THURLESTONE GC ladies competed in the Memorial Cancer charity day in a 1-2-3 waltz format with a shotgun start on Wednesday, June 11, reports Liz Line.

Sheila George, Barbara Smith & Sheila Fairley came out on top with 80 points, ahead of Heather Spencer, Jan Brooking & Liz Stewart (79pts) and Third were Jane Edmonds, Jane Mason & Julia Dorey (75pts).

There were three birdie twos, Heather Spencer on holes three and 17 plus Christine Price on the sixth.

All of the ladies paid for a mulligan, get out of bunker pass and drive on the 6th hole from the pro, this money going to Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation as well. £273 was raised in total on the day!

The Sheelah Creasy team lost 4-1 at Bovey Tracey on Friday, Kaz Phillips and Nikki Smith winning their greensomes match 2&1. Heavy rain had been forecast but they actually played in perfect conditions, so the rain gear stayed in their golf bags.

Talking of a threatening forecast and the Presidents team players were faced with the same as they took on Yelverton at home only for the weather to play ball. The team played really well across the board and earned a resounding 6-1 victory.

Pictured is the President’s team of Bridget Lafferty, Sarah Loader, captain Pam Adams, Liz Stewart, Sally Cahill, Liz Sharman, Heather Spencer.

ON TO Bigbury GC and the club championships recently took place, the pinnacle of the golfing calendar with 36 holes being played in one day, writes Marlene Johnson.

36 holes wasn’t enough to separate Ryan Moore and Rob Perrins, both of whom played off of a handicap of -1.

Ryan took on what he called “a more aggressive approach” for the four-hole playoff and it paid off, “a birdie on the long fourth hole into the wind was enough to pull ahead and complete the comeback.”

Congratulations to Ryan on the win, who is pictured taking the trophy. Well done also to the handicap winner Sean Massingham.

Moving onto the ladies and again it was a very tight competition, just one shot separating Nikki Kidd and Amanda Burchell, playing off their handicaps of four and five respectively.

Nikki boasted a five-shot lead over Amanda at the halfway stage but Amanda battled back, only for Nikki to hold on. She was very “pleased to see [the] putt drop” on the last which won her the title.

Well done Nicky who continues an incredible run of form this year. Congratulations must also go to the winner of the handicap ladies trophy playing off her handicap of 19, Cathy Harrington, as well as the morning and afternoon Rose Bowl winners, Helen Dinsdale and Amanda respectively.

There were Bigbury members at the club supporting the event and the atmosphere in the clubhouse was buoyant.

Finally, readers may well recall the torrential rain on the day before these championships, so big thanks must go to the green-keeping team for their hard work and dedication in maintaining an exceptional course.

MESSRS Garner and Cousens looked to defend their Savery Cup honours on Monday, June 16 in the latest Dartmouth GC seniors competition, reports Gordon Holmes.

This is a pairs competition and board event which is played on the championship course. Playing off of individual course handicaps (subsequently adjusted down to 85% for equity), each pair took the best of the two Stableford scores on each hole.

This is a format that players generally feel comfortable with as mistakes by one player can often be compensated for by the other partner. 17 pairs were in the mix on the day.

Garner and Cousens couldn’t quite retain the title even though they managed a mid-40 total once again. Instead, they missed out by a whisker to George Reeve and Graham Burton, by an agonising back-nine countback.

Both pairs had stunning front nines but again the challenge came on the inward nine where the winners were some four points better, both totalling 44pts.

Good rounds too from Messrs Taylor & Hannaford and Baldwin & Mushens who finished a creditable third and fourth respectively on 42 points apiece. In summary, the warmest day of the year for golf so far saw exceptional scoring from the whole field with only hole fifteen retaining its integrity with no pars carded.

Birdie twos at the par threes were scored by Paul Stubbs & Bernard Young on the third and Mario Aresti at hole five. Thanks as always go to competition guru Nigel Osborne who tabulated all of the results.

Elsewhere, in the DMVGA-sponsored Western Morning News event on 10 June at Woodbury GC, Trevor Pretty, Nigel Osborne, Malcolm Toone & Tony King finished a creditable 4th at Woodbury with 82 pts. The winning score was 86.

Dartmouth had the same score as the 2nd and 3rd place teams but lost on countback. A very fine performance by the quartet!

The third South Devon Seniors League (SDSL) fixture this season was held at Torquay GC. With torrential rain all morning the event was in danger of being called off, however, with the rain abating and a slight delay, the event went ahead. Considering the amount of rain that had fallen the course was in great condition and the sun came out throughout the afternoon.

Paul Marels and Andy Dix were Dartmouth’s top scorers with 41 pts, Brian Mushens and Steve Atkins also had a good score of 39 pts. Their total was 188, which meant they finished in 4th place and scored four league points. Stover, who host the next event on July 25 won the day with a fantastic 213 points, which included a 49-point total from one pair.

Stover lead the way with 26 points, then comes Warren (22), Torquay (20), Exeter (14), Dartmouth (8).

An update from the inter-club knockouts and in round two of the Blight Trophy, an individual tournament, Malcolm Toone beat Geoffrey Jewell and Alistair Forbes beat Mark Whitworth. In round two of the Perring Cup pairs knockout, Paul Harding & Mark Mitchell beat Malcolm Barrett & Ian Black plus Rob Barrett & John Oldrieve beat Mark Gannon & Ralph Clark.

Next week sees a fun competition and a friendly match against Woodbury. A full report will be available for consumption.