A party of 24 from Tenby GC embarked on their annual pilgrimage to Swansea last weekend for matches against two old rivals from the Gower, Langland Bay GC and Pennard GC.

The visitors were given a very warm welcome at both clubs. The weather was glorious throughout. The courses were in an excellent overall condition, the greens in particular.

First out at Langland on Saturday were Tenby captain, Neil Thomas, and his vice, Mike Anthony, against the home skipper, Peter Williams and former international gymnast Leigh Jones. The Tenby pair scraped a one up win. Jon Morris and Nick Allen fell 3 and 2 to Langland course record holder Richie Evans and Kevin Barry.

Viv John and Terry Davies were never at the races against Owen Price and Alan Donovan, losing 4 and 3. Darren Thomas and Jerry Whitehouse played well whilst beating John Davies and Alan Thomas by 4 and 2.

Ben Childs and Austin Davies secured a 2 and 1 win against James Manson and Mark Shepherd. Rob Willcox and Tim Davies fought hard for their two up win against Jeff Evans and Mike Allchurch. At this stage, Tenby were ahead by four games to two.

However, the visitors then lost the next four games. Loz Phillips and Paul Dennehy were hammered 4 and 3 by Blair Thomas and Alex Kamil. Gary McNeilly and John Stenson fell by 2 and 1 to John Bowden and Dick Pothecary.

Martin Morris and Phil Goodridge succumbed by the smallest margin, one down, to Mike Gardener and Paul Griffiths. Dave Hancock and Richard Ormond faded and lost 3 and 2 to Ashley Isaacs and Brian Owen.

Dai Cope and Simon Evans provided a mini recovery when beating Nick Donald and Ian Gladwin by 2 and 1.

Thus, a win for Tenby in the final game would have meant a drawn match, but Neil Webb and Gethin Evans lost 2 and 1 to Paul Wade and Steve Bond. Hence, Langland were victorious by seven games to five.

At Pennard on Sunday, Tenby got off to a flying start and their tail also wagged.

Neil Thomas and Ben Childs had a fine 3 and 1 win against Pennard captain, Tim Jones and his partner Mike Bennett, who was the club professional for many years. Jon Morris and John Stenson were always in control against Lee Dickinson and Peter Greenslade, winning 4 and 3.

Loz Phillips and Rob Willcox were too good for Dai Rees and Keith Child, winning 3 and 2. Martin Morris and Dai Cope gained a valuable one up win against Steve Kissick and John Webb.

Viv John and Neil Webb then went down by just 4 and 3 against David Beynon and Phil Gavey. Tim Davies and Paul Dennehy enjoyed the biggest win of the weekend when they annihilated Dave Hill and Andrew Williams by 6 and 5.

Darren Thomas and Richard Ormond fell by 3 and 1 to Jim Pritchard and Jeff Joseph. Gary McNeilly and Phil Goodridge lost by 4 and 2 to Andrew Richard and Mike Neville.

Terry Davies and Simon Evans took Roger Essex and John O’Malley all the way, but eventually came second. The match score was now five to four in Tenby’s favour and the result could have gone either way.

However, the visitors finished strongly. Dave Hancock and Gethin Evans beat Chris Beresford and Ceri Hughes by 3 and 1. Jerry Whitehouse and Austin Davies were always ahead against Mike Tucker and Jim La-T, winning 4 and 2. In the final rubber, Nick Allen and Mike Anthony were victorious by 4 and 3 over Martin Diment and Mark Harris.

It proved to be a successful weekend for Tenby. Although they lost at Langland, they gained a rare victory at Pennard and won 13 of the 24 games played.

Both Langland and Pennard are looking forward to visiting Tenby for the return matches in September and October when the hospitality will no doubt be reciprocated.