Tenby Golf Club's 25th annual Open Week got off to a very good start with the captain's reception on Saturday evening.
On Sunday there was a mixed foursomes competition, Monday the ladies and the gentlemen each had a very competitive Stableford competition and on Tuesday there was an even more competitive ladies and a men's fourball better ball competition.
Mixed foursomes
This was held on Sunday. The day started with mist, but by midday this had well and truly burnt off and the remainder of the day was glorious sunshine all the way. The competition was very close and this was enhanced by one of the competitors getting a hole-in-one.
Winners were David and Cynthia Davies from Pontypridd with 39 points, second were Mr. and Mrs. Nichols from Newport with 38 and third, with exactly the same score but a higher gross score, were Nick White and Nickie Markham from Woodspring.
Janet Bentley from Melton Mowbray had a hole-in-one on the 17th, which is difficult to land on, never mind getting an ace.
The Tenby first prize was won by John Hancock and Sue Griffiths with 43 points, while second with 37 points were Dave and Lindsay Moran.
Ninety-six couples competed and of those eight had twos. They were John and Jill Hill from Radyr, Tony Higgins and Rosie Mayes from Hale and Radyr, John Scott and Dawn Banbury from Aspect Park, Tom and Vera Griffiths (2) from Oswestry, Brian and Doreen Turner from Sunningdale Artisans, Aaron O'Loughlin and Sue Barden (2) from Reading and Maple Durham, Myron and Sarah Williams from Cotterell Park and David and Barbara Evans from Tenby.
The day was completed with the prize-giving and 'Songs from the Shows' with Colin Clarke and Val Evans and Sharon Lusher on the piano.
Ladies and gents stableford
Early in the morning it was very misty which held up play for a while, but the sun soon came through and resulted in another very warm day. There was another hole-in-one and some very good scores.
The ladies' competition was won by Rosie Mayes from Radyr with 36 points, second was Lynn Buttery from Sherwood Forest with 35 (on the last nine) and third was Janis Hobday from Huntley Whitney, also with 35. The ladies winner, Rosie Mayes, also got a hole-in-one on the eighth.
For a long time the gents' competition was very close and then at the 11th hour, Terry Hale from Marlborough came in with an excellent 42 points, second was Ian Adey from Maple Durham with 39 and third was Nigel Bennett from Highwoods with 37.
The Tenby prize was won by Joan Pugh, who had 39 points.
A total of 169 players competed and of those 18 had twos. They were Mavis Arding and Ian Arding from Aspect Park, Nigel Bennett from Highwoods, J. Birkin from Fulford Heath, Terry Duffy from Manchester, Hamilton Evans from Neath, Paul Evans from Tylney Park, B. Henshall from Hill Valley, G. Judd from Fulford Heath, John Lappin from Barton on Sea, Brian Lewis from Barton on Sea, Aaron O'Loughlin from Reading, Graham Palk from Barton on Sea, Grant Powell from Caerphilly, Patrick Roberts from Newport, Paul Sherwood from Henley, Stan Squire from Dorset and Derek Young from Hill Valley.
The day was completed with the prize-giving and Robert Ryder, PGA, telling some humorous stories about golf.
Fourball better ball
This was held on a cloudy, but dry day, with a light south-westerly wind - an almost perfect day for golf, which was reflected in the scores. Unfortunately there were no holes in one this time, but this was offset by the high standard of golf.
Winners of the ladies' competition were Andrea Squire and Jane Soar, of Dorset, with a very good net 59, second were Ann Hobday and Pauline Sleet from Huntley Wintney and Sandmartins with 60 and in third place were Jessica Carey and Marilyn Neill from Bloxwich with 61.
Winners of the gents' competition were Nigel Bennett and Ron Mills, of Highwoods and Sandmartins, with an excellent net 58, second were Tony Carey and Alex Neill, of Oxley Park and Bloxwich, with 60 and third were Philip Toon and Mansel Lloyd, of Rufford Park and Aberdare, with a net 61 (better back nine).
The Tenby winners were Malcolm Arlott and Ken Goldsbrough with a net 65.
Ninety-six pairs competed and of those 13 got twos. These were Elaine Park and Pat Tighe, of Camberley Heath, Mike Reeves and Mike Palk, of Barton on Sea and Caversham Heath, Colin Latty and David Crawley, of Chirk and Fulford Heath, Philip Park and Jackie Tighe (2), of Camberley Heath, Mike Durward and Nick Rogers, of Milford and South Pembs, Ian Adey and Mike Killick, of Maple Durham, Andrew and Peter Richardson, of Sherwood Forest, Jane Soar and Andrea Squire, of Dorset, Dawn Banbury and Freda Clarke, of Aspect Park and Maple Durham, Nigel Barden, of Reading, John Cooper and Len Goddard, of Barton on Sea, Patrick Roberts and Peter White, of Newport, and Ken Goldsbrough and Malcolm Arlott, of Tenby.
The day was completed with a musical evening with 'Now and Then'.
The Gower return the golfing compliment
Grass, grass and more grass at the Gower Golf Club, and the visiting Tenby Seniors were suitably impressed. We even had lots of sunshine when the starting pistol went at 11 am, and the views across to Pendine Sands were just as impressive, as was looking the other way to the south-east.
Tenby Seniors' captain Ken Gouldsbrough and his able partner Newman Vincent were geared up to take on the might of Gower captain Ioan Stock, and his just as able partner Gerald Griffiths. A good drive by Ken was followed swiftly by two lost balls from Newman, who went just as quick downhill!
"Nothing could ease the pain of those first nine holes," said Newman, as he and Ken were taken apart by the in-form Gower pair. "I dropped two shots to my handicap," said Ken, "and we were eight down." He was last seen wandering down the road with a rope, muttering things like, "Atlantic yacht racing wasn't as traumatic as this."
Ken is not having the best of luck at the moment!
Vince Shaw and I were up against it with Colin Airey and Clive Gammon, but we moved very quickly into a two-up lead, after a stunning birdie on the third from Vince, followed up by my own modest effort on four. But after Clive went sick on the eighth, Colin took advantage of our lack of knowledge of the Gower course and reduced the deficit to all square, then had the effrontery to go two up on his own.
He even had a problem with a greenkeeper's grass-cutting machine that sliced his ball in half on the edge of a green. We commiserated of course. But another excellent putt on 17th reduced us to only one down, and then a sand wedge to two feet on 18th from Vince, sealed the game for a well-earned half. We knew we had been in a game.
Geoff Aston and David Leeke had a cracking game with Ken Graves and Len Bastin. Good driving and putting kept the game alive to the end, when a 10-foot putt from Len sank the Tenby pair's hopes. It was a skilful putt, and only modesty, arthritis and advancing years prevented Len from leaping into the air and yelling "Get in the hole." But, apparently, that peculiar cry, thankfully, has not reached the Gower Golf Club yet.
Just back and still recovering from jet-lag was Clifton John, and he and Stan Hudson went quickly four down against Bill Thorpe and Lynn Anderson. But Clifton quickly shook off those effects, and he and Stan gave a master class. Clifton's driving skills made Lynn and Bill sit up and stare. Mind you, he has the same effect at Tenby!
John D. R. Williams played a blinder, according to partner Derek Bath. Opponents Bill Tonkin and Ray Milton did likewise also, and held the game to be all-square on the 17th, when Derek made a name for himself by 'stiffing' a nine-wood at the 18th pin to win the game by the one hole.
The match was now standing at 2.5 games each and excitemen was growing.
Des Stone and Brian Waters were next up and their game against Ron Holloway and Alan Ireland was another cracker. Going four down after nine holes was a good enough reason to get stuck in, but they had to contend with some extremely solid putting from Alan Ireland first. But get stuck in they did, and by the 17th they were all-square, and a fortunate mishap, well, unfortunate from the Gower pair's point of view, as Ron's ball was stopped in full flight by a passing motorist. These people have no thought of the outcome of their passing motions do they? But a good par from Des, who is now down to a 17 handicap, sealed the game for them.
But Malcolm Arlott and Alan Keating, who are usually such a dependable pair, were done over by John Mills and Frank Walker. Alan was full of woe, as a stray shot from Bob Harris on another fairway, struck him on the outside of his upper thigh and lost him momentum. But John Mills had the distinction of holing in one, but the gilt was taken off the feat, when it was announced in the clubhouse that it was a nett one. But at least he hit the flag stick. In fact, it was the only flag stick he could see on the whole course! Malcolm was disappointed as he thought that it was worth a half bottle at least!
John Cook, JC to his friends, and partner Tony Ranoe kept the flag flying for Tenby, with a great 3 and 1 win over Alwyn Jenkins and Alan Perrett. But they were three down after six and then had a spell that saw them all-square after nine. JC used all his shots very intelligently, and Tony backed him to the hilt for a splendid win. This made the Tenby team one game to the good with two to play.
The sight of his ball striking the luckless Alan Keating on the upper thigh (outer) was enough to send Bob Harris and his partner Hywel Probert into a period of inactivity, after winning the first hole with a birdie, and winning the sixth, but then it was 'shanks for the memory' as the dreaded ones appeared, and the dream faded! Alan Pritchard and Colin Dixon took full advantage of the lapse, like you do of course, and put the Gower team back in the game.
Finally, Colin Griffith and Roy Morgan were outgunned by Reg Morgan and Lyn Evans. "Colin played very well, but his putter let us down," said Roy. You have guessed by that remark that Roy didn't have the best of days!
But it was a close run match all round and Tenby were a little unfortunate not to have pulled off a great double.
Gower captain Ioan Stock, in his welcoming speech, hoped that everyone enjoyed the day and thanked Ken and his Tenby team for a close-run match. He also did his 'commercial' bit for the Seniors Open Day at the Gower and hoped that anyone from Tenby who wanted a game on June 14 would contact his secretary,, Gerald Griffiths, on (01792) 427434. Sounds very good value as well.
Ken Gouldsbrough replied for Tenby by thanking Ioan and his team for the day, and congratulated the catering staff for an excellent meal, and the green staff for the super condition of the course. Many thanks also to Newman Vincent for setting up the venues. But Ken was still a little miffed over the fact that he had now lost two games to Ioan, and was going to go into hard training for 2005.
Finally, Len Bastin gave an impromptu comedy performance that had the whole room in fits. A fitting end indeed to a cracking day.
Results were as follows (Gower names first): I. Stock and G. Griffiths bt K. Gouldsbrough and N. Vincent 9 and 7; C. Airey and C. Gammon halved with J. Hancock and V. Shaw; K. Graves and L. Bastin bt G. Aston and D. Leeke 1 up; B. Thorpe and L. Anderson lost to S. Hudson and C. John 1 up; B. Tonkin and R. Milton lost to J. D. R. Williams and D. Bath 1 up; R. Holloway and A. Ireland lost to D.Stone and B. Waters 1 up; J. Mills and F. Walker bt M. Arlott and A. Keating 4 and 3; A. Jenkins and A. Perrett lost to J. Cook and T. Ranoe 3 and 1; A. Pritchard and C. Dixon bt H. Probert and B. Harris 3 and 1; R. Morgan and L. Evans bt C. Griffith and R. Morgan 4 and 3.
Gower 5.5 Tenby 4.5
J.B.H.
Junior Section
This Sunday is the annual Juniors v Rabbits match - the list is up in the junior room. Please turn up nice and early on Sunday so we can have a warm-up and sort the team out to play.
The following Sunday is the Argent Cup where an adult plays with a junior off respective tees - please put your name on the list if you wish to play.
Tri-Golf starts again on June 20 at 10 am, so all you budding young golfers remember to turn up with your passports on the day.
A big well done to Georgia Thomas, who won her class at the Wee Wonders event at Garnant Park, and to Dave Webb, who came second in his event at the same venue.
Hwyel Lloyd came second in the Yellow Box Stableford at Haverfordwest last Monday and Megan David won her Sub Juniors competition at St. David's last Wednesday.
I.P.W.D.
A.J.O. Bowl reminder
The first leg of the A.J.O. Bowl competition will take place at Trefloyne Golf Club tomorrow (Saturday), and the second leg the following Saturday, June 19, at Tenby Golf Club.
Gentlemen and lady members of both clubs can enter. Competitors are encouraged to play on both days, but are able to take part in one leg only. There are a few spare tee times on each day.