The regularity of people with the same name playing together is quite common; we have a number in our own section - such as Morgan. It should not be unusual then for Carmarthen to set off in the first game with two Freds - Fred Robinson (seniors captain) aided by Fred Cook. So on the first tee it was, perhaps, "Right," said Fred, "both of us together, you tee off and steady as you go." Whatever the conversation, it worked. Dave Morgan and Ron Murphy directed Fred Cook so well that he followed their advice and came in on many of the holes. As a result, he declared that he enjoyed his afternoon and played really well. Ron referred to him as 'steady Freddy' and failed to use enough of his own shots to gain any real advantage. He and Dave did earn a half on the 12th when they both got up and down from the valley. Dave also birdied the fifth to keep them in the game, but this was not enough as the Carmarthen pair stole the show. It was interesting to listen to the conversation between J. D. R. and Roy Gundry in the locker room as they swapped their experiences on shanking the ball. It seems that J. D. R. has a rival in the 'best shanker' stakes. He had four good examples, and he described everyone, in his round against Roger Mitchell and Tom King. Stepping up to tee-off on the 17th, he bemoaned his previous efforts and surpassed it with a text- book shank into the bushes. No pressure on his partner, then! Fortunately, Des Stone hit a lucky one and followed it up with a 20-foot putt for a two to establish a dormie one lead. It was only a half shank that put Roy up against the wall on the 18th and out of the hole. His partner found himself on the bank behind the green and managed to chip up, or is that down, to five-foot from the pin for three. Tom sunk a seven-foot putt for a four and suggested that a half would be a good result. Trying to be generous, the Tenby pair also thought that a half would be a fair result after a great afternoon's golf, but unfortunately the ball decided otherwise as it plopped into the hole. J. D. R. Williams was fortunate this week to be carried round by Maurice Lewis who says that he is still playing superbly. However, a few less shanks this week enabled J. D. R. to make a solid contribution to the afternoon's golf by winning a share of the holes against Neville Richards and Tony Reed-Smith. Neville suggested that a quiet word in the handicap secretary's ear might give Maurice a bit more focus to his game. Four pars on the first four holes was enough to overawe the Carmarthen pair, who didn't recover until Tony chipped in from way back in the rough on the ninth to win a hole. It was not enough as J. D. R. and Maurice established a big enough lead to allow them an early shower. Another four-ball to enjoy an early shower was that of John Hancock and Malcolm Arlott out against Tony Hurd and Gordon Jeremy. Gordon stated that it was, "not a game - more a slaughter," as John, released from the shackles of a five handicap (to a six), set about showing the company how to play the course. Up to the 14th he was two under gross, which was enough for the Carmarthen boys to concede. Gordon was so surprised to sink a long curling putt on the third that his drive on the fourth disappeared into the spinifex! Malcolm slotted in when it was necessary to aid and abet the victory. "Long shorts or short longs?" No-one could make out why Brian Waters's shorts spent most of the afternoon around his ankles. Some thought that it must be all the cash in his pockets weighing them down, but no. Brian had mislaid his belt and his hips are not prominent enough to hold them up like they did in his youth. Perhaps this was the cause of lost concentration on some holes as he and Newman Vincent raised their game to contend with the excellent play of Gerwen Davies. From a handicap of 16 he scored a gross 74, which would have given him 46 stableford points. His partner, A. Rees, declared that it was three against one as they all admired his straight hitting and accurate putting. It seems he does this quite regularly. Bob Howse and Roy Morgan were involved in a very close match as Ray Sinden and Colin Lewis dovetailed well to make life difficult for the Tenby pair. Ray declared that all was going well until this b--, (Roy), found his form on the sixth hole after going two down after four holes. The match was evenly balanced until a win on the 10th put them all-square, followed by a win on the 12th to establish a lead which they did not relinquish. Martin Neilan and Brian Morgan found themselves two down with six holes to play in their battle against Bill Kirk and Selwyn Humphreys. On Brian's directive to "Buckle down to it!" they won the next five holes to seal an amicable victory. It obviously took the Tenby pair a few holes to recover from Monday's Classic win and they had to concentrate on the back nine holes in a very friendly yet competitive match. Derek Bath is in mourning! He lost four balls and the match against Harry Taylor and Peter Jones. His ball was in a hole on the fourth and, with great effort, he hit it out, only to lose sight of it and again on the fifth he selected a pitching wedge to strike a ball which no-one saw after he hit it. (He may need to have words with J. D. R. and Roy G.). Perhaps it was the superior play of the opposition that made him strain too hard and lose his balls. Harry Taylor had struck a vein of good form to peg the Tenby duo back as he and his partner scored birdies on the fifth and 14th holes. Derek had frightened them into action when he won the third, after much indecision, by putting into the hole from a perched position on the hump above the bunker. Even Tony Morris's skill could not save the day. Jack Hasdell was the strong man in his match with Jim Martin. They were all-square on the 17th as they competed against Graham Williams and Irfon Jones in a very close encounter of the golfing kind. Jim had driven into the rough on the 16th hole and hacked out to give himself a 175-yard attempt at the green. He was pleasantly surprised when he walked up to see that he only had a tap-in to win the hole. They closed the match out on the 18th. Brian Temple had Alan Yates to nurse him round the course in his first home match for the seniors. He didn't need nursing as he and Alan dovetailed well to earn a welcome win in what he described as an excellent game. L. Barrow and Kevin Owen couldn't match their accurate driving or contend with their mastery of the putting surface. Last week, Malcolm had played with the friend who had introduced him to golf in Reading. This week Carmarthen Seniors' captain also referred to him as a work colleague in that same town. How many more are we going to hear about? Geoff Aston just played golf with him in Tenby as they enjoyed a tight but pleasant encounter against Alan Cash-Edwards and Howard Davies. Howard, for some reason, kept seeing and referring to 'red sheds'. Geoff and Malcolm thought it was a throw back to his bomber pilot days and just carried on playing. In this match three of the fourball achieved a four on the 13th and then Geoff had a three on the 17th to close out the match. Results: D. Morgan and R. Murphy lost to F. Robinson and F. Cook 2 and 1; D. Stone and R. Gundry beat R. Mitchell and T. King 1 up; B. Waters and N. Vincent lost to G. Davies and A. Rees 3 and 1; B. Howse and R. Morgan beat R. Sinden and C. Lewis 2 and 1; J. Hancock and M. Arlott beat T. Hurd and G. Jeremy 7 and 5; M. Lewis and J. D. R. Williams beat N. Richards and T. Reed-Smith 7 and 6; G. Aston and C. Griffith beat A. Cash-Evans and H. Davies 2 and 1; M. Neilan and B. Morgan beat B. Kirk and S. Humphreys 3 and 2; J. Martin and J. Hasdell beat G. Williams and I. Jones 1 up; T. Morris and D. Bath lost to H. Taylor and P. Jones 4 and 3; B. Temple and A. Yates beat L. Barrow and K. Owen 6 and 5.
Tenby blow Aber away
A blustery Sunday saw the arrival of a full Aberystwyth team to Tenby for their Dyfed League clash, with all looking forward to playing on the championship links. Following some very difficult team selections, a strong team on paper with new pairings was ready for what has always been a difficult match. Out first for Tenby, as he often is, was Dan Cope, partnered by Simon Rossiter, who were up against Aberystwyth's scratch handicap player, but Tenby won comfortably 2 and 1, with Simon gaining his first league points of the season. Next pairing of Andy (Mr. Consistent) Pouton with new partner Nick Thomas played well and won 4 and 2, which proved to be a popular score on the day. Jack Guerreiro and in-form Dave Roberts had a very early finish, winning 7 and 6, and by all accounts could have finished a bit sooner. The regular partnership of Richard Morton and Michael Schooling were next out and some way down the order for them, but again some good dovetailing of holes gained another point for Tenby, winning 4 and 2 and keeping Michael second in the Dyfed League trophy title race. Fifth pairing were Martin Morris and Gary McNeilly. Martin was hoping that Gary's silky putting action would help his putting ailments and sure enough a hard fought 4 and 2 victory was accomplished, with Martin making a putt over two feet. New pairing of Paul Heywood and David Schooling made light work of their match, winning 5 and 3, with Paul playing exquisite wedge shots and holing from distance on two occasions. Seventh pair were Paul Hoyland and Dai Cope, who won 6 and 5, producing solid matchplay golf and being level par when their match finished. Paul remains top of the leader board in the Dyfed League title race. The ever-reliable pairing of Neil Lovatt and Geoff Aston were out next and again won by that popular score 4 and 2. So the preasure was on for the final pairing of Don Sigsworth and Steve Lewis to complete the second 9-0 win for Tenby, thus sending Aber on the long journey home pointless. Not to disappoint the team or themselves, they won 4 and 3. This excellent win eases slightly the defeat at home early in the season, but there are still a few difficult games ahead, with the next one being away to local rivals South Pembs on Saturday, August 5. The Aberystwyth captain gave thanks to Lynn and her catering staff for a lovely meal and thanked Chris and the greens staff for a challenging course with beautiful greens. Thanks to all the players who made themselves available, including those who didn't get picked.
CAPTAIN M