, next it was too heavy, or it wouldn't putt straight!"

As a result, John and Derek found themselves two down after 13 holes, but they pulled back to all-square after 16. Suddenly Derek discovered how to use the two-ball putter effectively on the 17th and put them one up. Would you believe it, he sunk a 34-foot putt (??????) on the 18th to finish off a frustrating day.

"We just ran out of holes!" stated the ever-positive Mike Fox. "We were seven down after eight holes, but fought back to lose out by three and two; we just needed another 12 holes!" Brian Waters was his partner and the opposition consisted of Dave Dixon and Keith Driscoll. Dave was consistent all afternoon and his partner chipped in with some good holes to help, like his two on the 12th. Brian became so frustrated that he drove into the group in front on the15th - he did apologise. They all came in with smiles on their faces, having enjoyed a wonderful afternoon's golf.

During the season, the seniors have not missed a fixture. It may not have been the best of summers, but at least it remained dry on Thursdays, even the occasional Wednesday. Twenty-six matches have been played with 16 wins, eight losses and two halves. In addition, seniors enjoyed a Captain v Vice Captain match, as well as an epic encounter against the ladies.

Results: S. Hudson and R. Hagley beat B. Maunder and H. Mainwaring 6 and 4; D. Stone and J. Martin beat T. Boobier and H. WIlliams 3 and 2; M. Neilan and B. Morgan beat B. Pennock and E. Tucker 6 and 5; K. Gouldsbrough and T. Morgan halved with G. Ellis and K. Mollett; A. Watts and B. Jones beat T. Williams and J. Jones 3 and 2; G. Aston and T. Ranoe lost to T. Arnall and D. Evans 4 and 2; J. Hayhoe and D. Bath beat D. Davies and K. Wright 2 up; B. Waters and M. Fox lost to D. Dixon and K. Driscoll 3 and 2.