One of the highlights of any Golf Club captain's year is the annual Captain's Day when he or she is allowed to choose the type of competition to be played, how the competition is to be organised, also have the dubious pleasure of providing the various prizes to be won. So it was last Saturday when Tenby Captain's Day took place. The key question was what would the weather be like? Friday was a day of storms, high wind and incessant heavy rain which was forecast to return on Sunday, but Saturday turned out to be cloudy with a stiff westerly breeze blowing in the face down the first and second fairways, as the brave souls found out who commenced their round at 7.45 am. By the time the last very young juniors commenced their game at 3.15 pm, the wind had dropped, the sun was shining and it had been a very pleasant day to play golf. So it was satisfying to hear members of all the different categories say how much they had enjoyed their game, although they did point out that the rough was penal if you strayed off the fairway. In the evening, an excellent buffet supper was provided by the club caterer which was enjoyed by all. Before the prizewinners names were announced, the captain said he wished to thank all the people who had helped to make the day such a success. These included the head greenkeeper Chris Jenkins, who had been out on the course at 4 am and cut all the greens before commencement of play, the secretariat David and Marilyn, the new professional Rhys Harry and his assistants for writing up and issuing all of the cards, Richard Davies, Mike Brew and Heather Morgan for checking all of the cards and producing the results, Lyn Jenkins and her staff for providing the food, as well as running the bar, the man with the mic David Hughes and finally, his wife Pat for her patience, help and understanding and No.1 son Chris, who had flown in from Australia and was taking the photographs. The prizewinners were: Best score of the day: Paul Heywood with 38 pts (Paul received a presentation case of cutlery, the Ted Ridley Memorial Tankard and vouchers). Men's white box stableford: Mervyn Tucker, now in his 72nd year, who carded a gross 72 for 37 pts. Men's veterans yellow box stableford: John Cook with 35 pts. Men's nearest the white line 13th fairway: Chris Davies. Fifteen competitors scored a two. Ladies' stableford competition: Pam Cole with 45 pts; runner-up - Emma Guerreiro with 33 pts. Ladies' nearest the white line 13th fairway: Heather Morgan - on the line. Four competitors scored a two. Junior black box nine-hole competition: Olivia Bradbury with 18 pts; runners-up - Megan Guerreiro, Sophie Lovatt and Amber Thomas. Nearest the pin sixth green (all competitors): Pam Cole - nine inches.
The windy city where balls are buried!
Last Thursday saw the Tenby Seniors head off to St. Davids city, where the remains of the immortal saint Dewi Sant are interred. Whether it was his wish to visit St. Davids Cathedral to pay his respects to Dewi Sant before playing golf or a strong desire to be the first at the golf club, I don't know, but Brian Morgan arrived at my house just after 9.45 am to chauffeur yours truly! We duly pulled into the empty car park at St. Davids golf course at 10.45 am! I said to Brian, as I slumped into my seat in the empty waiting room, "Where do we get the bacon sarnys from Brian?" "No sarnys, but I can do you a cup of coffee, if you know how to work this machine," he replied. Half-an-hour later, a friendly soul popped his head round the door and said "Have you seen any of the St. Davids team?" "No, we have not, what time does the match start?" "12.30 pm," was his reply. Eventually, after another 15 minutes, the players from both sides started to drift into the clubhouse. The captain of St. Davids, Peter Bevan, announced that the teams would tee-off from five different tees. We were second off on the list, but were put first off on the third tee. Being a nine-hole course, with different tees for the back nine, there are multiple coloured tees; red, white, blue, mauve, green, yellow and red/green. Stan Hudson quipped, "You would not want to be colour blind here!" With players teeing-off at the same time and the holes crisscrossing, it looked more like Clapham junction than a golf course. Ken Gouldsbrough got fed up of waiting for his partner Alan Yates and teed-off without him; Alan joined them halfway down their first fairway and accompanied Ken to the green. In the meantime, Brian and I were still waiting on the third tee for our opponents to turn up. First one game went off, and then a second game. On enquiring at the clubhouse as to where our opponents were, I was told they had just arrived. By the time we teed-off, some 20 minutes late, we had been there for over two hours! I'm buying Brian a working alarm clock. So to the match. Des Stone partnered this week by John Cook was up against Peter Bevan and Ted Joyce. With the wind gusting quite strongly across the course and the rough being long in places, Ted lost five yellow balls, and one white ball. But he was not in the same league as Jim Martin, but more of that later. Des and John went three up after four; with John being as straight as ever, it looked as though Tenby would win this match comfortably. Peter, however, had other ideas and won seven, eight and nine and the Tenby pair found themselves one down with two to play. Des birdied the 17th to bring the match all-square and then on the 18th, John made a 15-foot putt for a five net four to halve the hole and the match. Martin Nielen was very fortunate in his match, but did keep out of the rough. Jack Hasdell his partner was an able stalwart. Martin's putting was in excellent shape, sinking two very long putts; he also demonstrated on several occasions, how to hit the second ball off the tee better than the first! Their opponents, Ian Grayson and Brian Wilcox, could not match them and eventually went down on the 15th green. Mike Fox was full of praise for his partner Brian Waters, saying he was totally carried by Brian who played very well. In a very tight game against Joe Garner, and Derek Gerlach, the Tenby pair handled the wind very well. Brian eventually won the game for Tenby on the 17th when he hit his second shot two-foot from the pin and sunk the putt for a birdie! Ken Gouldsbrough and Alan Yates played well, but could not match the opposition. With opponent Ken Davies's putting being outstanding, the Tenby pair went down on their 17th. Alan was most probably still out a breath after running to catch Ken Gouldsbrough on the first hole. In the sixth match between Tony Morgan and Hywel Probert, against Fred Woodward and Terry (Murphy) O'Neill, Tenby won the first two holes and then lost the next two. According to Tony, Fred Woodward is a bandit and Murphy played well. Despite this, with Tony striking his one-iron magnificently, Hywel was able to thoroughly enjoy himself as the Tenby pair wrapped up the match comfortably on the 14th. Rowley John, of St. Davids, partnered by Jeff Davies, said that Bob Howse and John Hall were far too good for them. Bob drove very well, and Rowley, off 21, parred the 16th and the second time around John birdied it. Bob started off very well, winning the 17th and 18th holes (having started on the 16th). They, too, went on to win on their 14th hole. Derek (Bubbles) Bath, sporting a natty rhubarb and custard outfit, partnered by Peter Woodhouse, must have been a bit off form and went dormie six down. However, they gave the St. Davids pair, Paul Wright and Terry Clark, a big fright by taking the match to the 17th hole before eventually succumbing to them. Paul played very well, but did get nervous as the Tenby pair pulled back their six-hole lead. Despite the Tenby pair, Richard Davies and Brian Temple, winning the first hole, it went pear-shaped after that. The opposition, Dai Rowlands and Gran Davies, were in outstanding putting form, slotting in five putts from over 30 feet, which helped to give the St. Davids pair a win on the 16th. Stan Hudson and Bart Youll struggled a lot against the windy conditions. They lost the first two holes against Richard Mayer and Dave Heighway, halved the next five, but then went even further downhill, with the Tenby pair going down on the 14th green. And so to the last game to finish, despite the fact that they were due off second, for reasons mentioned earlier they went off last; namely, Brian Morgan and Jim Martin playing against Dai Nicholas and Dave Roberts. Brian and Dave played exceptionally well, with Moggie's driving being exceptionally long and straight. Brian put it down to a tip given by Terry Mountford the previous evening. Jim Martin, being in a very generous mood to the St. Davids golf course, found the wind very difficult to handle off the tee, and in the course of the round, lost eight golf balls! Yet managed an excellent three on the long par three 202-yard fourth hole. The Tenby pair went one up early on, but Dave Roberts got the game back all-square. On their 12th, Dave parred to put them one up; on the next hole, despite Jim playing a delicate chip to within four feet for three, Dave replied by sinking a long curling downhill putt from off the green for a birdie three, to put them two up with five to play. Brian then went into overdrive to win the next four holes and the match two and one. At the after-proceedings at the City Inn, Peter Bevan welcomed the Tenby team and thanked them for bringing the dry weather with them. He went on to thank the City Inn for their service, especially the outstanding bread and butter pudding to die for. He also thanked everyone present for their support in a raffle with the proceedings dedicated to the Shalom Trust, a hospice for the terminally ill. He went on to say how pleased he was that so many hundreds of pounds had been raised over the last few months for this noble trust. Des responded by thanking the City as well for the meal. He then went on to tell some of his anecdotes. Results: Des Stone and John Cook halved with Peter Bevan and Ted Joyce; Brian Morgan and Jim Martin beat Dai Nicholas and Dave Roberts 2 and 1; Martin Neilan and Jack Hasdell beat Ian Gregson and Brian Wilcox 4 and 3; Brian Waters and Mike Fox beat Joe Garner and Derek Gerlach 1 up; Ken Goldsbrough and Alan Yates lost to Ken Davies and Luke Lewis 3 and 1; Tony Morgan and Hywel Probert beat Fred Woodward and Terry O'Neill 5 and 4; Bob Howse and John Hall beat Jeff Davies and Roly John 5 and 4; Derek Bath and Peter Woodhouse lost to Paul Wright and Terry Clarke 2 and 1; Richard Davies and Brian Temple lost to Dai Rowlands and Gran Davies 3 and 2; Stan Hudson and Bart Youll lost to Richard Hayes and Dave Heighway 6 and 5. Tenby beat St. Davids 5.5 to 4.5 J.D.M.
Saturday Swingers
Members are reminded of the forthcoming events: Team Stableford Competition on Saturday, August 4. Day outing to Milford Haven on Saturday, August 18. Entry lists are on the Swingers notice board in the clubhouse.