Seniors relinquish Centenary Cup in Haverfordwest rain - In the absence of Dudley Williams, seniors captain, Idwal David was duly charged, as vice-captain, to step up to the mark and lead his motley crew to victory in the 2017 Seniors Centenary Cup held at Haverfordwest on Friday.

He released the cup from the trophy cabinet in Tenby Golf Club where it has had pride of place since last year’s tournament at Cardigan. He took it home and endearingly polished it in the hope that he could return it the next day.

Dudley made a fleeting appearance to bolster Idwal’s ego and encourage his troupes in this major battle. The omens did not look good as the light rain increased in density, only to be matched by the wind. Mutterings were heard about playing in such conditions, so the captains organised a huddle and the organisers declared emphatically that the event would go ahead.

There were five participating clubs - Haverfordwest, Cardigan, Tenby, Carmarthen and Glynhir. The format is four ball better ball, with each club playing two matches against each of the other clubs, making a total of 18 matches.

With a shotgun start, all golfers strode, trudged or drove out to their respective tee. There was a rumour that one pair offered their opposition a half before they had even hit a ball; the offer was not taken up and so the competition was underway.

There were a number of matches that finished early, but the majority braved the elements and completed their encounters, ready for a hot meal and a hot shower before returning home.

Was Idwal successful in returning the cup to Tenby’s cabinet? I am afraid not, he will have to break the news to Dudley that it has extended its journey to another venue.

Of Tenby’s eight teams, four were successful and four were unsuccessful, earning a total of 12 points.The cup was so warm inside the Haverfordwest clubhouse, away from the rain, that it decided to remain there for the rest of the year.

Haverfordwest were the clear winners, relegating Carmarthen to second place, closely followed by Glynhir.

Tenby results:S. Hudson and I. David won 6 and 5 against Cardigan; A. Watts and D. Stone lost 2 and 1 against Haverfordwest; C. Beecher and J. Moffatt lost against Carmarthen; S. Cole and A. Jones won 6 and 5 against Glynhir; P. Bradley and J. Hancock won 7 and 6 against Cardigan; R. Hagley and D. Rees won 2 up against Carmarthen; P. Williams and B. Howse lost against Glynhir; R. Scholfield and D. Cole lost two down against Haverfordwest.

Enjoyable Swingers Day

Tenby GC’s Saturday Swingers held their Annual Day last Saturday. The delightful weather reflected in some excellent scoring. A total of 36 Swingers took part and no less than 17 came in with at least 30 points.

Three Swingers had 36 points - Jeremy Peters, Austin Davies and Richard Ormond.

Jerry Whitehouse was one better with 37 points.

However, champion of the Swingers for 2017 is Andrew Cope. His magnificent 39 points off a handicap of six equated to a gross 75.

The winner of the Dai Thomas Memorial KO Cup was Steve Court. He beat Neil Webb by two shots and was awarded a watch which was donated by Dai before he passed away in October 2015.

Despite only playing in the Swingers on 17 occasions throughout 2016/2017, Martin Morris claimed the Ralph and Phil John Shield with a best 12 round aggregate of 429 points. He beat Jeremy Peters by three points and Jerry Whitehouse by four.

Another fabulous meal was enjoyed by the Swingers at the evening presentation dinner and, via a combination of donations and fines, £180 was raised for Tenby GC captain Neil Thomas’s chosen charity, Cure Leukaemia.

The leading scores were as follows:

Swingers’ Day - Andrew Cope 39 pts, Jerry Whitehouse 37, Richard Ormond, Austin Davies and Jeremy Peters, all 36, Richard Prout, Darren Thomas and Mike Anthony, all 34, Martin Morris, Jeff Banfield and Dai Skyrme, all 33, Roger Schooling and Gethin Evans, both 32, Dave Blackmore and Craig Thomas, both 31, Steve Court and Huw Roberts, both 30.

Ralph and Phil John Shield - Martin Morris 429 pts, Jeremy Peters 426, Jerry Whitehouse 425, Peter Rossi 422, Neil Webb 419, Neil Thomas 418, Austin Davies 414, Colin Duffield and Dave Morgan, both 413, and Viv John 410.

Busy month for Ladies’ Section

The month of June was a busy one in the club - the Annual Open Week took place and we also had the Three Counties Rabbits Open - so with press space at a premium, I have submitted all the month’s events in one report.

June 1 saw 24 Tenby ladies play their first of three Hill Lowe Bogeys of the season. It’s a challenging competition where you are playing ‘against the course’. Sue Shooter was the best of three players on ‘1 down’ and she claimed third place on countback, Linda Tordoff-Evans was second at ‘all square’, but Denise Edwards had a cracking score off a handicap of seven carding a ‘5 up’ score, which included the only two twos of the day on the 12th and 17th holes.

Open Week took place from Sunday, June 4, so there were no routine ladies’ competitions that week.

The first leg of the AJO Bowl was held at Tenby on Saturday, June 10. Unfortunately, the weather was atrocious, which resulted in only three ladies plus three junior girls taking part, all from Tenby. The scores reflect the conditions, with Georgina Ormond in third on countback from Seren Allen (both on 24 pts) in second, with Sarah Waring best with 26 points.

Monday, June 12, saw a C & P League match at home to Haverfordwest. It was thankfully a dry day, with a cool wind on times. Some good golf was played, with Tenby coming out on top by four games to one.

Thursday, June 15, was another dry day, but with a difficult south-westerly two-club wind to contend with for the dozen who contested the GUW Medal and the Jones Parry Nett Cup. The tricky conditions with a wind that was never helpful meant low scoring was difficult. Denise Edwards came third with a nett 83, Linda Tordoff-Evans came second with a nett 82, but winning the medal plus the cup with a nett 77 was Pam Cole. There were two 2s on the day - Pam on the 12th and Toni Lucas on the 17th.

On Sunday, June 18, the second round of the Annodata UK Golf Club Classic was played at Tenby when the home team took on - and beat - the team from Pontnewydd (near Cwmbran) by 4-1. They have recently found out that their next round will be played at Bude in Cornwall this month. Good luck in the next round girls.

On Monday, June 19, the re-arranged regional final of the GUW Medal and LGU Silver and Bronze Challenge Bowls was held at Pontardawe, having been postponed due to bad weather on June 5. The day was a very hot one, with temperatures so high that it caused one lady to collapse and another had to abandon her game. Rebecca Naden coped with the heat better than some of the others and posted an excellent 73 to top her Silver category, Denise Edwards and Pam Cole both carded nett 80s to qualify in the Medal category, but Helen Hughes just missed out in the Bronze competition. Good luck at Builth Wells in the All Wales Final on August 15.

On the same day, the Senior Ladies went out for their 14-hole contest. They, too, found the heatwave uncomfortable whilst out on the course. The best score recorded was Rita Collins with 26 points, Anne Wilks was second on 23, beating Nesta Hart on countback.

Thursday, June 22, saw 19 contenders for the Marjorie Glover Trophy - a stableford competitikon. This was a depleted field as some members were away at the Vale of Llangollen for the Ladies Welsh Team Championships. The winner last year - Pam Cole - was beaten into third place this time around with a respectable 38 points, one behind Sue Ensor after a fine 39, with the outright winner with a brilliant 41 points being Louise Hill - who also gets a two-shot reduction in handicap. Well done, Louise.

A report on the Welsh Team Championships was submitted for last week’s paper.

On Monday, June 26, the Senior Ladies played their usual 14-hole competition. Irene Gilman came third with 23 on countback from Toni Lucas, Barbara Williams was second on 25, but with a spectacular 33 points, the winner was Nesta Hart - which included a five-ointer on one of the par 5s!

Thursday, June 29, was the GUW Centenary Greensomes Stableford Qualifier. There were 12 pairs and some fine scores were posted. Thirty-five points was only good enough for eighth place!

In third place - missing out on countback on 38 points - were Carol Beecher and Helen Hughes, just behind runners-up Pam Cole and Bev Owen. Winners were Rebecca Naden and Angela Gottwaltz with a cracking score of 40 points - with two ‘blobs’!

The winners qualify for the final at Pwllheli on September 12.

After the competition, it was good to hear the ladies in full voice singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Liz Storey and everyone enjoying some chocolate birthday cake!

July looks like being a busy month as well!

P. C.

Rabbits go east and go west!

A dozen of Tenby’s finest Rabbits headed to the most eastern part of the Three Counties last Sunday hoping to topple strong title contenders Garnant on their home course, writes our links reporter, Warren Hacker, who returned after apparently appearing as one of the Pharaohs for Sam the Sham at his stage comeback at Glastonbury last weekend at the age of 80.

When the scores were counted and the result announced, it was seen that their hopes had gone west - but it couldn’t have been closer.

Leading from the front were the Nicotine Twins (captain Martin and side-kick Chris) and they found themselves all-square with three to play, but they then flagged (or was it fagged) a bit to lose two down - and they had their chances.

Second off were Wyndham and Steve C who took an early two-hole lead, then were hit by a Bleddyn birdie-fest, then clawed it back to all-square. The first halved hole came in pars on the 10th. Wedge-less Wyndham allowed his partner to come in on a couple of holes and then they won, lost, then halved the last three holes to finish all-square. Phew!

Behind them were Phil and back-from-holiday Mark. According to reports, Mark played out of his sun-tanned skin as he rattled in six pars in a row from the 12th to help the pair to their second away win from three summer pair-ups this season.

Watkins Senior and Junior (Steve and Grant) found themselves three down early, but they didn’t lose their rag - indeed they just dusted themselves off and gave a polished performance as they came back well for a clear 2 and 1 win. So 2.5-1.5 to Tenby so far!

Secretary Peter and John S were next off. Peter hoped for a performance that would have been something to write home about but, although neither of them made a spectacle of themselves, they couldn’t put themselves in the winners frame and lost on the 15th. All level now!

Bringing up the rear were vice-captain Paul and last year’s captain Robin. They were getting a few shots, but Robin’s driver was having an off day (he lost half-a-dozen balls). Despite Paul winning a few holes, they succumbed 3 and 2 to leave the final result 3.5 to 2.5 to the home team.

The after-match meal was consumed, followed by the raffle for balls (another close thing - mirroring the match, it was just won by the home team!) with vice-captain Paul getting practice in for next season by ‘doing the honours’ with the announcement of the result, thanking the caterers etc. etc.

For their efforts, Tenby took home 2.5 points for a total now of 16.5 points from five games, but they maintain their position at the end of the Summer League table that would be on top if it was printed upside-down. They still have to make the short trip to Milford and the slightly longer trip to Penrhos, but they also still have six home games to hopefully grab a win-bonus or two to clamber up the table.

As a result of his third win in four away games, Grant keeps his lead in the Mick Gillet Trophy for the most Summer League points accumulated with 15 points, four clear of Steve W and Phil on 11, with Mark up to fifth on eight behind Adrian on nine.

Tenby Rabbits now have three weeks rest and recuperation before their next outing when they begin three home games in as many weeks, then their trip to Milford. Go on Team Tenby.....

Altogether now everybody, ‘Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully...’