What a lovely misty start to the new season's Chicken Trot. Thick as pea soup, but not as tasty. The first pairings of head cock Vince Shaw (pictured with his paraphernalia) and new convert to the Chicken cause, manager Basil Warren, teed off and promptly had to consider if infra red goggles would have made a better purchase than golf balls!

Nice to see Jim Martin playing again after his bout of very basic medical problems, and we won't go into that too deeply, and at £180 per round that he had paid for the last financial year, meant that he would inevitably be out of practice. But playing with Jim has its compensations, as his atrocious yellow trolley frightens the life out of the ball stealing ravens!

Apart from playing, Paul Bradley had a few problems, not least the discovery of a 1940s rabbit hole that devoured his ball with a voracious appetite, and gave his playing partners Pat Rees and Spike Evans some cause for hilarity. They must have had a portable bunny poo carbon dating machine with them.

John Bonar was feeling a little weary still, from his recent stint down on the Jack Nicklaus course at St. Mellion. John's score was a reflection of this, and he picked up the first booby prize of the season. Still John, at least you got a free round in here.

Someone we thought was an absolute capture for the Chickens, considering the average age of the Trot, was Dr. David Hurle. He contributed generously to the Chicken cause, and don't forget, you only need one good score to play off scratch, and even if you can't play more than once, your card will being the Chicken box for ever more!

After his first foray into the Trot for some considerable time, Morran Boot said he felt like a new man, but wife Marleen said: "You better stick with what you've got boy." These Chickens get better by the hour don't they?

'Da doo Ron Ron' Ron Murphy excelled himself by bagging a two on the eighth by dint of a drive and five iron. That's not been done for some time I bet! And Jim Martin and myself were the only others to emulate Ron's feat, but not on the same hole of course. We did it the conventional way.

All in all, a good start to the 2002/3 season, even though there were only 35 Chickens out. "Nice to see you all," said Vince, and welcomed our new stewards Mac and Fay, and wished them well in their new employment.

Leading scores were as follows: 1. John Hancock, Owen Monaghan, Tom James 30 pts (£2 each); 4. John Tasker, Nick Beacham 29 (£1 each).

Twos - Ron Murphy, Jim Martin, John Hancock (60p each); booby - John Bonar.

J. B. H

Competition rules!

A sunny October Saturday morning meant that over 30 juniors turned out to put their basics into practice. These first few weeks are being spent going over the basics from last term's Golf Foundation to ensure everyone is ready to move on to the next stage.

The groups were as last week and the tasks the same, but this time with an element of competition. Each lesson started with a quick teach, a practice session and then it was down to the serious stuff, and the element the juniors appear to enjoy the most, but where all the practising goes out the window! Sound familiar?

In the putting, Luke Rees, Leo Moreland and Loui Fecci won the first team event, with Jack Beynon, Sam Baxter and Iwan Osborne winning the second, all of whom proved they could find the line of the putt with ease!

The chipping stars for the morning were new boy Ciaran, Greg Palin and Bethan Osborne. Ciaran took the lead by a mile, but Greg and Bethan had Elliot Scotcher and Rhys Lewis not too far behind!

In the long game, a special mention first to Elliot Ronowitz, Oliver Parsons and Iwan Cousins, who all put into practice what they were taught last week. Elliot stood behind the ball and thought the shot through, like a true professional, while both Oliver and Iwan got their grip perfect every time. The team winners were Oliver, Leo Davies, Harrison Sharp, Jasmine Love, Elliot, Huw Thomas, Loui, Leo, Lizzie and Emily.

Congratulations to new girl Emily. It was her first time at a practice session and she made some excellent shots, and even managed to win the final points for her team.

With Ian away, at Celtic Manor no less, training to be a golf leader, the second group were given the opportunity to work on their chipping and long game, but were responsible themselves for the chipping practice.

If I've got the results wrong in the chipping folks, I apologise, but I had trouble interpreting your results. Nevertheless, it looks like Jason Ronowitz was the overall winner of the first group and Sophie John the winner in the second group. However, Sophie did feel that Tom Watkins deserved a special mention as he had two holes in one whilst chipping! An excellent achievement.

In the long game, Sam, Evan, Gabby and Claudette won the team event, with Jessica and Dan coming joint first in the individual event. In a play-off, the nerves got the better of Jessica, and Dan out hit her to the flag.

A big thank you to all the adults who helped out on Saturday and to Dan and Sophie for sorting out the chipping.

Loads of juniors turned out for the medal on Sunday - big and small! There were some excellent scores in, which has led to a dramatic decrease in handicap for two of our boys!

In the second division, Elliot Scotcher won it on the back six from Matthew Adams, but congratulations to everyone who played, and here's all the reductions! Elliot and Matthew to 46.

In division one, the scores were also very good, with David Schooling winning with a nett 62.