Well, that is not strictly true, since three of the Tenby pairings walked off the course with a win under their belt, albeit a narrow one. The Seniors' captain, Dave Morgan had picked the old warhorse, John Hancock, as his playmaker this week and a wise move it turned out to be. They were the first of the Tenby pairs to return a victory against David Grigg and D. Banner.
The confusion before first tee-off, which was half- an-hour earlier than the Tenby members were anticipating, may have prevented some pre-match preparation and may have added to the anxiety, but the weather held out, to everyone's delight.
The Seniors have become great weather watchers and must have spent many hours on their knees to delay the approaching weather front, allowing this match to go ahead in cloudy conditions with a slight breeze. The final groups out did experience some rain, but they were more concerned at the final struggle up the 18th fairway to notice.
Tony Morris, ably assisted by Brian Waters, had to play to his handicap just to stay with G. Veness and G. Jellicoe, who set a high standard in their match. Pars and birdies were required to win or halve holes in this titanic struggle and the Tenby pair just lost out.
Newman Vincent was conceding shots in his match, but with Ron Murphy's help they just crossed the line in front of W. Barnes and R. Woolaston. Joining them on the winners' podium were David Leeke and Maurice Lewis, competing against S. Thomas and H. Greene, but again by the narrowest of margins.
Colin Griffith and Hywel Probert were paired together to allow them to share a buggy. Imagine their chagrin when they arrived to discover that buggies were not allowed on the course. Well that put paid to their hopes, having to walk the course alongside R. Box and Don Twigg. They avoided the walk down the steep 17th by conceding on the 16th hole.
Now it is rumoured that Roy Gundry spent most of the afternoon berating his putter, which was borrowed from the Pro because he could not find his in his bag. As a result his, and Malcolm Arlott's, game against R. Davies and D. Williams was over after 16 holes. Imagine his amazement when he went to return his clubs to the car, only to find his putter lying on the floor of the boot. Oh what might have been!
Ken Gouldsbrough and Des Stone joined another 16-handicapper in Malcolm Phillips and all three conceded shots to Geoff Tilehurst. Ken and Malcolm both birdied the first hole to set up a promising afternoon of exciting golf. However, it was the 21-handicapper who proceeded to demonstrate how to keep his game on track, who won many of the holes.
Ken and Des managed to overhaul a three-hole deficit and take it into a two-hole lead. This was lost by the ninth hole, which saw the match all- square, and some poor putting on the next four greens enabled the home players to forge into a three-hole lead. Ken did win the 16th, which meant that the match went down into the steep valley and back up, but the result was inevitable.
Jack Hasdell "hit a purple patch" on the back nine as he and J. D. R. Williams fought for supremacy against Roy Taylor and D. Colston, but it was not quite enough to give them the result.
John Bonar and David Kaye succumbed in the end to F. Gwilliam and D. Brown, while Derek Bath and Jim Martin took their game to the 18th to achieve a well-earned half.
In typical humorous fashion, Dave Morgan suggested to the Haverfordwest Seniors captain that if the raffle result were added to the match result, Tenby would win by seven-and-a-half to six-and-a-half. He also led the singing of Happy Birthday to Hywel Probert, who had reached the grand age of soixant-neuf.
Results: D. Morgan and J. Hancock bt D. Grigg and D. Banner 2 and 1; J. Williams and J. Hasdell lost to R. Taylor and D. Colston 1 down; T. Morris and B. Waters lost to G. Veness and G. Jellicoe 4 and 3; N. Vincent and R. Muphy bt W. Barnes and R. Woodason 1 up; H. Probert and C. Griffith lost to R. Box and D. Twigg 4 and 2; D. Leeke and M. Lewis bt S. Thomas and H. Greene 1 up; D. Stone and K. Gouldsbrough lost to M. Phillips and G. Tilehurst 3 and 1; M. Arlott and R. Gundry lost to R. Davies and D. Williams 4 and 2; J. Martin and D. Bath halved with A. Jones and J. Davies; D. Kaye and J. Bonar lost to T. Gwilliam and B. Brown 2 down.