The new season of competitive golf in the Dyfed League got underway at Tenby Golf Club last Saturday when the campaign for promotion to Division Two commenced with a fixture against a team not often seen at the Burrows, Cilgwyn Golf Club, Lampeter.

The course was in excellent condition, having been prepared for the Golden Eagle competition which was to take place the following day, and the weather was fine, with the typical links wind blowing from the north across the course.

The first pair of Ben Childs and Nic Rogers, the vice-captain, led the way off the first tee and returned to the clubhouse earlier than expected with a magnificent win over their rivals by 7 and 6.

The lead was soon eroded when the second pairing of Dan Cope and Peter Rossi were defeated on the final green. The lead was immediately restored when the club captain Chris Beecher and his young partner Matt Adams came home victorious by 3 and 2.

The match swung again when the fourth pair on the course, Steve Sutcliffe and Ian Thomas, lost their match by the same score, leaving the overall team result two wins each .

Tenby Tigers edged into the lead once more when Martin Morris and Dai Cope won their match by 2 and 1, but the result that swung the victory in favour of the home team was secured by the new team captain, Tony Key, and his partner Jim Moffatt, winning their encounter by 4 and 3.

Each match counts at the end of the season as they go towards the points scoring formula which decides the overall league champions, so the victory established by the last pair out on the course, Loz Phillips and Lewis Hurlow, was of vital importance to the overall team win by five games to two.

The opposition were extremely complimentary of the course, which is a tribute to the greens team led by Chris Jenkins, who have had to endure horrendous weather conditions over the winter and beginning of spring, but have produced a quality course yet again.

The catering staff, under the management of Gareth Phillips, provided a most enjoyable after-match meal and Gareth very generously donated a bottle of Famous Grouse Whisky for the raffle, which assisted in the fund-raising to finance the section for the forthcoming season.

Further sponsorship has also been donated by W. P. Lewis and Son, for which we are extremely grateful.

The next fixture is tomorrow (Saturday) when Tenby take on Glyn Abbey at their course in Carmarthenshire. Please check the notice board for details if you have put yourself up for team selection. Transport will leave the club at 10 am prompt.

Ladies' Section

April and May are the months when qualifying rounds are played for various competitions run by different associations and the unions.

This April two such competitions were played - first for the Challenge Bowls in which the Silver Division qualifier was Denise Edwards on nett 77 on the last nine from Heather Morgan. In the Bronze Division, Bev Owen also qualified on the last nine, this time from Gill John. Denise and Bev will join last year's winners of the Silver and Bronze Medals in the area finals at Pontardawe on June 6 and we wish them all good luck.

The following week the Australian Spoons qualifier, a foursomes Stableford was won by Bev Owen and Pam Cole on 34 points, from Maura Rimell and Annette Flower on 33, and our best wishes will go with them to St. Mellons on July 8.

The April Medal was won by Heather Morgan on nett 75, with Denise Edwards second on 76. The Sunday GUW Medal was won by Sarah Waring.

36-Hole

Open Meeting

The ladies have been running a low handicap 36 Hole Open Meeting since 1994 and in that time we have had every possible combination of Spring weather, with excessive rain only causing cancellation of the second round once. However, this year the weather really exceeded everything from the past, with almost storm force wind accompanied by torrential horizontal rain. Inevitably the balls would not stay on the greens and even on the fairways they were moving, so the few groups already on the course were called in at 8.30 am and finally, sadly, the competition was abandoned. Congestion of the fixtures makes it impossible to reschedule the event this year, so fingers crossed for our 21st anniversary in April 2014.

Welsh Ladies' Team Championship

In recent years clubs have become reluctant to host the team championship over more than a few days, so a preliminary round was introduced to reduce the entry to 32 clubs.

In 2011, Tenby were drawn against Newport Links at Haverfordwest and this year the same draw occurred and on Friday, April 26, the Tenby team of Emma Guerreiro, Georgia Thomas, Denise Edwards, Heather Morgan and Rhian Walters were again successful and are to be congratulated. It is always sad to eliminate a club with whom we have close ties for many years, but typically Newport say they will give us every support in the finals when they are held at Cardigan in June.

B.M.S.

Tenby team marches on

Friday, April 25, saw Tenby Golf Club take on the visiting Garnant Golf Club team in the fourth round of the Sunday Mail Knock Out Competition.

The winners of this round would go into the regional matches, with not many teams left in this prestigious knock out competition.

Tenby marched on into the next round when they defeated the visitors by four games to one.

The victors included Matt Adams, who won by 3 and 1 against his opponent Andrew Harris, and Chris Hughes, who won 2 and 1 over Nick Davies.

The victories continued when Jim Moffatt beat Kiaran McKay by one hole and Chris Beecher, the club captain, beat Robert James by 6 and 4.

The only defeat for the Tenby team was when Nic Rogers lost by 3 and 1 to Dylan Jones.

Another fantastic display by the home team who await with eager anticipation as to whom they face next and where.

Neil Rees Memorial

This year's event will take place at Tenby Golf Club on Friday, May 24.

As usual, it is open to all those who have represented Tenby United RFC at senior level. In addition to the main competition, there will be various section prizes, including seniors and novices.

There will also be a guests section and in this regard Pat and Mary Rees wish to encourage as many golfers as possible to take part.

In order to enter and obtain a tee time, entrants should contact Richard Ormond on 01834 844243.

AJO Memorial

The dates for the 2013 tournament have been 'swapped'. The first leg on Saturday, June 15, will now take place at Trefloyne Golf Club.

The second leg will therefore be at Tenby GC on Saturday, June 22, and will be followed by the evening prize-giving ceremony.

All full members of both Tenby and Trefloyne clubs are eligible to enter. There are gents and ladies' sections.

The main prizes are for the 36-hole aggregate scores, but if a player is unable to take part in one of the legs, he/she can still play in the other one.

The tee time sheets will be put up in both clubs shortly. The popular times are likely to be booked very quickly, so competitors are advised to enter as soon as possible and also carefully read the associated notes.