Last Thursday, Tenby Seniors headed off to the Brecon Beacons, to play at the picturesque Glynhir golf course. After the previous week's sun and heat, the day gave way to rain and cooler temperatures. Not daunted, the Seniors donned their wetsuits, but were pleasantly surprised when the forecast of heavy rain, gave way to intermittent showers. In fact, the afternoon finished off quite nice. This week, Tenby club captain, Malcolm Arlott, was Seniors captain Des Stone's partner. The first two holes Des and Malcolm played great, but then fell back on their laurels. Mike Jamieson, John Morris's partner, had a great putt from 40 feet from off the green on the first hole. On the ninth hole, Des and John Morris both ended up on the road. Things were looking a little gloomy for the Tenby pair when Malcolm went out of bounds on the 16th and on the same hole Des went into the bushes. Despite this though, the Tenby pair eventually went on to win on the 17th hole. Brian Waters and Colin Griffith had a torrid time against Bill Lewis and Winston Davies, with Billy Lewis in particular in outstanding form. According to Brian, Bill Lewis is a bandit; up to the eighth hole he had either par or a birdie. Billy then finished the Tenby pair off with a series of his jokes and despite Brian and giving Colin the kiss of life, it was all to no avail; Colin said he'd never laughed so much on a golf course. Even when Bill was out of the hole on the 10th, his partner Winston came in, putting in from off the green to give the Glynhir pair another hole. The Glynhir pair finally ended the game on the 13th hole to give the Tenby pair an early bath. According to the Morgan boys, Roy and Dave, Terry Gorringe played out of his skin, and his partner Rod Sewter had several birdies to give Roy and Dave a tough time. So it was just as well Roy had an outstanding game, as did Dave as well. Dave said that Roy's buggy driving was atrocious, driving round Glynhir at a furious pace. It was as if Roy was practising at taking on Lewis Hamilton in the US F1 Grand Prix. Mind you, Roy did have a very valid reason. The previous Saturday, Roy's lovely wife Pat had broken her arm in the garden and he was keen to get back home to look after her. We all wish Pat a speedy recovery. Jim Martin returned to the fold this week after spending an enjoyable golfing trip the previous week to Bordeaux. Bob Howse, his partner, said to Jim, "I hope you are in good form, as my game is not too good at the moment." Jim responded by matching Bob's poor form on the opening four holes and found themselves two down to an in- form Gerald Sadd, whose putting and chipping were outstanding on the opening nine holes. Even when Gerald didn't figure in a hole, his partner Roland Foster used his shots well to get net fours on the par five fourth and par four seventh. Jim managed a three on the sixth, but Gerald matched that with a fine chip and putt. Bob finally clicked into gear on the eighth hole and was only four over gross (two under for his handicap) for the remaining eight holes to finish the Glynhir pair off on the15th. Tony Morgan, partnered by Alan Keating, was in great form for the first nine holes. From there on, it was all downhill against Ted Rimmer and Hugh Davies. Ted's approach shots were immaculate and proved to be the Tenby pair's undoing. Tony and Alan said, "We never really got going" and finally lost their game on 15th hole. According to Geoff Aston, his partner Clifton John hit the ball with authority, but putted poorly; he went on to say with tongue in cheek, that Clifton was outstanding, but three-putted the 18th to lose their game! Their opponents, Ivor Simpkins and Bill Phelps, proved to be very tough competitors. In particular, Ivor played some very steady golf; in fact, the only thing he did wrong was on the 17th when he knocked his putt eight-foot past the hole from only six feet away! Another game that went to the 18th green was between J. D. R. Williams and last year's club captain David Leeke, against Gil Mount and Davis Trussler. Davis was in fine putting form, single putting five times on the front nine. The four players all agreed, that this was one of the finest fourball matches that they had played in for many years. Davis finally settled the match with yet another fine putt from five feet on the 18th. Ken Gouldsbrough, who also spent the previous week golfing in Bordeaux, was in fine form, along with partner Derek Bath. Derek had a fine four net three on the par five fourth hole and on the 12th hole, Ken chipped in from the rough. The Tenby pair was so good that Gerald Davies and partner T. Hugh Lewis found themselves seven down after nine holes! Bubbles finally put them out of their misery with a birdie two on the 13th. The gentlemanly Glynhir pair were very generous in their praise, saying that the golf played by the Tenby pair was of the highest calibre and that they thoroughly deserved their win. Unfortunately, the last two Tenby pairs, Jack Hasdell and Martin Nielan, plus Stan Hudson and Brian Morgan never had a game due to Glynhir being four players short, so were given courtesy of the course. After the meal, John Morris was very generous in his comments to Des, saying what a pleasure it was to play with him. In response, Des said how much he enjoyed the company, the course and the meal. Despite the fact that Des could claim the match on the basis of Glynhir coming up two games short, he sportingly conceded the result in Glynhir's favour. He went on to wish the birthday boys, Dave and Roy Morgan, a very happy birthday. Following this, the players were thoroughly entertained by Glynhir comedian, Billy Lewis. Results: Des Stone and Malcolm Arlott beat John Morris and Mike Jamison 3 and 1; Brian Waters and Colin Griffith lost to Bill Lewis and Winston Davies 6 and 5; Roy Morgan and Dave Morgan halved with Rod Sewter and Terry Gorringe; Jim Martin and Bob Howse beat Roland Foster and Gerald Sadd 5 and 3; Tony Morgan and Alan Keating lost to Ted Rimmer and Hugh Davies 5 and 3; Geoff Aston and Clifton John lost to Ivor Simpkins and Bill Phelps 1 down; J. D. R. Williams and David Leeke lost to Gil Mount and Davis Trussler 1 down; Derek Bath and Ken Gouldsbrough beat Gerald Davies and T. Hugh Lewis 6 and 5. Tenby 3.5 Glynhir 4.5.
J.D.M.