Last Tuesday, a record entry of 160 played in the Tenby Senior's open competition. In glorious sunshine and a light breeze, the first game got under way just before 8 am and it was 3.40 pm before the last game got off the first tee.

Many of the visitors found Tenby Golf Course, which had been immaculately prepared by Chris Jenkins and his staff, very difficult to contend with. The greens were slick and any wayward shot was punished when it found the penal rough, so it was essential to find the shorter stuff.

The stableford competition was split into two for the visitors and Tenby members; these were further divided into two age groups; Group A 69 years and under and Group B 70 years and over. There was also nearest the line on the 14th fairway and nearest the pin on the 17th.

In the Tenby section, Ken Gouldsbrough set an early target of 39 points that would be difficult to beat and so it turned out to be so; he also set a target of 15-feet for nearest the pin on the 17th. Chris had put the pin in a tricky area just right of the left hand bunker and the majority of golfers were finding extremely difficult to get near it.

However, one visitor, Des Jones, of Morlais Castle, solved the problem when he played a pitching wedge from the tee and dropped it short of the green and it raced down to the green and struck the flag and dropped in for a magnificent ace to clean up.

Despite the sublime conditions, the scoring was relatively modest with returns in the low 30s being good enough to win a prize. Many thanks go to the seniors volunteers for all the hard work they put into the day and their support. Geoff Aston and John Hunt as starters, Stan Hudson for entering nearly 120 visitors cards, Jeff Banfield, seniors secretary, for his magnificent organisation of the entry, plus his marshalling on the course. He was ably assisted by the club captain Dave Blackmore, seniors vice-captain Tony Morgan and seniors treasurer Allen Watts.

Other individuals who helped out were Brian Morgan and Bart Youll for their spotting stints on the first tee, especially Brian who was on duty for nearly five hours. Robin Hagley assisted by Tony Morgan, Allen Watts did stints in the pro-shop with the registration. Special thanks to Rhys and Tom for booking in all the players. Many thanks to all the seniors for their donations to the very extensive prizes for the raffle. The field was so big it had to be split into two raffles - morning and afternoon.

At the end of a long day, seniors captain Jim Martin was at last able to present the results of the competition just after 9 pm in the evening. He gave praise to all those helpers above and to Chris and his staff for the fantastic condition of the course. He also thanked the steward Michelle for looking after the competitors culinary requirements. After the presentation, Roger Williams, of Morlais Castle, stood up and praised Tenby for the magnificent organisation of the day and thanked Tenby Seniors for their presentation.

The full results and scores can be viewed online at the club website of http://www.tenbygolf.co.uk">www.tenbygolf.co.uk. Below is a list of winners from the event.

Visitors: Cat A - 1. John Morris (Newport Links) 36 pts - £80; 2. Mike Broomhall (Clyne) 34 pts - £60; 3. Roger Williams (Morlais Castle) 34 pts - £40; 4. Des Jones (Morlais Castle) 34 pts - £20.

Visitors: Cat B - 1. Paul Bodaz (Pontardawe) 32 pts - £70; 2. Tony Hurd (Carmarthen) 31 pts - £50; 3. D. Driscoll (Carmarthen) 30 pts - £30; 4. D. Bevan (Tawe Vale) 30 pts - £10.

Tenby: Cat A - 1. Huw Roberts 36 pts - £50; 2. Allen Watts 35 pts - £30; 3. Bart Youll 34 pts - £20; 4. Martin Neilan 33 pts - £10.

Tenby: Cat B - 1. Ken Gouldsbrough 39 pts - £50; 2. Chris Sierwald 34 pts - £30; 3. Bob Wiseman 34 pts - £20; 4. Pat Rees 34 pts - £10.

All twos were awarded a sleeve of golf balls

Nearest the line 14th: John Hall - £20.

Hole in one on 17th counted as nearest the pin was won by Des Jones, of Morlais Castle. Winning a dozen Callaway balls, plus £20.

J.D.M.

Honours even at Derllys Court

The Dyfed League team from Tenby Golf Club travelled to Derllys Court, Bancyfelin, last week, to play the next round in the league championship.

They received a warm welcome on their arrival from the owners of the club, Bob and Rhian Walters, who were generous in their hospitality to their travelling opponents.

The course has matured into an excellent test of golf, with the greens now showing the benefit of all the care and attention that has been lavished upon them over the years. The weather on the Sunday morning was calm, sunny and warm, perfect conditions for players to show off their skills as the fight for the top of the league warms up.

As the results of play began to unfold, it became clear that the end result was going to be very close.

The first pairing back in the clubhouse was Chris Thompson and Roger Schooling, who halved their match. They were followed by Dan Cope and Darren Thomas, who lost their contest on the 17th green. Next came Steve Sutcliffe and Gary McNeilly, who also gained a half, leaving the home team in the lead at this stage by two points to one.

Rob Wilcox and John Stenson levelled the scores, winning their match by one hole, Viv John and Dai Cope kept the scores even when their match was also halved, leaving Chris Beecher, the team captain, to lead by example and he obliged when he and his partner Jim Moffatt put the Tenby team in the lead by winning their match on the 18th green.

As expected, the team result was on a knife edge, waiting for the last match to come in, and on this occasion it went in favour of the home side when Chris Hughes and Ian 'Yobbler' Thomas lost their match by 3 and 2.

The final result was honours shared, three-and-a-half points to each team.

The result was in the balance right up until the end, with all of the matches being closely fought, and it would have only taken a half point in either direction for the bonus points on offer to have made a great difference in the league title race.

The reputation of the Derllys Court kitchen was never in doubt and the after-match meal was a credit to the catering staff.

Away win against Cardigan

Having gained a respectable half away from home at Derllys Court the week before, the Tenby Tigers were on the road again this time to Cardigan Golf Club which would be their last away fixture of the season.

With some of the more experienced members of the team withdrawing at the last moment and the last minute replacements having to fill in the vacancies, it did not bode well for the Tenby team as they set off from the Burrows.

To have any chance of winning the league, they had to win this next away match so as not to fall too far behind the leaders which would give them an opportunity of achieving their goal with only a few matches remaining.

The positive points to be taken out of the day was that the weather was calm, warm and sunny and all of the players had played the Cardigan course before and knew what to expect. One other plus in their favour was that one of the late inclusions into the team, Nick Rogers, was not only a Tenby member, but also a longstanding member of the Cardigan club too thus being able to advise on lines into the greens and some of the more intricate local knowledge tips required to play this formidable course.

As the starting time approached, concern was being shown as to the lack of opponents present, but cometh the hour cometh all of the men as they drove up the long drive and casually took their place on the tee which gave an air of either supreme confidence or casual complacency.

The greens were in excellent condition, running fast and true, but the fairways were still recovering from the effects of the weather experienced at the earlier part of the year leaving them with an inconsistent surface and bare burnt lies.

First on the tee for the Tenby team was the youngest player Dan Cope and the experienced old master and president of the Tenby Golf Club, Mervyn Tucker. The combination was to prove successful as they returned to the clubhouse winners by 4 and 3.

Next up was the local member Nick Rogers and one of the teams more consistent golfers Idwal David who benefited from the advice of his playing partner as they too came home winners by 3 and 2.

Darren Thomas and John Stenson were the third pairing and they had a terrific struggle against their opponents but eventually wore them down and came away victors again by 3 and 2. This put the Tenby team three matches to nil up and needed only one more win to gain the bonus points on offer.

The fourth pairing were the two senior players of Tony Key and Jeff Banfield, who put their opponents under pressure from the start when they birdied the second hole and then on the third hole Jeff Banfield hit his second shot, 160 yards with a six iron, straight into the hole without even the courtesy of a softening bounce on the green for an eagle two. They were to never lose this lead and ran out victors by 3 and 1. This put the visitors in an unassailable lead of four matches up and only three pairs left out on the course.

Jim Moffatt and John Gillespie were to be defeated by their opponents by 5 and 4 and Roger Schooling and his partner for the day Nigel Ayres were defeated on the 18th green losing to a birdie with the final put of their round.

The last pair out on the course was the team captain Chris Beecher and his late replacement partner John Gillman who gave their opposition a run for their money only to lose to two birdies in succession on holes 16 and 17 making them unable to recover.

The away win by the Tenby team by 4 matches to 3 has greatly improved their chances of being at the top of the league at the end of the season and they are all looking forward to the final two games both at home to Derllys Court and Trefloyne Golf Club respectively.

Thanks must go to the new caps Nick Rogers, Nigel Ayres and John Gillman who stood in at very late notice and helped Tenby Golf Club to a memorable victory.

See the noticeboard for the next fixture which will not be played until September 1 against Derllys Court, but ample notice will be given as to the team selection. Thanks to all of the players who have shown great patience this season and have also shown great understanding of the selection procedure which has attempted to give as many members as possible a taste of competitive golf without losing sight of the main goal that is promotion to Division Two.