Tenby GC held its 36-hole Strokeplay Championship last Saturday. In common with most recent years, the entries were down compared with what they used to be in the past - an indication of golfers’ age demographic, both local and national.

The early starters experienced some fairly heavy rain at the beginning of their morning round and a fairly stiff prevailing south-westerly wind blew all day. The links was nigh on pristine.

The best round before lunch was a creditable 76 by Richard Morton, which included three birdies. Youngsters Abe Forsyth, also a member of Milford Haven and Haverfordwest, and Luke Harries both had 77s. Abe had a triple bogey on the 7th and a double on the 11th. Luke also had a mixed bag, which included two double bogeys and three birdies.

The experienced Dave Morris was back in one under par for his 78, but he did not play in the afternoon due to a sore back. Only four competitors broke 80.

The two best nett scores were 70 by Rob Willcox and Steve Watkins. Rob’s round was very steady with no double bogeys and he finished with five pars. Steve, playing off 19, birdied both the 3rd and the 9th!

After lunch, Luke ran away from the field. Frustrated by his morning round, he eagled the 1st, hitting a drive and a six iron almost 500 yards into the wind. He double bogeyed the 4th, but then sank three birdies for a fantastic 69.

Abe returned his second 77, which included three birdies. Lee Anslow handed in a 78 and was one of only three players to break 80 in the afternoon. Richard Morton’s 81 put him out of contention.

Paul Dennehy failed to return his card in the morning. However, despite two double bogeys, he had 10 pars and a birdie in the afternoon for an excellent nett 68.

Rob could not match his morning effort and was eight shots worse in the afternoon.

Mike Anthony enjoyed two steady rounds. In the morning he started with three sevens, but parred all the short holes for a nett 75. Following the break, he had an eight on the 5th and sevens on both the 14th and 15th, but bettered his morning score by two. Mike was one of four competitors who had aggregate nett scores of 148 for the two rounds.

Spare a thought for Steve. His first round nett 70 put him well in contention. However, on the first hole after lunch, he played seven off the tee and ended with a 14.

If he had had a 12, he would have won the Regimental Bowl!

Luke is the 2017 winner of both the Cobb Cup and the Regimental Bowl, the latter by virtue of having the best afternoon score. He often shows maturity well above his tender years and did so last Saturday afternoon after an indifferent round in the morning. He is a class above anyone else at Tenby GC at the moment and possibly ever.

Luke is, of course, accustomed to playing 36 holes in a day. He has already claimed two prestigious titles at Tenby this year - the Trubshaw Cup in April and the Dyfed Championship in May. As reported previously, Luke will be commencing studies at Tennessee University in September.

The leading scores were as follows:

Cobb Cup (gross) - Luke Harries 77+69=146, Abe Forsyth 77+77=154, Richard Morton 76+81=157, Lee Anslow 81+78=159, Chris Thompson 81+83=164, Andrew Cope 84+82=166, Jack Harries 84+84=168, Rob Willcox 80+88=168, Jim Moffatt 82+87=169, Darren Thomas 91+80=171.

Regimental Bowl (nett) - Luke Harries 78+70=148, Mike Anthony 75+73=148, Abe Forsyth 74+74=148, Rob Willcox 70+78=148, Gareth Davies – 74+79=149, Steve Watkins 70+79=149, Richard Morton 74+79=153, Andrew Cope 78+76=154, Mike Davies 82+74=156.

Prizes are awarded for the first four places in both the Cobb Cup and the Regimental Bowl. Luke picked up two lots of prize money. However, otherwise players can only claim one prize so, despite the above scores, the following additional prizes were awarded: best AM gross - Chris Thompson; best PM gross -Paul Dennehy; best AM nett - Steve Watkins and best PM nett -Darren Thomas.