This first match of the summer season, when Tenby Seniors entertained the Vets from Glynhir, was rather reminiscent of the start of a school year. The anticipation of a new start, the desire to do well, the cleaning of clubs in preparation and the frantic search for the uniform - "Now where did I put that tie?" - were all part of the lead up to the big day. The end of the afternoon was just as reminiscent of the end of term exams as greetings in the locker room were about the game just played - "How did you get on?"- "Did you win?" - "What sort of game did you have?" and "How did you find the greens?" As far as the Glynhir Vets were concerned, the answer to that last question was - fast! All players commented on how well they were prepared and how it took them a good three to four holes to adjust to the speed. One who adjusted quickly was Cyril Rees who, according to Tony Morris and Jack Hasdell, was sinking putts from all distances with great accuracy. It wasn't enough, however, to give him and his partner, Hugh Lewis, a result, as the Tenby pair won by three and two. Jack claimed that Tony had played an excellent game, but made no mention of his own contribution - I wonder why? As each pair came in and gave Newman their result, his smile got bigger and bigger, especially once it passed the five mark. In his game, he and Ken Gouldsbrough, last year's captain, failed to gel as a pair, both scoring well on the same holes and similarly losing out on the indifferent holes. They did manage to hold things together on the first nine and then Ken rediscovered how to swing his driver. Glynhir Vets captain and vice-captain, Gil Mount and Gerald Davies, managed to adjust to the greens, but were unable to hold on to achieve a result losing by three and one. On the other hand, Malcolm Arlott and Des Stone did manage to gel, in a match reminiscent of their first outing together, also against Glynhir, three years ago. They won the first six holes alternately against the Glynhir club captain, Dai Pegram, with his partner John Pollock. Playing off 11, Dai was driving quite well, but had problems with his short irons, and neither he nor John were able to adjust to the speed of the greens, conceding the match on the 12th to Malcolm's par putt (who also had a birdie on the sixth!). Gelling in another way were J. D. R. Williams and Brian Waters in their victory over Billy Lewis and Ken Williams. Brian scored well on the front nine and J. D. R. scored well on the back nine, enough to give them a four and three win. John was still smiling as he walked off the course, not because of the win, but because of Billy Lewis's one- liners all the way round. His evocative humour kept everyone laughing from beginning to end, even his promise to do something unspeakable every time Brian or John won the hole with a good putt. I wonder what he said when Brian chipped up from the valley on the 12th to hit the pin and leave himself a certain par. Martin Neilan and Bob Harries were another pair to play well together, even if it was Bob's swansong. He could be playing against Tenby in two weeks time for South Pembs. As it is, he helped Tenby to this week's victory with his steady play in a three and two win. The Glynhir pair of Rod Sewter and Roy Kinnell came into form with a couple of birdies - after the match was over. Maurice Lewis and John Bonar had a tremendous tussle against Colin Hopkins and Denzil Roberts, with par or better needed to win many holes. This was a tight game to the end, with the Tenby pair conceding on the 17th. Meanwhile, another titanic struggle was taking place between Brian Morgan and Owen Monaghan and Austin Thomas and Peter Williams. All four agreed that, such was the evenness of the game, a half was the only way to finish, and that is how it ended. In this exciting encounter, in which Owen continued his recent vein of good scores (parring the 14th), the Tenby pair went ahead by two and were hauled back, only for the Glynhir pair to gain a two-hole lead. And that is how the match continued, with Austin declaring that it was the best match he had played in for a long time. David Morgan said that Derek Bath had used all his shots to good advantage in their game against Dennis Kenchington and Hugh Davies to win by three and two, while Roy Morgan's putting and Hywel Probert's driving (shouldn't that be the other way round since Roy has the buggy?) gave them the advantage in their win over Brian James and Gerald Sadd. Brian reckoned that the buggy was the secret weapon because Roy was as fresh at the end as he was at the beginning. Alan Yates and Ron Murphy were also smiling at the end as Ron's steady play eased them to another win. Following the excellent meal, Newman had to provide Gil with the result so that he could announce it along with his compliments about the course, the opposition and the food. He then kick-started a storytelling competition between Gil Mount and Billy Lewis, renowned for his ability to keep an audience in stitches for hours, by reciting a short poem which, he has promised will be a regular feature. Gil and Billy's bobbing up and down to outdo each other with jokes was almost as hilarious as the stories themselves. The day concluded as it began - with great good humour and friendly spirit, with everyone looking forward to the next meeting. Final match score was Tenby Seniors 8.5 Glynhir Vets 1.5, with individual results being: N. Vincent and K. Gouldsbrough bt G Mount and G. Davies 3 and 1. M. Neilan and B. Harris bt R. Sewter and R. Kinnell 3 and 2. T. Morris and J. Hasdell bt C. Rees and H. Lewis 6 and 4. M. Arlott and D Stone bt D. Pegram and J. Pollock 8 and 6. J. Williams and B. Waters bt B. Lewis and K. Williams 4 and 3. D. Morgan and D. Bath bt D. Kenchingham and H. Davies 3 and 2. A. Yates and R. Murphy bt B. Lewis and H. Sellick 2 and 1. H. Probert and R. Morgan bt B. James and G. Sadd 2 and 1. B. Morgan and O. Monaghan halved with A. Thomas and P. Williams. M. Lewis and J. Bonar lost to C. Hopkins and D. Roberts 2 and 1.
