The Tenby Rabbits golfers resumed their Winter League programme last Sunday under a blue sky. There was no wind and though the temperature over night had been Arctic the hard ground eased by late morning and conditions became ideal.

Players out early were stretched to master the hard greens and notable exponents of the spin game were at a considerable disadvantage. On the tee first were Ron Murphy and Gordon Glaves, both of whom hit a high ball allowing the ball's revolution to control forward movement. But on this day their high approaches never checked and leapt in the air as high as the spire of Salisbury Cathedral, carrying ever onward.

Their opponents, Dave Moran and Bud French, are both chip and run men and showing admirable skills bumped and ran their approaches close to the pin and scored an excellent victory over the Murphy/Glaves team.

Dave Moran and Bud French sit at the top of the league with a two-point cushion and it would be a brave man who bets against them.

Richard Caley and John Stevenson were next away, a pair who are jostling for a high league place. Their opponents were Tom Pritchard and Brian Dooley, a pair still jostling for their first league points, and firmly rooted at the foot of the table (at the halfway stage they contend). Well on this day Tom and Brian put up a great fight, but the Caley/Stevenson class showed in the end and clung on to a slender margin of victory.

This match had everything, an epic so they say. There was John Stevenson, the joint winner of the Dilwater Shield played before Christmas, clearly at the top of his game. And Richard Caley too; from the Fleet Club in Hampshire, a club who spawned Justin Rose. There is little difference between Richard Caley and Justin Rose on the course, it is said. But who said it is beyond recall.

And given such a formidable task and such formidable opponents, it says much for the tenacity of Tom Pritchard and Brian Dooley that they pushed these masters so close. Pundits see a recovery of form in the new year.

David Lemon came in as substitute this week in place of Colin Smith to partner John Hunt. Against them were Peter Moss and Angus MacTavish, a very experienced and canny pair. Never was a shot wasted in this game. All four played brilliantly and nothing separated them. A tough nail-biting half was the result.

Rabbits captain Glyn Price was next on the tee playing with the enormous driving Stephen Watkins. Against them were George Pegg and Philip Watkins, a very steady team.

It should be said at this point that the recent rains had filled in many of the hollows on the course and now covered in ice resembled in places on Alpine glacier. The course had a beauty about it in the glistening sun. And to watch these four exponents, all so graceful, so silky of touch, making golf an art form, was pleasure indeed.

The Price/Watkins pair snatched a close win and move to within striking distance of the leaders.

Stephen Harries is back after several weeks with his leg in plaster and complications. He looked much as he used to before his confinement, genial, smiling and happy. And so he should, for this week he had a substitute with him, Clive Law, a giant of the Rabbits game. A gift to any Rabbit when his partner is away. Steve Harries responded well to this awesome presence and Steve Price and John Murphy had to bow the knee on the 15th. As the vanquished pair said after the game "Their birdies won it, our pars were just not good enough."

Big Dave Morgan and Peter Watkins started the day second in the table after a wonderful pre-Christmas campaign. They were confident they could maintain pressure on the leaders, give them sleepless nights and gradually erode their stamina and confidence to take the silver at season's end.

Regrettably, however, they had overlooked their lead opponent today, Mike Munro, who is fast metamorphosing into a very top player. Always Dave Morgan and Peter Watkins played comfortably to the green, with Munro and his partner seemingly out of it. But then Mike Munro would unleash a recovery from nowhere to set up a half. And so this game went on, fantastic fabulous, to the end; all square.

The tremendous development of Mike Munro makes him unrecognisable on the course to that which readers will remember. Also in domestic appearance he has changed, having sprouted a bristling moustache. With his masculine physique, his looks, his easy going manner, he has become the heartthrob of early 21st century golf. To the writer he is a Clark Gable, a Rett Butler of the fairways.

And his golfing mind is acute too. I overheard him planning tactics with his partner, for Mike believes they could win the league. "Listen," he said. "If you were to go absent for the rest of the season, I could have a selection from our galaxy of substitutes. The silverware will be ours and you can make the speech at the presentation dinner."

The mind boggles at such an idea, but he is probably correct.

Last away were Fred Adlam and Philip Davies, a pairing who had not quite fulfilled their tremendous potential up to Christmas. This week they turned it on, with the Adlam/Davies team pulling out all stops to defeat Brian Hartley and substitute Mike Fox on the 17th.

This was probably the shock result of the day, for Brian Hartley and Mike Fox are no slouches. Brian had words at the end, asking how the Rabbits manage to mine such amazing new talent week after week, month after month. In this he was alluding to Philip Davies who at last declared his hand. Perhaps such a modest man did not want to get into the limelight too soon. Partner Fred Adlam was speechless.

The results were as follows: D. Moran and B. French bt R. Murphy and G. Glaves 5 and 4; R. Caley and J. Stevenson bt T. Pritchard and B. Dooley 3 and 2; D. Lemon and J. Hunt halved with P. Moss and A. MacTavish; G. Price and S. Watkins bt G. Pegg and Philip Watkins 2 and 1; C. Law and S. Harries bt S. Price and J. Murphy 4 and 3; D. Morgan and Peter Watkins halved with P. Marsden and M. Munro; F. Adlam and P. Davies bt B. Hartley and M. Fox 2 and 1.

DILWATER SHIELD

The winners of the Dilwater Shield played on December 15, which were not reported in the Christmas and New Year issues, were: 1. Simon Evans and John Stevenson 41 pts; 2. Colin Smith and John Hunt 38 (back nine); 3. Brian Hartley and John Cook 38; 4. Nick Allen and M. H. Evans 36.

By all accounts, the victory speeches were not to be forgotten.