Tenby Seniors came up against a very determined Ashburnham side last week at Burry Port. Ash captain Roy Davies, who was intent that there would be no quarter given in the return match, was partnered this time with Brian Williams. Captain of Tenby, Des Stone, was partnered by John Hall, who unfortunately was suffering from a chest infection, found it very heavy going and soon found themselves three down after three! Despite getting it back to two with a birdie at six, by the turn their deficit had increased to four. They managed to cut the lead back to two again, only to slip back and eventually succumbed to a delighted Roy on the 15th. Des said he had not played badly, in fact by the end of the round he had managed to score 37 points. Roy chipped in cheekily to point out to him that he had 38 points! Another fine Ash player, Alun Clement, as many of them were on the day, was in excellent form and had an outstanding game in company with Dai Edwards. However, the Tenby pair Brian Waters and Peter Woodhouse did give them a shock on the long par-three first when Brian sank a 40-yard putt for a three nett two to put them one up. This did not last long as Ash hit back immediately and Alun's fine play, ably backed up by Dai, turned the game round and they cruised to a big win. By the time the game ended on the 13th, Alun had dropped just four shots. Despite Roy Morgan, with partner Colin 'Hamilton' Griffiths, playing below his handicap, they like many a Tenby pair came up against very determined opposition in the shape of Gerald Coles and Glyn Hammond. Gerald and Glyn either parred or birdied every hole and this proved too much for Roy and Colin. Even Colin's buggy driving suffered on the day when he somehow contrived to beach their buggy in a bunker on the 13th hole like a stranded whale! It took the combined efforts of all four players to get the buggy off the hump! Still suffering from the embarrassment, Roy and Colin went down in their game on the next hole. Two weeks ago, Jim Martin, partnered this time with club captain Malcolm Arlott, was up against Keith Thompson and Jim was determined that there was going to be no repeat of what happened at Tenby. However, Keith, with partner Mel Williams, was in outstanding form on a blustery afternoon and raked long drives straight down the middle. Despite Malcolm and Jim going out in 42, with Malcolm having a fine four nett three on the seventh, Keith and Mel went out in 39 and established a healthy four-hole lead at the turn. The constant pressure of trying to play catch-up to the Ash pairing eventually told on Malcolm and Jim and their match ended on the 13th, when a par three from Jim was not good enough to win the hole -despite Jim being the only one to find the green. Already four down, it looked like a rout was in hand for Tenby; in fact, it got worse in the fifth match as one of their finest, Stan Hudson, partnered by the normally steady John Cook, ran into Gareth Fry who was in blistering form. Gareth had three birdies in the front nine and outdrove the Tenby duo by 80 yards or more. Accompanied by the president of Ashburnham, Keith Williams, they put the Tenby pair to the sword. The match ended up country when on the 13th, Gareth (who else) scorched a 20-foot putt into the hole that went in like the proverbial rat down a drainpipe! According to Stan, they were well truly stuffed with sage and onion or any other mixture you care to mention. I've never seen Stan looking so shell-shocked. In the sixth game we had Geoff Aston playing with Tony Morgan up against David Howell and Alun Killa. According to Geoff, it was a game they might have won and most certainly should have been closer. At least, Geoff, you did get as far as the 17th before going down, which was far better than most of the Tenby team. David Howell, a former bank manager, put their win down to his experience of his membership of St. David's City GC and many others; in fact, as he put it, a man of many parts. Tony quipped, why did you have to leave so many? In the seventh match, Tenby had the fine partnership of Bob Howse and Ken Gouldsbrough, who had both played so well in the Tenby Seniors open a couple of days earlier. Surely with them we could halt the Ash progress? Playing against the Ash vice-president, Dai John, and Brian Marks, the Tenby duo started slowly and were two down after two holes. Bob and Ken then gradually got their act together and Bob, with a birdie on the fifth, went all-square. By the eighth they went two up and were cruising, but they hit the 10th and, according to Bob, the wheels came off. Despite Ken being on the green, Dai played a fine chip from the rough to six inches to win the hole and upset Tenby. By the 17th, Tenby were two down, but Ken won that hole, but with a half on 18 they lost the game one down. Any hope of a respite in the eighth match was ended in rude fashion when the Newman Vincent and Derek Bath were comprehensively beaten by Mike Powell and Howard Thomas on the 14th hole. According to the Tenby pair, the Ash pair played like professionals with a par or birdie on every hole. Not that the Tenby pair were completely out of it, in fact their game was all-square after five, but there it ended. Their crowning moment was when Newman birdied the par five fifth. Howard was so accurate hitting every single fairway and was ably backed up by Mike. With a whitewash staring Tenby in the face, along came the birthday boy, Brian 'Moggy' Morgan, partnered by Alan 'Steady' Yates. The Tenby duo, according to the Ash pair of Meurig Richards and Richard Green, well and truly smashed them out of sight. Richard went on to say it was the biggest hammering he'd ever had. Moggy, in particular, was in outstanding form and with Alan ably supporting him, they cruised to Tenby's biggest win of the day. Alan hit a spectacular 165-yard third shot from the rough on the par five 10th and got his par. It was all over on the next hole and Moggy and Alan posted an 8 and 7 win to save Tenby's blushes. Just to make sure, Dave Morgan and J. D. R. Williams wagged Tenby's tail to add a bit more respectability to the score by beating Ken Gray and Simon Hill. Dave had a fine game, but J. D. R. had some serious problems with the bunkers; in fact, he found seven of them in the first six holes and according to him he was in so many he can now speak German! Although Dave had done the spadework, it was J. D. R. who sank the putt on the 16th for a three to give them a win. At the meal afterwards, a jubilant Roy Davies positively glowed in the warmth of a thumping win against Tenby; he praised Hugh Morgan, the greens manager, for the excellent state of the course. He went on to thank the catering and bar staff for their excellent service. After welcoming Des and the Tenby team, Des responded by echoing Roy's comments. He went on to say that this fixture was one of those where camaraderie and friendship had always exuded between these two fine clubs. It was then left for that fine Morgan duo of Dave and Roy to serenade the birthday boy Brian Morgan on his 66th birthday. Results: Des Stone/John Hall lost to Roy Davies/ Brian Williams 4 and 3; Brian Waters/Peter Woodhouse lost to Alun Clements/Dai Edwards 7 and 6; Roy Morgan/Colin Griffith lost to Gerald Coles/Glyn Hammond 5 and 4; Malcolm Arlott/Jim Martin lost to Keith Thompson/Mel Williams 6 and 5; Stan Hudson/John Cook lost to Keith Williams/ Gareth Fry 8 and 7; Tony Morgan/Geoff Aston lost to David Howell/Alun Killa 3 and 1; Bob Howse/Ken Goldsbrough lost to Dai John/Brian Marks 1 down; Newman Vincent/Derek Bath lost to Mike Powell/ Howard Thomas 6 and 5; Alan Yates/Brian Morgan beat Richard Green/Meurig Richards 8 and 7; Dave Morgan/J. D. R. Williams beat Ken Gray/Simon Hill 3 and 2. Tenby lost to Ashburnham 8-2. J. D. M.