The Royal Porthcawl Sparrows flew into Tenby last Wednesday on their annual outing and the Tenby Seniors Society was their hosts. Despite a stormy prelude en route from Porthcawl, their arrival in Tenby was welcomed with very convivial warm Pembrokeshire sunshine and that is how it stayed for the rest of the day.
The playing format was stableford in groups of three; made up of two Sparrows and a Seagull, the latter being a Tenby Senior. The competition consisted of a team prize with an individual prize for the best Sparrow and the best Seagull!
Prior to the afternoon's golf, the Sparrows enjoyed a very nice lunch at the Tenby GC provided by the resident caterer Lynne which was much appreciated. The afternoon's golf was played in great spirit, with the Tenby members helping to make sure that their guests enjoyed their golf.
At the evening's presentation, the Tenby Seniors captain, Newman Vincent, said that although it was not an official seniors competition, that had been arranged by the vice-captain David Morgan, who is the Chief Sparrow's brother-in-law, he was delighted to welcome the Sparrows to Tenby GC. He hoped that they had enjoyed their trip to Tenby.
In response, the Sparrows captain, Geoff, thanked the Tenby members for their great camaraderie and for making their visit so memorable; he went on to thank Lynne and her catering team for an excellent lunch and dinner and the bar staff were added to his plaudits for looking after his members' liquid refreshments.
In his response, David Morgan said how pleased he was that the proceedings had turned out so well and he was looking forward to next year's visit. With the conclusion of the evening, after a lovely meal, the presentation of the prizes was awarded. The best team prize on 89 points went to Chief Sparrow, Geoff Bates, Chris Hopkin and Brian Morgan, which was over 15 holes; each member of the team being awarded with a sculptured wooden sparrow plus sparrow engraved golf balls.
For the best individual Seagull (Tenby Senior) that great Tenby stalwart, Geoff Aston, took the first prize of a sparrow. For the Sparrows, Tony Davies flew in to peck the first prize on 34 points, for which he received a magnificent sculptured seagull.
He was very generous in his winner's speech to his playing partners Brian Thomas and Jim Martin, the latter being his guiding seagull in helping him around the lovely Tenby course.
The booby went to a Sparrow who only managed to score on four holes, which was a prize of a water container that was donated by a fellow Sparrow member who had recently spent some time as a resident BUPA guest!