Tenby Seniors walked away from Haverfordwest Golf Club on Thursday celebrating a six - one win. Ken Gouldsbrough, Brian Morgan, Geoff Aston, Malcolm Arlott, Martin Neilan and Stan Hudson had all won a bottle in the raffle, leaving just one prize for Malcolm Phillips, of Haverfordwest. That, I am sad to report, is just about all that was won on a cold, blustery, if dry, afternoon. When asked about their matches, Tenby players used words like trounced, stuffed, thrashed, annihilated, to indicate the level of defeat suffered at the hands of the competent Haverfordwest team. In the first encounter of the day, there were two Morgans and two Roys out together. The Morgans were Roy and Dave for Tenby, while the other Roy was a Taylor from Narberth helping his captain, Richard Coulson, to inflict mayhem and misery on their opponents. The Morgan duo found themselves in the company of two big hitters and struggled to keep up with them, despite shot allowances. The Tenby pair did not wish to discuss the finer points of this match, except to note that they found the greens difficult -they had to concede, however, that they were the same greens as played by the Haverfordwest pair. Having just been tined and sanded, the greens were somewhat slow and everyone on the course had to adapt accordingly. One pair who did was that of Newman Vincent and Martin Neilan as they duelled it out against Don Twigg and T. Waldies. Don wondered how the Tenby pair could sleep at nights, indicating that the handicap secretary may need to be contacted. He wasn't aware that Newman is on the handicap committee. Martin declared that he was nicely warmed up, having played on Tuesday and Wednesday, and said that he and Newman had 'enjoyed the greens!' This pair managed to hold off the challenge of the Harford boys and, despite Newman putting his ball in the water on the 14th, followed by a return of two eights on the next two holes, forged ahead to win convincingly. 'Fair dos, they did play well' was Brian Morgan's concession as he and Brian Waters, paired for the second time in succession, failed in their attempt to keep a low score. This was a very good match with a high standard of golf in which Christian Frankton and Clive Jellicoe established an early lead and kept the Tenby pair at arms length all the way to the 16th where they shook hands. Morgie thought that he was wielding an axe rather than a golf club, since he hit so many trees, breaking a couple of branches in the process. Stan Hudson and John Hall were crestfallen as they described their match. 'We were thrashed!' was the comment. Alun Lloyd and R. Bird were two up after nine holes and then they won the next three holes to put this match out of sight. Alun had created the damage with his long straight drives and accurate short game and then his partner flourished in the latter stages. 'We didn't even win a hole!,' grumbled Ken Gouldsbrough, 'and we could only manage a poor second.' While Richard Davies sat in the corner with head suitably bowed, B. Morse and W Barnes, from Harford, conceded that the Tenby pair had had an off day. There must have been some close holes, since Ken was regarded as a bandit by a 24 handicapper who had just halved two holes in par with him. Geoff Aston's analogy about the Christmas turkey seemed appropriate as he and J. D. R. were well and truly stuffed! Never having lost by such a margin before, Geoff and John were, nevertheless, still quite perky as they sat down to a tasty meal with good company. 'Our short game was poor and we couldn't handle the greens!' was their ex.... reason for shaking hands on the 15th. Malcolm Phillips pitched in from the bunker for a three to provide a setback for John Cook and Chris Sierwald in a match which at least went to the 17th hole. 'We provided some stubborn resistance,' said JC as he and Chris ruminated over their narrow defeat. Malcolm, playing with David Grigg, reckoned that they wouldn't lie down as they struggled to catch up over the latter half of the course. The word Bandit was mentioned, but John wouldn't say which golfer he was referring to, though he did concede that Malcolm was 'playing well.' One match out on the course involved a number of past club captains. Derek Bath was aided and abetted by Malcolm Arlott, while Terry Gwilliam had M. Davies to help him. This group was involved in one of the closer matches of the day. A great number of holes were halved and it did not turn out to be the walk in the park Terry predicted. This match went to the 18th and was won by a single hole, in favour of the Harford pair. A closer game still was being taken to the 18th as Bob Howse relaxed and admired Alan Yates's performance in their match against R. Cross and M. Foley. Alan looked somewhat embarrassed as Bob extolled his virtues which were echoed by the opposition. This virtuoso performance enabled the Tenby pair to be one up after nine. They were pegged back in this very close match to be all square after 16. That was the hole where Bob surprised everyone by chipping out onto the green from a tight position in amongst the trees. It was inevitable that they had to play the last two holes, only to end the match as they had started - all-square. Des Stone was delighted that Hywel Probert was on good form to save his blushes. There was no talk of sea sickness this week. Hywel had been to a masseuse in the morning to have his back rubbed and she was responsible for his ability to master the greens. 'I realised they were a bit slower than ours,' he said, 'so I gave my ball twice the oomph!' They were up against Alun Jones and Arthur Williams, two Narberth boys, and realised that they were in for a tough match when they saw Arthur stride the course in short sleeved shirt. Unfortunately, he struggled somewhat to release the ball off the tee on a number of holes, which allowed Hywel to pounce with his accurate, down the middle shots. Giving shots away, Alun found it difficult to counteract Hywel's good form and the Tenby pair achieved a rare win on the day. Results: R. Morgan and D. Morgan lost to R. Coulson and R. Taylor 5 and 4; B. Waters and B. Morgan lost to C. Franklin and C. Jellicoe 4 and 3; S. Hudson and J. Hall lost to A. Lloyd and R. Bird 6 and 5; B. Howse and A. Yates halved with R. Cross and M. Foley; D. Stone and H. Probert beat A. Jones and A. Williams 4 and 2; R. Davies and K. Gouldsbrough lost to B. Morse and W. Barnes 6 and 5; M. Neilan and N. Vincent beat T. Waldies and D. Twigg 6 and 5; G. Aston and J. D. R. Williams lost to J. Morgan and R. Woodason 7 and 6; M. Arlott and D. Bath lost to T. Gwilliam and M. Davies 1 down; J. Cook and C. Sierwald lost to M. Phillips and D. Grigg 2 and 1.
Lamb makes a mint!
The Chicken season is nearing an end at Tenby Golf Club. Last Friday morning, a smaller than average group flew from the coop for the weekly contest. And one of those had plenty to smile about, namely David Lamb, who was sitting pretty on the top perch after carding a useful 25 points in what were tricky conditions on the links. But not only that, he made it a clean sweep by also bagging the only birdie two of the day. It meant rich pickings indeed for David, who walked off with the princely sum of £1.85 for his morning's efforts. Will he also be in the sin bin? If he is, he could be sorry, for next week, May 2, the curtain falls on the Chicken Trotters with their annual end of season competition for the coveted Danny Carew Putter and Norman Badham Trophy. A list is up on the noticeboard and anyone who wants to play is asked to append their name as soon as possible. The competition will be followed by a meal and presentation of the prizes. Before that, however, there will be the usual Chicken roll-up today (Friday). Weather permitting, it should be a good chance to get some practice in before next week. Be there!
Tony on top in Hall of Fame
There was an early gathering of elder statesmen and golfers on Tuesday as a large band of seniors rolled up to support Cancer Research. Over the last four years, Tenby Seniors have been enthusiastic in their support for this worthy cause, giving generously of their golf and cash in the vain hope of progressing to the next round. Only one player has the honour of playing in the area finals and in the past that has included John Hancock, Tony Ranoe and Martin Neilan. Who is going to fly the flag for Tenby this year in the area finals? Twenty-five cards were handed in, with players paying fines for hitting into bunkers, going out of bounds or losing a ball. These 25 raised a total of £100, which will be increased by a donation from the seniors funds to hand on to the organisers. So who covered themselves in glory and who slipped on the banana skins as they all enjoyed a crisp sunny morning to celebrate being alive and able to play. Last week's birthday boy, Colin Griffith, was there, as was octogenarian Rob Wilkins, both of whom scored 24. The early birds had the added advantage of having the light wind at their back on the way out and a stronger wind at their back on the way in. Even so, the winner did not come from any of these. Hywel Probert deserves a mention for scoring a two on the 12th. Playing for the fun of it and scoring less than 20 stableford points were Richard Morgan, Doug Havard and Rod Clark. Out early, Derek Bath carded a worthy 33 to earn him fifth place. Just in front of him, excited at scoring two 2s (12th and 17th) was the consistent Newman Vincent. Tony Ranoe, belying his 20 handicap, earned third place, losing out, on a better back nine, to Stan Hudson, both scoring 35. Stan had a slow start, but made up for it with 20 points on the way in. With a magnificent 36 points, including one blank hole and two one-pointers to finish, was this year's winner Tony Morris. Tony will have a few months to hone his skills and will be wished every success in the area final.
Friday Friendly Mixed Foursomes
Last Friday saw the first of the popular Friday Friendly Mixed Foursomes evenings at Tenby Golf Club. This is a competition played over 14 holes playing on the ladies' card, with a draw for partners. Tee-off time is usually about 4 pm, followed with a bar meal on return to the clubhouse. The weather conditions expected on Friday deterred the normal large entry, so those who braved the elements need to be highly complimented. One good thing, it did not rain, but the windy condition are still affecting the play, as no twos were recorded. Winners were the pairing of Anita Davies and Glyn Williams, followed by Barbara Williams partnered by Dave Moran. The popular bag draw was won by Heather Morgan with Bob Wilkins. A very pleasant meal was served up by Julia and Gary, the new stewardess and steward. Everyone sat down together for the meal and put the world right, as one does. The next Friendly Foursomes will be on Friday, May 16 - the list will be up on the board soon. Next big event, meanwhile, will be the annual match against Ashburnham on Sunday, May 11, at 1 pm, at Ashburnham; this is a change of venue from the club diary. The entry sheet is filling up, so get your names down, as courtesy of the course is expected for non team players, and it will be a chance to play a different course.
G.W.A.
Family affair
Last week's mid-week medal proved something of a family affair - in division one, at least. Leading the way was father Allan Morton, who pocketed the top prize by virtue of a better back nine than son Richard. Three other players were a further two shots back. In division two, a delighted Meurig Jones claimed the medal as he came home well clear of the rest of the field, having three shots in hand on his nearest rivals - and there were three of those. Surprisingly, no twos were recorded on the day and the kitty of £47 rolls over to the next competition - should be worth bagging a birdie then! Leading scores were as follows: Division One (22 competitors): Allan Morton 83-9 -74, last nine (medal and £23); Richard Morton 77 -3-74 (£12); Mervyn Tucker 81-5-76, last nine (£8). Division Two ( 26 competitors): Meurig Jones 91 -20-71 (medal and £23); Neil Webb 88-14-74, last nine (£12); Barrie Frayne 88-14-74, last nine (£8). Bag draw: A. Morton, N. Lovatt, B. Frayne (£15.66 each).