They say the sun shines on the righteous - well long may it continue. Tenby seniors were due to play last Thursday’s match at Haverfordwest. However, due to weather conditions and forecast, plus repair work on their course, the match was switched to the links at Tenby. As part of the deal, Idwal promised a sunny day. The magic man delivered, but again forgot to cancel the stiff breeze.

For that he was forgiven as he tee-ed off with his partner, David Rees, up against Steve Lewis and James Griffiths. Although this was a tight match, Idwal realised that Dave’s improvements over the winter would help put them in with a fighting chance. And so it proved. They stumbled over the first six holes and found themselves two down. However, they rallied and recovered to all-square by the eighth hole. Confidence increased and, although they endeavoured to throw holes away, their opposite pair did the same, which allowed them to close out this match on the15th.

Ross James and Alan Barber improved on that by completing their match on the twelfth hole as Mike Foley and Ted Breckeit found the course and the opposition too much to cope with.

There were four matches, however, that went right down to the last hole making the situation very close and competitive.

The first of these was the second match out, with Derek Cole and Chris Beecher up against Haverfordwest club captain, Steve Allen, and his partner, Dai John. Even though it was competitive, there was great camaraderie and much banter, making for an enjoyable day’s golf. It was all-square after 13 holes, with all to play for. By the 16th, the Haverfordwest pair was dormie-two. Chris birdied the 17th which gave them a chance on the 18th to halve the match. Unfortunately they were unable to find another birdie and had to congratulate their opposition as they shook hands.

Paul Bradley had his mentor, John Hancock, with him again and it worked out to be a good partnership. They showed Steve Blows and Dave Phipps around the course. It was nip and tuck, or tuck and nip, all the way, with neither pair able to establish more than a one-shot lead. The Tenby pair found themselves one down after 16, but with indomitable spirit and effort, or maybe luck, won the last two holes to secure another win.

The wily pairing of Alan Jones, facing his old club, and John Hayhoe proved a good move on Idwal’s part. They were up against Phil Woolcock and Ags Kalvik and just managed to provide John with his first ever win for the seniors. The champagne was flowing, but not in the clubhouse, as John celebrated. In this match, Phil Woolcock birdied the 15th and thought that he and his partner were primed for a good run in. They did not calculate the reaction of this wily Tenby pair, who proceeded to fight back and just retrieve the situation on the last hole.

John Ball stepped in to provide the support for Steve Decosimo as they battled it out against Roger Matthews and Prakash Kansa. John was heard to say in the clubhouse that it was not one of his best performances as he and his partner almost squeezed a half out of a difficult situation.

Mick Whale and Robin Hagley reckoned that the eighth hole was the key to success in their match against Andy Leveridge and Phil Rugg. That was when Robin demoralised the opposition by chipping in from about 25 yards out. Despite this, it was a very close encounter, particularly over the early holes as they battled it out for supremacy. Mick played well on the front nine and Robin stepped up during the back nine as they closed out this match on the 16th.

In his last match before his hip operation, Alan Watts was determined to go out on a high. The problem was he had Des Stone to prop him up as they faced the old adversaries, Clive Frankton and Micky Duntleme. The first four holes were halved, but Alan and Des managed to win five and six, only to give away eight and nine. Another tense encounter as the banter kept the spirits high throughout the afternoon. The lead was re-established on the 13th and increased on the 16th and 17th to allow the Tenby pair to relax on the last hole.

The result of the last four-ball did not affect the overall result, but was nonetheless important to Brian Jones and Gareth Davies as they faced Brad Morse and Jon Rees. It was another close encounter in which the Haverfordwest pair went three up, only to be pegged back by the experienced Tenby duo. Brad missed a three-foot putt on the 17th and the Tenby pair was delighted to capitalise on their putt to remain all-square. Could they win the last? They thought so, until Gareth’s putt lipped out. Up stepped Jon to sink a 15-foot putt to finish their match all-square.

The raffle went five to two in Haverfordwest’s favour and Idwal told another joke. Can he keep it up?

Results: I. David/D. Rees beat S. Lewis/J. Griffiths 4 and 3; C. Beecher/D. Cole lost to S. Allen/D. John one down; A. Watts/D. Stone beat C. Frankton/M. Duntleme 3 and 1; J. Hancock/P. Bradley beat S. Blows/D. Phipps one up; A. Jones/J. Hayhoe beat P. Woolcock/A. Kalvik one up; S. Decosimo/J. Ball lost to R. Matthews/P. Kansa one down; M. Whale/R. Hagley beat A. Leveridge/P. Rugg 3 and 2; R. James/A. Barber beat M. Foley/T. Breckeit 7 and 6; B. Jones/G. Davies halved woth B. Morse/J. Rees.