Buggies and Buddies

Newman Vincent and Brian Waters were set for a quiet enjoyable game of golf as they drove off the 17th tee at Milford Haven Golf Course. However, their opponents, Brian Keen and Ken Davies, needed their assistance when their buggy broke down and failed to respond to their pleadings and expletives.

Ever the helpful pair, they guided their buggy behind the broken vehicle and proceeded to gently nudge it forward. In this fashion they traversed the fairway in search of balls. This continued down the 18th, at which point they encountered Mike Whale and John Hayhoe who were trying to negotiate their way up the 17th. Highly amused, John described the scene as a ‘coupling’ of the buggies, leaving the first four ball red with embarrassment and delighted to relieve themselves of the broken vehicle in exchange for another before starting the first.

This had a profound effect on Newman and Brian as they failed to recover after the exertion of buggy pushing, resulting in the loss of too many holes. Their situation was not helped by the fact that Brian pulled a muscle in his left shoulder, but struggled on bravely to support Newman.

Brian Keen was on good form, as was his partner and they took advantage of the Tenby pair’s generosity, making sure they weren’t allowed to win many holes - if any.

Another pair to suffer buggy problems was that of Allen Watts and Des Stone. Having won the first hole, their opponents, Owen Picton and Mike Ballintine, walked on down the second fairway unaware that the Tenby duo were still sat in their buggy trying to kick it into action. Swear words don’t help either! It did respond, eventually, and the pair caught up with play, but lost the hole.

Three down after four holes was not a good start for the Tenby pair and the situation was not helped when the buggy stuttered and failed on the steep slope up the eighth fairway. Was it the big fellow’s weight? Help was summoned and a reserve buggy was brought out for the pair - another hole lost, back to three down.

The cause was helped when Des scored two pars and a birdie through 10, 11 and 12, much to the chagrin of Owen and his partner. Allen chipped in to give them a one-hole lead starting the 18th. It was a lead squandered, however, as both players preferred to approach the hole from the 17th fairway, hampered by trees, making the task almost impossible. A half was the deserving result.

So, from buggies to buddies. The inseparable, almost romantic, pair of John Hancock and Paul Bradley was out again trying to make amends for last week’s defeat. Paul started like a train (huffing and puffing?) and John looked more comfortable as he walked the long course trying to negate the efforts of Trevor George and Dick Wooding. They claimed that this was a b****y good game and that they were all over the opposition in their dominance of the match. The home pair was only in the lead once - on the 18th! Never mind chaps, next week is another game - if you’re picked.

Skipper, Dudley Williams had chosen Jim Martin as his champion this week in the hope of squeezing another result in his quest for glory. They did not have the best of starts. Jim claimed that his net birdie and two net pars were not good enough as they were one down after four holes. Both declared that this was a great match as they went head to head against Alan Dennison and David Evans. The home pair finished their round two over par which pushed the Tenby pair into second place.

Following on their heels was the pairing of Idwal David and Derek Cole, a good pairing on paper. You don’t play golf on paper, however, and the potential score sheet was ripped up as they were given a master class in the art of playing golf on the Milford course. Ivor McKenzie and Chris Naylor made the most of Idwal’s holiday fatigue and went into a commanding lead early on, leaving the Tenby pair four down after five holes. Unfortunately, they were unable to recover despite a valiant effort. They claimed that they were lucky to survive as long as they did as they watched Chris chip in accurately on to the green time after time, to deny them a chance of winning a hole. They did manage to win the 10th.

Alan Jones was delighted with his birdie putt on the back nine. Unfortunately for him, and his partner David Rees, the match was already over. David claimed that he and Alan were brilliant. Rolly Council and Brian Morgan were ‘brillianter’. Brian, in particular, played some scintillating golf, which was closely matched by his partner, one of whom chipped in from the bunker on the 11th for a birdie. The Tenby pair was blitzed on the back nine, giving them little hope of achieving a win.

John Hayhoe and Mike Whale never recovered from the sight of two buggies coupled front to back. It was a vision that hampered their stroke play throughout their round against Chris Harding and Billy Hier. Chris made the most of his 15 handicap and course knowledge to score a birdie on the first, helping the pair to a lead of two after two holes. Despite this, the Tenby pair put in a gallant effort, recouping a two-hole deficit to lead by one as they approached the back nine. The vision of the two buggies plus the long walk took its toll, allowing the Milford pair to regain and hold on to a slender lead.

Was there anyone playing who could restore some vestige of hope for Dudley? Of course there was. Martin Neilan and Roger Scholfield were on a campaign as they led Peter Taylor and Mike Durward around their own course. Throughout a well dovetailed performance, with a few jammy holes thrown in, they were able to overturn a two-hole deficit to end up with a four-hole advantage. They each praised the other for their contribution and were delighted to bring a smile to their captain’s face. Roll on next week.

Results: D. Williams and J. Martin lost to A. Dennison and D. Evans 2 and 1; D. Cole and I. David lost to I. McKenzie and C. Naylor 4 and 2; A. Watts and D. Stone halved with O. Picton and M. Ballintine; J. Hancock and P. Bradley lost to T. George and D, Wooding 1 down; M. Neilan and R. Scholfield beat P. Taylor and M. Durwood 4 and 2; A. Jones and D. Rees lost to R. Council and B. Morgan 4 and 3; B. Waters and N. Vincent lost to K. Davies and B. Keen 7 and 6; M. Whale and J. Hayhoe lost to C. Harding and B. Hier 2 and 1.

Luke selected for GB&I

Talented Tenby golfer Luke Harries’s fantastic season continues with the news that he has been selected to represent GB&I boys in the Jacques Leglise team to compete against Europe at Ballybunion Friday and Saturday of next week. This is excellent news for Luke who tees it up as the only Welshman in the nine- man squad to face Europe’s finest young golfers.

Well done Luke, all at Tenby GC will be cheering you on!

Weather fails to dampen enjoyment

Members of Tenby Golf Club made their annual pilgrimage last Friday to Tenby Bowling Club where they gained a rare victory.

Rain delayed the start and the match was reduced to 12 ends.

With the golf club’s names first, the scores were as follows:

Rink one - Brian Diment, Allen Watts, Dave Hancock and Barrie Frayne 18; Peter Thomas, Jon Webb, Ken Lloyd and Ysie White 16.

Rink two - Dai Cope, Martin Morris, Phil Keating and Gary McNeilly 17; Ian Hooper, Ashley Hooper, Dai Spencer and Nicky Day 19.

Rink three - Robert Ormond, Neil Dickinson and Steve Nicholls 24; Cameron White, Tom Lewis, Peter Thomas and Evan Day 13.

Rink four - Chris Hughes, Paul Haley and Richard Ormond 19; Walter Morris, Graham Morris and Fred Broomhead 14.

Thus the result was 78 to 62 in the Golf Club’s favour. Some of the Bowling Club team argued that the handicapping was rather generous!

Friendships renewed at Hamilton Cup

The 28th Hamilton Cup competition took place at the Kirby Muxloe Golf Club, Leicester, between August 15 and 17.

This unique European golf competition was introduced into the Tenby golf calendar in 1990 by Steve Evans, past captain of Tenby GC, and Emmanuel Daume, of Pau Golf Club, France.

The criteria for entry in to the competition was for the applying golf club to be over 100 years old and to become twinned with all the other clubs giving access to all members to play European golf as guests of the member partners.

Over the years this has given Tenby members, over 70 of whom have represented the club in this prestigious event, the opportunity to travel throughout Europe and experience the cultures of the regions and to play these fantastic venues. There is a total of 10 courses who have welcomed the Hamilton Cup and opened their doors to the reciprocal clubs.

This year saw five clubs attending the competition, Biarritz and Pau from France, Kennemer from Holland, Tenby and the hosts Kirby Muxloe. There was good banter amongst the friendships that have been created over the years and the hosts were very generous in their hospitality at the welcoming ceremony which saw the raising of the club flags.

The welcoming address from the Kirby Muxloe captain, Tim Walley, was supported by their Hamilton Cup captain, Paul Baxter, ensuring that the bon vivre went well into the evening.

The first round pairs commenced on the Thursday, with Tenby being represented by John and Irene Gilman, Brian Jones and Trevayne Keohane, Tony Key and Richard Reed, with the final pair being Chris and Carol Beecher.

At the end of the day, only three points separated the first four clubs, leaving it all to play for in the final round.

The Friday saw the singles competition. Representatives gathered on the first tee and, although there was a friendly atmosphere, there was also a determination to win from all the clubs present.

Tenby team consisted of Linda Evans, the Hamilton Cup captain, Fair Ball, Carol Beecher, John Gilman, Irene Gilman, Chris Beecher, Jim Moffatt and Tony Key.

The course was in excellent condition and that was depicted by the scores which were mostly in the 30 points range. Only six of the eight scores in each team were to count and Tenby were beaten into second place by the host club Kirby Muxloe.

The evening presentation was attended by all the participants and their partners, where they were feted with an outstanding evening meal and each person received a memento of the occasion.

The objective of the competition is to encourage friendship via the common interest of golf and this was successfully achieved.

Next year the host club will be Real Club de Golf de Castiello in Northern Spain near the resort of Gijon on the coast of the Bay of Biscay.