Budweiser Challenge

On Sunday, May 20, Meurig and Bill made the journey across the water to Ireland to take part in the Budweiser Challenge, with 80 teams entered from all over the UK and as far as Germany, they knew this was a big week for themselves and for Trefloyne Golf Club. The format was four ball better ball played off three-quarter handicap which left Meurig playing off eight and Bill off 11, the top 16 on day four played the final at the Heritage Club designed by Sevi Balesteros. After the long journey, they needed to find a watering hole and sample some of the Irish brew, which with this pair always goes down well and this was no exception. They knew they had to go back to their digs early as breakfast was at eight, so 2.30 seemed reasonable and breakfast has never tasted so good! Then it was away to Mountrath for the first round. They got there early, only to meet golfing friends from Cwmrhydanewydd, and after a welcoming chat and a drink, it was down to the golf. Mountrath is a tight tree lined course with very challenging greens, the back nine played tight to the river which branched off through the course. Meurig and Bill played well with great input from the Irish pair who knew the course, and on day one finished with a reasonable 39 points. This was a good start, but left them six points behind the leaders, so it was a team talk in the 19th and the outcome was to revisit some watering holes in Portlaois with Irish friends they met and boy could they drink. Again preparation went well and they arrived at their digs, well it was before three! On day two, breakfast at eight and they made their way to the Heath Golf Club, another quality course which was tree-lined, but gave room to take on the greens. You needed to be careful on most of the holes as there were many hidden bunkers and plenty of gorse ready to catch you out. Twenty- three points scored on the front nine was good, but on the back nine, they were hanging on after finding so much danger and with their first two no scores on the back nine were happy to finish with 38 points. After being a bit disappointed at leaving so many points out on the course, it was back to the 19th for more team talks, then onto Tracy's bar to meet the Irish boys - mistake. Somehow, they found their way back to the watering hole in Portlaois and boy was Bill talking some team talks. They got back to their digs at the normal time, but fair play they were never late for breakfast. Day three, the last qualifying day, was at Rathdowney Golf Club. Meurig and Bill were in joint sixth position with another five pairs. They needed a steady round to give them a chance for the Heritage. On this day, the Trefloyne pair were teamed up with friends from Milford Haven Golf Club. The difficulty was none of them had played the course before so could not get any advice. The start was good, but the by the fourth hole the course was very tight and got tighter, with the pair finding trouble off the blind tees on many of the holes and finding themselves chipping back into play with their second shots instead of playing for the green proved to be expensive, but were happy to finish with 32 points. Now it was another wait in the 19th to find out the scores -the longer the wait the harder the scores were to read! A total of 113 points qualified for the Heritage that left Meurig and Bill four behind on 109 points. As this was their first visit to these courses, they were happy with their performance and headed back to their watering hole in Portlaois - oh, they got home at the normal time. Day four was the final day for the runners-up at Portharlington, a championship course that was in top condition. Again, tight tree-lined fairways with additional 300-year-old oak trees in the middle of the fairways made you think your way around. Partners for this day were from Anglesey Golf Club. Meurig and Bill found their form on the last day and played a solid game to come away with 40 points. Their Irish friends then turned up and took them to the Heritage Golf Club for the presentation which gave them the opportunity to meet most of the competitors, and with free Bud, Guinness and wine, everyone spoke well. The 40 points was good enough to win the final day and become the first overseas pair to win.

Friday Fun Night

The first of the season's nine hole individual stableford Friday Fun Nights was held on June 1. It was a very pleasant evening for golf and the event attracted a good turnout, especially of juniors and ladies, with most of the players electing to stay for dinner afterwards which helped to also make it a very sociable event. Special thanks to Linda Kromrei and Brian Norman for all the organisation and hard-work on the day which made the event such a success. First place in the ladies' was taken by Vicky Burks who scored 19 points, with Heather Thorne second with 17 points, and Sue Crowley third on 16 points. In the juniors, Dan Edwards came first with an outstanding 24 points and Arron Roberts second with 22 points. In the men's, Ashley Jones was first with 22 points and Gary Hopkins and Brian Norman both scored 19 points with Gary taking second place over the last six holes. The only birdie two was recorded by Ann Dassen. Monthly medal

The Monthly Medal on Saturday, June 2, took place in generally dry conditions, although those who tee'd off early were subjected to some drizzle. In Division One, Meurig Evans on a net 70, was declared first after a count back against Ben Price, also on 70. Bill Myers was third on a net 73. In Division Two, Dave McMann was first on 27, with Bob Maxwell second on 76 and Alan Griffiths third on 77.