Last Sunday saw the start of this year's Rabbits Winter League and the 12 intrepid players pictured here set off on a glorious winter's morning, each pair looking for an opening day win.

The first match out saw the 'dark horse' pairing of Steve Watkins and Chris Smith take on Paul Davies and Mike Munro. Mike did his best to carry Paul throughout the match, only to see Steve and Chris win the match on the 18th hole.

The second match saw Mark Edwards and Peter Turton take on captain Phil Carpenter and Robin Bradbury. On Saturday night, Phil had been to see an Abba tribute act and he almost met his Waterloo on Sunday. Robin's excellent play saw the pair go three up after eight holes, but the dogged pair of Edwards and Turton battled back and held a one-hole lead standing on the 18th tee, but Captain Carpenter came to the fore, winning the hole and halving the match.

The final match saw the two pre-tournament favourite pairs of Steve Cole and Bob Flower and Bill Davies and Mackie Harts pitched against each other. A closely fought match was anticipated. However, Steve and Bob can now afford a dog licence, having won 7 and 6!

Please remember that the clocks go back on Saturday night and there is no prize for anyone turning up an hour early.

'Birthday Boy' bags chicken feed

It would seem that the way to enjoy golf in the sunshine is to play with the Chicken Trotters. Friday, October 19, saw the sun shining on the links for the 12 hopeful Trotters who left the coop hoping to find much corn.

The photograph shows Idwal David, aka 'Birthday Boy', leaving the tee for his first round as a bone fide senior - win or lose, he was keen to share his birthday celebrations with the rest of the Trotters after their rounds.

The morning produced some good scoring, and even though the players were not able to use their unique Trotters' scorecards due to an administrative glitch, the Chief Trotter was able to extract the scores from the various forms of records used by the players, and here are the results:

In bottom place, embarrassed and humiliated with his pathetic score of only 15 points was Mike Fox, who won the booby prize comprising of the return of his 30p entrance fee and an increase of two strokes to his already massive handicap.

In fourth place with 28 points, just losing out on third place on a countback over the last six holes was Dave Henry, who neither wins any money nor loses any strokes - unlike;

Idwal David in third place with 28 points who was awarded 60p to help towards his birthday party and also a reduction of one paltry stroke from his handicap.

In second place with a splendid 31 points was Paul Davies, narrowly losing first place after a countback, but pocketing one single solitary quid while having his handicap savagely slashed by three strokes. His playing partners Meurig Jones and Neil Dickinson professed their sympathy while managing to grin from ear to ear!

This week's worthy winner, with a satisfying 31 points, was Bart Youll. His delight at winning a very generous £1.50 was somewhat diluted by the indiscriminate chopping of five strokes from his Trotter handicap. Never mind Barty - it's only for three weeks!

Last week's winner Ken Goldsbrough had to be satisfied with being the only player to get a two this week; he also had to be satisfied with an ignominious 20p prize - because, as any mathematically minded reader will see - when the rest of the prize money is deducted from the entrance fees, that's all that is left!

Fingers crossed for a fine day next Friday. See you there.

M.F.

Seniors three by three

As a break from the monotony of playing our normal winter eclectic game every week, the seniors' programme offered a chance to play in a Team Stableford competition on Tuesday. Thirty-three seniors booked a slot and the weather, though quite dull, was mild and reasonably windless.

The team for this competition format comprises three players, and on each hole the two best nett scores will count. Tactics do come into play; the cardinal sin is for only one of the team to score on a hole, while paradise is when either two or all three players score an eagle - not a regular occurrence!

Please spare a thought for Owen Monaghan, who completed his drive off the first tee, but then suffered a spell of dizziness. Owen was escorted back to the clubhouse for a cup of tea and a quiet sit-down and Mrs. Monaghan was contacted to come and take him home for a little TLC. Get well soon Owen - see you next week.

Owen's absence meant that Brian Diment and Meurig Jones had to play as a two-ball, but spare your sympathy because even if Meurig had not supported well, Brian scored a remarkable 43 points on his own.

The post-match routine was pretty well followed, Brian 'The Raffler' Morgan extracted £1 from everybody and announced that this week's prize was donated by Graham Jenkins. This week's winner was Tony Morris - who promptly used his winnings to sponsor next week's raffle, what a caring and generous bunch of chaps these seniors are.

A chorus of boos and cries of 'resign' greeted captain Tony as he announced that there would be prizes for first and second place only, but he ignored the rabble and proceeded to announce the following results:

In second place with 81 points was the tantalising trio of Allen Watts, Cuddly Dudley Williams and Alan Yates, who received £3 each. It was reported that Allen, after a stunning 285-yard drive on hole 16, was so impressed with his own prowess that he thought he could actually walk on water! Fortunately, when he stumbled on the bridge, he narrowly missed falling into the ditch and discovering that he couldn't!

In first place, scoring a winning 82 points came the thrusting three B's - Bob Howse, Brian Morgan and Brian Waters. Their winnings, a well deserved £5 each, were immediately donated to Morgy's charity fund by these generous winners.

Captain Tony addressed the company and reminded us that the spring outing to Celtic Manor needed a few more names. He welcomed our new member, the 55 years and four days old Idwal David and requested that we all sign a Get Well card for David Lamb, who is recovering from a ghastly illness.

Tony wound up by advertising the seniors' Christmas party, which will take place at 6 pm on December 13. A quiz is being devised by the incredibly clever Newman Vincent, and if two strong men can't hold him back - Russell Clarke will delight us with his pianoforte skills! - I simply cannot wait.

Back to the eclectic next Tuesday

See you there!

M.F.

Tenby close to clean sweep

Saturday saw yet another visiting team attempt to master the Burrows links course. This time the challenge came from Langland Bay, who were welcomed to the club by the Tenby golfers in the annual fixture between the two old adversaries.

The Swansea Jacks had brought the weather with them and the 'old lady' was on her best behaviour, with only a gentle breeze blowing across the course. Conditions were perfect as the players set off on the challenge that faced them, with the home team having the advantage of knowing the undulations of the greens and the safe routes off the tee.

It was an earlier start than usual, with the Tenby captain Chris Beecher leading the way accompanied by his vice-captain Tony Key against their opponents who were the captain and vice-captain of Langland Bay Golf Club.

They led from the front and came home victors by 4 and 3, showing the way to the rest of the team, who rose to the challenge.

Ben Childs and Mervyn Tucker continued their winning ways by defeating their opponents 3 and 2.

Steve Suttcliffe and John Stenson also won their match 2 and 1, closely followed into the clubhouse by Dai Cope and Martin Morris, also victors by 5 and 4.

The next two games were more closely fought, with both the home pairs winning, but only just. Rob Wilcox and Darren Thomas won on the 18th by one up and the next pair had a similar scoreline of one up, with the advantage going to Tenby's Gary McNeilly and Neil Webb.

This gave the home team a six to nil team score, with two pairs left out on the course. Could this be a whitewash against one of the strongest teams in the region?

It was looking that way when the next pair won in the most comprehensive manner with a 9 and 7 scoreline, halving one hole and winning all of the others. Well done Andrew Cope and Steve Maytum, a magnificent effort.

The last pair to enter the clubhouse was John Ball and Nick Allen, who unfortunately lost their match by one hole, denying Tenby a clean sweep, but sparing the blushes of the visitors.

The social engagement in the club after the match and the camaraderie experienced by all is one of the main reasons that Tenby Golf Club continues to entertain their old rivals, producing excellent competitive golf with shared laughter between old friends.

The new steward and stewardess at Tenby Golf Club, Gareth and Julie, provided a meal with a difference, Californian stew with dumplings, followed by home-made jam roly poly and custard, washed down with bottles of red Australian wine.

If the quality of the food is anything to go by, then the menu for the Golf Ball to be held on Friday, November 9, is going to be something to look forward to. Tickets are still available, but the numbers are restricted, so be quick if you want to experience a fun night with cabaret by female vocalist Janita and a culinary delight conjured up by our new caterers and all for a very reasonable price.

Ring 01834 842978 to make sure of your seat at the table.