Last week, Tenby Seniors held their Open Day competition. Of the original 111 competitors, despite the horrendous conditions forecast, a goodly number of 92 competitors took part, which was a testament to their courage or some might say to their age!
The first three ball of the day were John Hancock, Spike Evans and Vince Shaw. They teed-off at 8 am sharp in gusting conditions, with John Hancock hitting a beautiful drive straight down the middle.
As the morning wore on, the conditions deteriorated and by 11.30 am, the rain was coming down steadily. A number of Tenby members decided that discretion was the better than valour, with many of them withdrawing throughout the morning. By 12.15 pm, the first three ball arrived on the 18th green, with the rain lashing down in all its fury.
Out on the far end of the course, the conditions were even worse. Paul Nixon, playing with Peter Williams and Chris Sierwald, only scored five points going out and started his back nine with two sixes. Arriving on the 12th tee, with the rain by now, coming down almost horizontal, he somehow contrived to score the only two of the day! By that point with all three of them being absolutely drenched, they decided to call it a day and walk in.
Jim Martin - using his live radar programme - had pronounced that there would be a window in the weather around early afternoon. This duly arrived at 1 pm, so that the early afternoon players got off in windy, but clearer conditions.
However, club president Geoffrey Aston - who was the main starter for the day - was so concerned that the greens were flooding out on the course, that Jim Martin was dispatched on a buggy to check the greens. Geoff need not have panicked as Chris Jenkins and his staff had prepared them in such an immaculate condition that the only puddle to be seen was that on the 12th green and that was only two-foot in diameter.
A lot of players who teed-off around mid-morning, found the torrential conditions so bad that they walked in after playing just three or four holes.
Back in the clubhouse, the stewards, Steve and Hillary, and their young staff, were kept very busy all day long providing food and refreshments for the returning players.
The competition was split up into two sections, one for the visitors and one for the Tenby members.
In each section, there were two groups, Class A - 55 to 67 inclusive, and Class B - 68 and over.
Most of the Tenby members teed-off before 9.30 and it was from those early starters that some of the best scores were returned from the Tenby members. Notably, John Hancock on 33 points and Spike Evans on 28 points, playing in a golden oldies group, with John Hall on 33 points and seniors captain Brian Waters on 30 points leading the pack in the youngsters section.
However, the best return of the day came from the visitors section. This being Graham Harrison from Trefloyne GC. Starting off in the rain, despite a clear slot in the middle, he played through some of the worst conditions late in the afternoon to return an outstanding score of 38 points. This was good enough to win the 'B' section of the visitors, plus a one-shot reduction in his handicap.
With all the results returned, Jim Martin, ably abetted by Colin Griffith, busily sorted out all the cards.
At the presentation, Tenby Seniors captain Brian Waters welcomed all the competitors and went on to say that despite all the bad weather conditions, the day had been a great success. He thanked Steve and Hillary looking after the visitors' culinary requirements throughout the day.
There were many prizes for the raffle draw, but the star prize of a putter, kindly donated by Heatherton Sports Centre, was won by John Hancock. Rhys Harry was also generous donating golf balls. The prize for nearest to the line on the 13th fairway was won by John Hughes, of Newport Gwent GC. Tenby player Newman Vincent claimed the prize of nearest the pin on the 17th. Both John and Newman won £20 for their efforts. For the only two of the day, Paul Nixon's battle against the elements, won him £50.
Full results were:
Visitors, Class A: 1. Mel Harris, Neath - 27 points (£60); 2. Graham Elwell, Neath - 23 (£40) (back nine); 3.,Dillwyn Evans, Neath - 23 (£20). Class B: 1. Graham Harrison, Trefloyne - 38 (£60); 2. Darrell Jones, Trefloyne - 33 (£40); 3. Billy Lewis, Neath - 29 (£20).
Tenby, Class A: 1. John Hall - 33 (£50); 2. Brian Waters - 30 (£30); 3. Martin Neilan - 29 (£10); Class B: 1. John Hancock - 33 (£50); 2. Michael Evans - 28 (£30); 3. Newman Vincent - 27 (£10).
Finally, I wish to give my thanks to those who assisted me so much throughout the day, namely Colin Griffith (cards and registration) who was invaluable to me and by my side from start to finish; Stan Hudson (finance and registration); Geoff Aston and Roy Morgan (starters); also Ken Gouldsbrough (early registration). I also thank Chris Jenkins and his staff in their preparation of the course.
J.D.M.
RA Cup win for Roger and Steve
In last week's shotgun start in the RA Cup, there was some confusion caused by the change of the start time.
Due to a misunderstanding, the organiser, Jim Martin, had altered this to 5 pm. Unfortunately, one or two of the competitors were not aware of this change.
Martin Morris strolling down through the town at 4.50 was shocked when he got a text message informing him of the change in time from 5.30 pm to 5 pm.
The father and son pair of Dai and Dan Cope did not arrive until just after five minutes past five. Dai, loaded up with clubs, had to run to the 16th tee arriving breathlessly to drive off almost immediately as the hooter sounded off. Gentlemen, please accept my apology for this mistake, especially towards Dai Cope whose poor return score was obviously affected by this.
Despite the earlier rain, the evening turned out to be dry and sunny. A total of 24 pairs took part in the competition with nine pairs returning scores in the 30s. The format of the competition was Foursomes Stableford.
The first group to return to the clubhouse were the two pairings of Peter Rossi and Paul Hoyland playing along with Michael and David Schooling who scorched round in less than three hours. Early clubhouse leaders were the pairing of Richard Morton and Donald Sigsworth, but they were soon to be overtaken by Gareth Phillips and Robert Willcox. However, towards the end, the in-form pair of Roger Schooling and Steven Court posted the winning score of 36 points.
This was the first time that the match and handicap had used the DJB programme to determine the result of a team event. With the advantage of a computer, the result of the event was produced very quickly and the captain was able to get on and announce the results very promptly.
First of all, the captain apologised for the confusion in the start time. He thanked the green staff for the well prepared way that the course had been laid out. He then went on to thank Tom Hilling and David Ayres, especially Tom in his astute work on the computer.
The pairings of Rob Hall and Bill Beynon, Peter Rossi and Paul Hoyland, Neil Lovatt and Geoff Aston who all had twos won £16 a pair. Rob Hall and Bill Beynon also won, along with Chris Davies and David Llewellyn £24 per pair for the bag draw. So it was a very profitable evening for Rob and Bill.
Winners of the RA Cup and £65 were Roger Schooling and Steven Court with 36 points. In second place with 35 points - and this with three blank holes - were Gary Phillips and Robert Willcox, winning £45. In third place with 33 points were Richard Morton and Don Sigsworth, winning £20.
J.D.M.
Seniors reach semi-finals of South Wales Seniors Classic Cup
For the first time ever, Tenby Seniors reached the semi-finals of the South Wales Seniors Classic Cup.
Playing their re-arranged quarter-final match at Pontardawe golf club on Monday, they beat Morriston 2-1 in a tense match.
The first attempt to play this event was disrupted and cancelled two weeks previously when heavy storms flooded the course. This match did not fare much better being badly rain hit, but at least the lightning and severe storms kept away.
Leading the way in match one were Geoff Aston and Peter Williams. The Sospans were really up against a strong Morriston pair. Tee to green, Geoff and Peter matched their opposition all the way, where they fell down was on their short game, which was off song. Unfortunately for them, the Morriston pair was as sharp as nails in this area. They were chipping and putting like demons and eventually Geoff and Peter went down four and three.
In the second match, captain Bob Howse partnered by Stan Hudson had a titanic struggle. In the early part of their match, Bob and Stan went one down. By the half-way mark though, they turned this around to go one up. But the tenacious Morriston pair fought back and went all square. Bob and Stan were aware that the lead match was not going too well for Tenby. So they raised their game and won the 14th and 15th to take a two hole lead. Halving the next two holes they won their match on the 17th winning two and one. Unbeknown to them, this proved the winning result for Tenby, as the anchor pair of Martin Neilan and Robin Hagley had won their match on the 16th.
In this anchor match, Martin and Robin started off really well, with Martin winning the par four first hole when he made a sandy par. After four holes, the Tenby pair went three up, seemingly cruising. They were brought rudely down-to-earth by the Morriston pair who fought back to take the game to all-square. By now the Morriston pair had the ascendancy and on the 12th went one up. Robin, who had a fairly quiet game until then, suddenly hit a purple patch. He proceeded to win the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th to win their match three and two. It was a wonderful moment for Martin, as he had played in the two previous losing quarter-final matches in earlier years. So it was a case of third time lucky for Martin and he was absolutely elated.
The Tenby team now advance to the semi-finals to play against either Milford or Clyne for a place in the final. The semi-final will be held on August 19 at Carmarthen Golf Club.
J.D.M.
Ladies' Section
JANE DAVIES
This week, a lady with one of the longest continuous memberships of Tenby Golf Club died.
She was Jane Davies and will be remembered by many of the older members as a keen golfer and a vigorous hard-working member of the Ladies' Section.
She has been in poor health in recent years, but from the end of the Second World War, she and her husband Bill were active members of the club and Jane was Ladies' captain on three occasions.
She won the Tenby Ladies' Championship eight times, a feat which is unlikely to be beaten in the foreseeable future.
Being Scottish, Jane had an inborn interest in golf and the ladies were fortunate to benefit from her expert knowledge both as captain and during the 1990s as president of the section.
In the 1980s, she was elected to the executive committee of the Welsh Ladies' Golf Union, on which she served for four years, and was appointed to the Ladies' Golf Union for a further four years.
She and Bill enjoyed their visits to St. Andrews for meetings and eventually Jane became chairman of the LGU Scratch Score Committee.
The knowledge she gained from serving on the WLGU and the LGU was of great value to the club and as recognition of her service to the club, she was appointed an honorary member of the club in an event which delighted the members and particularly Jane and Bill and their family.
B.M.S.