In his address to the gathered Seniors last Thursday captain, Roy Morgan was most apologetic about the number of heavy squalls experienced on the course during the afternoon. He put it down to a busy schedule and atmospheric static which had hampered his communication with the One Above.
He also apologised for a gross misjudgement and tactical naivety. He and Newman had started their afternoon with only the Haverfordwest captain, Richard Coulson, as their opposition. Richard's partner had not turned up and no-one wants a two v. one match, so when they saw Alan Yates out on the course on his own they naturally invited him to become a Harford boy for the day.
An opportunity too good to miss, Alan grasped the chance to hone his skills before Finals Day, as well as show his skipper how proficient he was. He and Richard proceeded to take the lead and did not look back, inviting Roy and Newman to partake of an early shower on the 13th. Alan in the team next week?
The match behind had its own drama as club treasurer, Ken Gouldsbrough, celebrated his third hole-in-one. This one was executed on the 12th hole and Ken was blissfully unaware of his accomplishment as, having struck the ball with his trusty seven-iron and realising it was safe, he nonchalantly bent down to pick up his tee while his playing partners stared in amazement as his ball inched its way to the hole and dropped in.
Ken even had the temerity to walk onto the green with his putter. Malcolm Phillips was somewhat put out to think that he had par-ed the hole in three, only to be beaten by two shots. As a practice, Ken had already sunk a 40-foot putt on the seventh for a four, net three. Malcolm and Wally Barnes had no answer to this show of form and Ken and Stan Hudson proceeded to build on their lead and maintain their confident display until they shook hands on the 14th. How did Ken celebrate his achievement - with a cup of tea!
JDR Williams presented a rare sight as he was seen to be wearing trousers this week, emphasising the wet summer we have experienced. He and Rod Clark declared that they had been given a lesson in how to putt on their own greens. This match had been a very close one up until the12th hole, which they lost. Two consecutive holes were also conceded to some superior putting by Goff Jellicoe and Dave Low, which included a long range effort on the 14th. Rod and JDR managed to cling on until the 16th before shaking hands.
Two games behind, Peter Williams, partnered by Clifton John, was also in a struggle for supremacy against Jim Morgan and Rob Box. Jim conceded that a half would have been a fair result, such was the closeness of the two pairs. He and Rob, however, stole the show by winning the last two holes to spoil the party.
Richard Cross and Tony Walders walked off the course with an enriched vocabulary.
It wasn't Colin Griffith who had provided the colourful adjectives, so who could it have been. Why our own 'Mrs Cooee' of course, none other than Roy Gundry, who had regaled the opposition with some wonderful descriptions of the golf, the weather and the scenery, especially when he found himself on his back in the bunker on the 17th. No-one had noticed he was missing, so they carried on with their game, only to be colourfully chastised for not coming to his aid. Was there any golf played? Indeed there was and there was a lot of smiling amidst the heavy showers. However, the Tenby pair could not overcome the Harford boys and had to concede on the 15th.
Mike Fox had Brian Morgan as his Sub Lieutenant this week and a good pairing it proved to be. They were two up early on and managed to maintain a lead and then extend it to three after 15. David Grigg and RayWoodason had failed to overcome the Tenby Platoon or the difficult conditions, though they did win the 16th, only to lose on the 17th. Well done men!
Last week, Derek Bath had been praised for his performance with the suggestion that his handicap be adjusted. This week it was down to earth with a bump as he and Malcolm Arlott declared that they had put in rubbish performances. Their opposition, Richie Williams, generously conceded that they had scraped home, stating that he would have been better off in the clubhouse for the first seven holes.
Derek and Malcolm found the round a long one, almost falling asleep at the back. Not so Richie and Trevor Harwood, who maintained their concentration to provide another win for Haverfordwest.
Now Maurice Lewis says that he doesn't play in the rain. This week's photo shows otherwise. Taken on the ninth fairway, there was no escaping the driving rain gusting in across the range. Maurice and Des were just about to go one up, despite the squall, against Alan Lloyd and Alan Jones, two excellent golfers. Neither pair had played particularly well up this point with shots and drives being miss-hit.
On the back nine, Maurice and Des extended their lead to five holes, only to see that lead evaporate as the two Alans won the 14th, 15th and 16th holes. This rather vexed Mo because it meant that he had to go over the line to finish the match. It needed a winning putt from Maurice on the 17th to bring this match to its conclusion in Tenby's favour.
Haverfordwest had five matches in their favour so were guaranteed a half. The question was, could Tenby win the two remaining matches? Geoff Aston and Tony Morgan did their bit to redress the balance. Tony is using his driver to good effect these days as he showed when he out-drove his playing trio on the 11th and 14th.
The Haverfordwest pair of David Colston and Colin Bell declared that they were in generous mood as Geoff and Tony gelled well as a pair to take a commanding lead. Colin was pleased to find more balls than he lost in the rough. Unfortunately none of them were his and he made the plea for everyone who plays the course to use Pro V balls, the ones he found were rubbish!
One more result to declare. Dave Morgan and Owen Monaghan were up against Clive Frankton and Dave Banner and this was a match that was closely fought right up to the 17th hole. The Tenby pair started well but couldn't maintain their slender lead. Did the heavy squall on the ninth dampen their spirits? - not a bit! This was a convivial four-ball played in good spirit with plenty of laughs. The golf wasn't bad either as they game was live up until the 17th. It was the Haverfordwest pair who came away with the bigger smiles as they were able to relax down the 18th.
Tenby suffered its first home defeat, but once inside the warmth of the clubhouse it was the camaraderie and laughter that took over, as it usually does. On a final note, Alan Yates has been invited to fill in for Haverfordwest Seniors whenever he wants.
Results: R. Morgan and N. Vincent lost to R. Coulson and A. Yates 6 and 5; S. Hudson and K. Gouldsbrough beat W. Barnes and M. Phillips 5 and 4; JDR Williams and R. Clarke lost to G. Jellicoe and D. Low 3 and 2; D. Stone and M. Lewis beat A. Lloyd and A. Jones 3 and 1; P. Williams and C. John lost to J. Morgan and R. Box 2 down; G. Aston and T. Morgan beat D. Colston and C. Bell 6 and 4; D. Morgan and O. Monaghan lost to C. Frankton and D. Banner 2 and 1; C. Griffith and R. Gundry lost to R. Cross and T. Walders 4 and 3; B. Morgan and M. Fox beat D. Griggs and R. Woodason 2 and 1; D. Bath and M. Arlott lost to T. Harwood and R. Williams 3 and 2.