DARTMOUTH Golf Club ladies took part in the first round of the Glendevon Cup this week, a par competition, so not a popular format, and not helped by the very strong easterly winds.

Chris Mayer managed to finish the front nine one up but the more exposed back nine allowed the wind to do its worst - after a string of five losses, it took a very strong finish to pull it back to minus two.

Close behind were Chris Mushens (-3) and Katie Panton (-4).

All the ladies welcomed Sue Warren back to the club after a spell away and she joined the Dartmouth Course ladies for a nine-hole Stableford.

There’s no stopping Sharon Jones at the moment and she added another scoring round to her handicap record this week. She won with 25 points, ahead of Barbara Dally on 15.

The men were also struggling against the easterlies in their Midweek Stableford. A men’s Stableford competition rarely finishes with everyone well over par, but this was one of those occasions.

Many had a very acceptable score on the front nine but, as the ladies had found the previous day, the wind was at its worst on the back nine.

Kevin Bradley lead the way on 31 points, one ahead of Trevor Pretty who himself was one ahead of third-placed Bobby Wotton.

The first round of the Gold Grand Prix was held on Saturday - an opportunity for the really long hitters to flex their muscles!

Fortunately, the course is playing well which gave the opportunity to get a good first round in - always helpful when it’s the best three from four rounds to count.

The long carry over a wooded ravine from the 10th tee proved to be the usual nightmare for many players but a good proportion did manage to score, with Richie Ogle and Solley Metchette managing 3-point pars.

Solley also managed one of only two 2s, his on the eighteenth and Roger Mawson on the seventh. The former was third, losing out to Edd Mitchell on countback, whilst Ian Black claimed top spot on 36 points.

There was a Mixed Stableford for those who didn’t feel the need to challenge themselves from the gold tees. John Cousins hit a real purple patch and added to an excellent 24-point front nine with a 19-point back nine.

Next came Rob Isaacs-Berry (37pts) and Jodie Kenyon (33pts).

There were twos for John on the third and Karen Oldrieve on the eighteenth.

Chris Mushens was representing Dartmouth in the County Medal finals at Okehampton, managing to reach the course after being stuck in the traffic jams which followed a serious road accident.

The struggle to get there was worth it as she finished second with a nett 74 - well over par but it’s a tricky course at the best of times and even trickier with strong winds, sloping fairways and hard greens.

The Dartmoor League team were there a couple of days later and also rose to the challenge of the course, coming away with a very creditable 2.5-2.5 draw.

Last but not least, the ladies had their first President’s Trophy match away at Torquay.

Led by captain Jules Vincent and sporting new shirts sponsored by Wollens, they were beaten 5-2.

Victories came in the first match from Karen Oldrieve (5&4) and in the last from Marilyn Lucas (2&1).