Each year, usually at the beginning of October, the Ladies' captain organises our away day for the section. Over many years a number of courses in South West Wales have been visited, but the two favourites with members are Newport and Cardigan.

This year, Liz Storey, our captain, chose Cardigan and managed to persuade the host club to allow the outing to be on a Sunday. This meant that the weekend players were able to be involved and they all expressed their appreciation of being included, for the first time.

Liz was very lucky with the day she chose - it was calm, warm and sunny, which even meant it was possible to sit outside with a drink after playing. (Very different from the summer when only thick clothes and well laced coffee made it possible to watch the Welsh Team Championships at Cardigan!).

After an excellent meal, the prizes were presented by Liz to Gill John on 40 points, Anna Hubbard on 38 and Anne Wilks on 37, with Anna scoring the only two by the 24 competitors.

The prizes were very beautiful Portmeirion vases most generously provided by Giles Birt. Giles is carrying on a tradition which began with his late mother, Audrey, who instigated the annual outing in 1967 when she was captain. After Audrey's sadly early death in 1971, Audrey's husband Charles continued to provide delightful prizes each year until recently when Giles, Audrey and Charles' son, has continued his family's long tradition. The ladies are always most grateful to Giles and we thank him very much for his continued generosity.

B.M.S.

Tenby whitewash Pennard

Tenby gained an emphatic revenge against the visitors from Pennar last Saturday.

Back in April, Tenby had lost heavily at the Gower's 'Links in the Sky', but in the return fixture they won all eight games.

However, three of the matches went all the way to the 18th, Steve Sutcliffe and Allen Watts winning the last three holes against their dogged opponents to snatch a 1 up win. Two other games finished on the 17th.

The Tenby pairs and their winning scores were Tony Key and Chris Beecher 5/4, Dan Cope and Neil Thomas 1 up, Mike Schooling and Darren Thomas 2/1, Neil Webb and Loz Phillips 3/1, Steve Sutcliffe and Allen Watts 1 up, Gary McNeilly and Austin Davies 1 up, Andrew Cope and Paul James 3/2 plus Dai Cope and Richard Ormond 6/5.

In their last two matches against Ashburnham and Pennard, both friendles, Tenby have enjoyed handsome victories. However, their form in Division Three of the Dyfed League this summer was far from satisfactory and in fact relegation was only avoided by the narrowest of margins. Questions are currently being asked.

Tenby's final friendly is against Langland Bay on Saturday, October 19. There are presently a few spaces left on the list.

Reason Jones Cup goes to sudden death

The last of the Knockout Finals for 2013 was played on Tuesday between Dave Morris and Michael Schooling, who took on the father and son combination of Jim and Neil Moffatt.

Dave was looking to complete his hat-trick this year, having already won the 36-hole Scratch Cup final and the Sellar Cup, and he looked well placed when his pairing took the first two holes.

Jim and Neil quickly responded, however, winning the next three holes on the trot to finish 1 up at the turn.

The match was again very close fought on the back nine, with Jim and Neil just managing to keep the advantage until the 17th when Dave and Mike pulled things back to all-square. With everything to play for on the 18th, 'shot of the day' was not what Mike was hoping to hear as Neil fired a great second shot into the green! He responded well, however, finishing pin high, but just off the green and again the hole was halved.

With the light now beginning to fade, quickly it was off down the first hole again where the match was finally decided, with victory going to Mike and Dave.

Well done to them and well played Neil and Jim.

Seniors AGM (Arthritis, Gout and Muscular Pain)

This article should have graced the pages of last week's Observer, but sadly my computer ceased to compute, the problem being a faulty graphics chip. I tried Fecci's - no help at all!

So, there follows a short pithy piece concerning the seniors' activities on October 1, namely a 15-hole Stableford fourball competition followed by lunch and the AGM.

In reverse order, nothing too controversial at the AGM and the committee elected unanimously is: captain - Allen Watts; vice-captain - Bart Youll; secretary - Royston Morgan; fixtures secretary - Jim Martin; treasurer - Tony Morgan.

The tournament was keenly contested by 27 mature golfers, all vying to get their name and photograph in the paper; little did they know that my camera was also 'on the blink'!

The weather was changeable, we started in a steady drizzle and gradually removed waterproofs, then sweaters, to finish in warm sunshine.

The conditions obviously suited Bob Howse, who finished in top spot with a splendid round, scoring 27 points. Hot on his heels was Jim Martin, missing victory by one solitary point, but beating Paul Bradley into third place on countback.

Over a very satisfactory lunch, the conversation seemed to centre on where we should go for away days and outings? should we reinstate the charity raffle? (Yes!), and why do the Chicken Trotters start so early? All in all, a very enjoyable day, and a good lead in to the first winter eclectic on Tuesday, October 8.

M.F.

Return of the Magnificent Seven

There have been several times when 'seven' has been written about - London's largest cemeteries, the Wonders of the World, the Dubliners' Drunken Nights, those Deadly Sins, Snow White's little amigos, and the 1960 western film directed by John Sturges. Prepare to read about seven more!

On a dampish Friday morning, seven intrepid golfers donned their spiked shoes in preparation for the battle ahead. It was the return of the Chicken Trotters. Bigger (around the waist maybe), better (in their own minds) and ever-so-slightly older than last season, they battled the fairways. Some wore waterproofs, whilst others braved the mizzle with contempt.

The first pair - 'The Peas'- named not because they look alike, but their names both start with P - strode the course at a blistering pace. They both reached the ninth on 13 points with three blobs between them, but Pat managed a dozen on the back six to claim the clubhouse lead, two ahead of Paul, who admitted he'd had too many one-pointers. Pat was unavailable for an after-match quote as he had to leave early to await a delivery of timber. Oh what busy lives us Trotters lead.

The second duo weren't too far behind them. Buggy-driving Owen had something of a slow start, but picked up 11 points on the last five holes to collect more total points than holes played, while playing partner Steve, still three shots in the sin bin from last season, had a few bunker issues and his back six yielded only eight points.

The final three - golf hierarchy indeed; the former club treasurer, the Seniors vice-captain and the stand-in Trotter result announcer - enjoyed a pleasant morning stroll, despite all failing to score on the second.

The first mentioned - Ken - matched Pat's back six score of 12 and topped him by a point on the front nine to soar to the top of the pile - that's if chickens could soar! The latter pair - Bart and Mike - were only separable on countback on the back six, with Bart snatching fourth place and pushing Steve down to sixth, all managing an adequate 22 points.

The cards were scrutinised and the prizes were allocated. In the (hopefully temporary) absence of our chief guru, Mr. Mickey Johnston, young Michael Fox announced the verdict. There were no twos (and only thee 3s!) and the booby pize winner was Owen who gets his entrance fee of 30p refunded (that's one free week) plus an extra two shots onto his handicap next outing. Third was Paul, who got 23 points, but exactly nothing for his efforts. Runner-up was Pat with 25, who received a whole 60p (that's two free weeks!) and a handicap reduction of one shot.

Top Chicken Ken was rewarded for his superior score with the amazing prize of 90p (that's three free weeks!) and the chance to play off a handicap reduced by two shots. Well done him.

The second trot of the season will take place this (Friday) morning. Be there around 8 am - but not too late, as cards must be returned by 12.30 pm! You can be assured of a warm welcome and jovial banter by the bucketful. You don't have to be a Robert Vaughn (or even Yul Brunner) lookalike to join our own version of the Magnificent Seven. The yellow tees await. There will be birdies, pars and bogies aplenty, maybe even a two to earn some huge financial reward. You may even get your name in the paper and earn Tenby and district-wide fame. Come on down! You know you want to.....