Frostbites live up to their name!

would feel like nought degrees in the wind on Sunday; we thought we were playing golf in the Antarctic! Most of us came in from the last of the Frostbites Series feeling like we had frostbite!

However, as always, it had been someone's day. Highly commended over 14 holes were Keith Hubbard with newcomer, Moyanne Monday, on 29 points, and vice-captain Tony Key with Laura McQueen on 30 points.

Laura and Tony also got the only two, on the 12th, which gave them £4 each. The bag draw, too, scooped £4 each for Anna Hubbard and John Keohane, to which we all cheered, wishing it could have been us!

In second place with a very good 32 points were Sarah Waring and John Ball (who 'nearly had a two,' he said). Sorry John, but nearly is no good. Our worthy winners, with an excellent 35 points, were Gill John (who said she was on a winning streak after also coming into the prizes on Saturday) and the other half of our newcomer pair, Alan Monday. He hadn't realised we play these off the ladies' card so had par fives and shots. He'll be back to play again!

Most of us then sat down to a superb Sunday roast, which was much needed to warm us up. Thanks to chef, Dave Whitehall, Maureen Woodward and Vicky Lacon for waiting on us, and Matt Adams for seeing to our liquid refreshments so well. It was all great.

But the celebrations did not end there. Sunday was David Morgan's birthday, but not a special one. That honour went to Laura, so we celebrated with a song and a cake, which all went down rather well!

Our next silverware to play for is the Brooks Cup on Easter Saturday. This will be going on the computer at the end of the week, so keep your eye on the Master scoreboard site.

The Llewellyn Thomas knockout has been drawn and that can be found on the computer now. Do note that it is men off the whites, not yellows, for this competition. Please get in touch with opponents and fix matches as soon as you can.

The Ping Challenge has also been drawn and we have to play Derllys Court at Haverfordwest. The team for this will be drawn after April 1 Watch the noticeboard for details.

Finally, the social committee are working hard for members. On Friday, March 22, at 7 for 7.30 pm, there will be a quiz night. It is a maximum of five in a team. The entry is £10 per team and all money will go to the Paul Sartori Foundation and the Wales Air Ambulance. Please do support them. Anyone can enter a team, but let steward Gareth know the name of your team (01834 845122) before if you can, or on the night.

H.K.M.

Curly Jones is top Chicken

A dozen feathered Trotters took to the Tenby fairways last Friday morning to do battle in an attempt to earn a few pennies and a handicap cut that accompanies a top three placing! The fairways have all but dried out now with the help of a brisk breeze and the photographed swans from last month have long disappeared, but the 12 hardy Trotters were glad not to have to don waterproofs as the clouds kept their moisture with them as they moved past.

So friendly are our Chickens that their scores were also to be found in pleasant groups - we had a brace of D surnamed Trotters on 19 (a place above the booby), the Fab Four of John, Dave, Owen and Phil above them on 21, and the trio of Paul, Brian, and Allen ahead of them on 26 points, with the given order being the way they ended up courtesy of the back six/three golf rules.

Unluckily for Allen, he didn't get his name on the printed result sheet, as fifth doesn't get mentioned, but Brian Waters got fourth place, which did get him his name on the sheet, but no actual prize and no handicap cut next time.

Paul Bradley actually went home the richest of all the combatants as third place earned him a 50p prize to go with a one shot handicap cut next time out - but not content with that, he grabbed himself an extra 60p for his expertise on the 12th hole that resulted in the only two of the morning! Money goes to money, so they say.

At one end of the placement list we had the sight of Mel Hicks not quite managing to score as many points as holes and getting himself an extra two shots to help him cope on his next Trotting adventure, along with a 30p entry fee refund to give him a free morning out next time!

At the higher end of the list we had Steve Cole as runner-up with 33 points (his second second place of the season) and his reward was a bank-busting 70p and a cut of three shots down to 14 next Trot. How costly those missed short putts were, as if they had dropped, he would have been top dog (or rather Top Chicken!).

That title last Friday went to young Meurig Jones, who came in with a blemish (and blob!) free round of 35 points, and it just goes to show how consistency gives its rewards - in this case a reward of a whole pound, plus a five-shot slash for his next Friday outing. His score was actually the best winning score of the season so far - one more than the 34 amassed by the winner on January 11. The name of the winner that day - a certain Mr. Meurig Jones, who is a bit like the little girl with a curl right in the middle of her forehead, because when he's good, he's very, very good (he's also been second once and third twice), but he's also been bad and has managed the booby once as well! It depends on the weather, see boy.

So come on all you would-be Trotters, dust off those golf shoes in the garage, find a few balls and a couple of tees and join the happy cluckers on a Friday morning on their wander around those wonderful Tenby links. Come on down. Go on, you know you want to!

Rabbits roll of honour

A very chilly wind greeted the Rabbits for their final outing of the Winter League. With the first and second places already decided, the interest was in the battle for the remaining podium finish and the 'winners' of the Wooden Spoon.

The league winners, Steve Cole and Bob Flower, continued their impressive form by dispatching second placed Steve Watkins and Chris Smith 5 and 4.

The battle for third place between Bill Davies and Mackie Harts and Phil Carpenter and Robin Bradbury went the full 18 holes and they could not be separated on the day, with the match being halved, resulting in Bill and Mackie holding on to third place.

At the bottom of the table, Paul Davies partnered by Mike Fox had to beat Mark Edwards and Peter Turton to have any chance of avoiding the Wooden Spoon. They achieved the required result by a margin of 3 and 2, resulting in a sudden death play-off commencing on the first tee. There was a great deal of banter on the walk from the 16th green regarding the 'honour' of winning the dreaded spoon.

Unfortunately, Paul's game deserted him in the play-off, but Mike (28 honestly!) Fox almost produced a par, with his 20-yard putt stopping an inch from the hole. Peter duly matched Mike's score and Mark then used the two putts available to him to par the hole and win the play-off.

Paul wishes to extend his thanks to Mike Munro, Mike Fox, Meurig Jones and Richard Prout who have all partnered him during the season and can each claim a share of the Wooden Spoon. He couldn't have done it without you!

FNAL LEAGUE TABLE

P W H L Pts

S. Cole/B. Flower 15 12 2 1 26

S. Watkins/C. Smith 15 8 1 6 17

B. Davies/M. Harts 15 6 3 6 15

P. Carpenter/R.B'bury 15 5 4 6 14

M. Edwards/P. Turton 15 3 3 9 9

P. Davies/M. Munro 15 3 3 9 9

Open Invitation

On Sunday, March 17, there will be a general roll-up, teeing off at 9 am. This is an opportunity for any players in the club with a handicap of 15 and above to meet the Rabbits, with a view to participating in the Three Counties Summer League which starts in April. Please come along and join in.

Sun shines on seniors' final eclectic soirée

Na salaam aleikum! - I have returned from the land of the pyramids to pen this article. Last week I snorkeled in the gulf of Aquaba (Egyptian water hazard) and rode a camel in the Sinai desert (Egyptian bunker) - this week it's back to sliced drives, duffed chips and pathetic putts on Tenby's lovely links.

Thirty-eight seniors started from two tees on Tuesday, aware that this was their last chance to improve their eclectic scores and possibly get amongst the silverware. The weather was delightful, the atmosphere was upbeat and the scores were as follows:

Claiming third place with 38 points was that permanent podium placed person, Allen Watts. The runner-up, also with 38 points, but a slightly better inward nine, was the bronzed (temporarily) Mike Fox. The deserving winner, with a splendid 39 points, was Bart 'Long Tee' Youll. Both Bart and Mike had their handicaps reduced (did I hear "About time"?)

Even as I write, our competition secretary, Jim Martin, is slaving over a hot computer to calculate the final positions in the Gross and Nett table - I can't wait to see the end result.

Brian Morgan has informed me that next week will be the last charity raffle of the season. Captain Tony (pictured), treasurer Allen and Brian will be making donations to two worthwhile causes - more in next week's article. This week's winner was the ever-optimistic John Charnock, who drew the bonus ball number 11.

M.F.

Ladies' Section round-up

Noah would have felt at home on the course at the beginning of February, but now he would not need Mount Ararat as we have just survived the driest and coldest end of the month for many years.

At the end of January, Sarah Waring won the Sunday GUW Medal, with Georgina Ormond second.

The last competition of that month was a Chapman Foursomes which was won by Pam Cole and Pat Fox on 34 points. Annette Flower and Julie Lovett were second on 32 and Denise Edwards and Bev Owen were third on 31.

The course was still wet for a Stableford competition, but Anna Hubbard coped very well indeed and scored 40 points. Denise Edwards was second on 36 and Rhian Walters third on 35.

The GUW February Medal was not well supported - hardly surprising on such a cold day - and it was won by Heather Morgan, while Linda Thomas prevailed in the nine-hole competition.

On February 21, the cold weather was well in charge and a 14-hole Stableford was won by Helen Hughes.

The last competition in February was an 18-hole Stableford which Bev Owen won with 35 points. Denise Edwards was second on 32 on last nine from Vicky Burks.

On Wednesday this week, the ladies held their annual social afternoon of bridge, whist and bingo and a report of this will appear next week.

B.M.S.

Junior Section

The Junior Medal was cancelled on Sunday due to extremely cold conditions.

This weekend there is a stableford competition - meet at the club at 10.30 for an 11 am start.

The Junior Section would like to congratulate Bethan Morris on being selected to represent the Welsh Under 16 Girls team in the Scottish Under 16 Championship. It is Bethan's first cap for Wales and we all wish her the best of luck in the competition. All of the hard work is starting to pay off. Well done Bethan.