The stiff, cool breeze from the south certainly affected the flight of many balls as it helped curve them away from the fairways into the gorse or the rough. Those who could steady themselves on the ninth tee were able to enjoy the magnificent view of Cardigan Bay in the sunshine.
Ken Gouldsbrough won the prize of playing with our leader this week and he and Brian found himself in a very close encounter. Thirteen of their 18 holes were halved as they battled it out for supremacy. With all four playing their part in this epic encounter, the match was played out to the very last hole. Keith Lewis and Peter Talbot drew on all their reserves of local knowledge and experience to snatch the result from their visitors' grasp with the very last putt.
Of the remaining nine matches played, five ended with a two and one result, only one of which was won by Tenby. Newman Vincent was on sparkling form as he and Russell Clarke provided Tenby with their only win of the day. Russell said that he just stood back and admired Newman's consistency as he scored four pars and a birdie in the first seven holes. The drives were long and straight and the long putts were disappearing into the hole. It was enough to numb the senses of Brian Hawkey and Peter Sutton as they struggled to keep up with the Tenby pair. They capitulated with one hole to go.
As friends opened their mouths, to ask Bob Howse how he had fared, they were greeted with 'Don't ask! It was like a bad dream and I keep hoping that I will wake up!' Derek Bath said, 'You normally associate the younger generation with wild play. Today we had the older version.' It was assumed, then, that they had not fared too well against Alan Wonfor and Mike Amphlett. Bob's wild swings and Derek's war wound (but I don't normally talk about it) added to the Cardigan pair's good form on their own course and provided them with a convincing victory. We'll say no more!
The two left-handers did not fare too well either. Brian Morgan and Malcolm Arlott were paired together for the second time and even Brian's 'out to in' drives couldn't counteract the way in which Ken Evans and Glyn Davies showed their supremacy on their own course. The Tenby pair trudged in vowing to exact revenge on the Tenby course.
Hero of the day was Nigel Rimell. Due to unforeseen circumstances he had to play Ted Wells and John Myatt on his own. Despite Ted's team talk to his partner before they set off - 'Remember it's only a game, but you win at all costs!'- Nigel took control and established a two-hole lead. The Cardigan pair realised that they had a game on their hands and had to bow their heads into the wind and fight their way back to all-square. Having to concentrate on every shot and fight the breeze had its effect on Nigel as he tired towards the end, although he took the match to the 17th before shaking hands.
Owen Monaghan was driving well on the day - the buggy that is! While losing six balls between them, he and Roy Morgan found themselves four down in their match against Ken Robinson and Keith Lewis Bara. With a supreme effort, they pulled back to all square, but were unable to establish a lead and had to concede on the 17th.
Jack Hasdell and Martin Neilan both had a birdie in their match against Ken Hadley and Graham Walker. Unfortunately, Martin had his on the 18th when the match was all over. Although they had played well, they couldn't quite overcome the challenge from the Cardigan pair. This was a keenly fought match, in which Jack had a couple of pars to enhance his birdie and in which Martin's consistency was not enough to surpass the efforts of the home players. A few missed putts did not help the cause and they also conceded on the 17th.
Someone, quite excitedly, reported that Colin Griffith and Kevin Pullen had had doubled Tenby's number of wins. Not so, they had suffered the same fate as many before them. They found themselves four down in their encounter with Nigel Clarke and Ieuan Davies. Nigel was playing particularly well, but had to contend with some stubborn resistance from the Tenby pair as they pulled back a number of holes only to lose out on the 17th.
Des Stone and Dave Morgan thought they were in for a good afternoon as they won the first two holes with pars, only to lose the next two. Both pairs were well matched as they halved all holes until they reached the 11th, which Dave won with a five, net four. Brian Huggett and John Nicholls were unfortunate to both lose a ball on the 14th, having to concede it to the Tenby pair, giving them a three-hole lead with four to play. Brian's consistency with the short irons brought them back into the match on the 16th and 17th. Dormie-one on the 18th meant that Des and Dave couldn't lose, but Brian made sure they couldn't win either by chipping up and putting out to win the hole and halve the match.
A similar fair result was achieved by Stan Hudson and Tony Morgan. Stan was full of praise for John's performance, although they still found themselves two down after six holes. Tony Simpkin and Ray West were proving to be tough nuts to crack. As usual Stan had to concede a number of shots and Ray took full advantage of this to win a number of holes. Stan and Tony then won three holes in succession to get back into the match, but were unable to establish a lead. All four were happy to shake hands on the last with reputations intact.
All players were delighted to retire to the cosy lounge and reminisce on what might have been whilst enjoying the wonderful view from the conservatory windows.
Results: B. Waters and K. Gouldsbrough lost to K. Lewis and P. Talbot 1 down; B. Howse and D. Bath lost to A. Wonfor and M. Amphlett 4 and 2; S. Hudson and J. Hall halved with T. Simpkin and R. West; D. Stone and D. Morgan halved with B. Huggett ad J. Nichols; M. Neilan and J. Hasdell lost to K. Hadley and G. Walker 2 and 1; R. Morgan and O. Monoghan lost to K. Robinson and K. Lewis 2 and 1; N. Vincent and R. Clarke beat B. Hawkey and P. Sutton 2 and 1; B. Morgan and M. Arlott lost to K. Evans and G. Davies 4 and 3; N. Rimell lost to T. Wells and J. Myatt 2 and 1; K. Pullen and C. Griffith lost to N. Clarke and I. Davies 2 and 1.