THE latest midweek Stableford at Thurlestone Golf Club was well supported with 49 entries, reports Liz Line.

On a lovely, sunny day, chairman Graeme Fairley (10) prevailed with 40 points, one ahead of both Mike Day (29) and Ken Riley (21). Fourth place went to Gus Kemp (38) on 38 points.

There were nine birdie twos so congratulations go to Tony Adams, Mark Drew, Tony Croke, Graeme Fairley, Steve Gallagher, Geoff Martin, and Ronald Plumridge and Alistair Whaley.

Another perfect day for golf followed but the greens had been treated with sand so the decision was to not make it a qualifying competition.

Victorious Kaz Phillips (29) had very little trouble with putting on her way to 41 points.

In second place was Nikki Smith (28) with 38 points and third was Trish Gledhill (20) also with 38 points. Fourth was Diane Baker (34) with 35 points. There were only two birdie twos by Tricia Swindell and Trish Gledhill,

On Tuesday, March 4, Jacky Jacobs and Judith Lungmuss (pictured) made the journey to Bigbury to play in the first round of the Daily Mail’s Ladies Foursomes against two Bigbury Ladies- Cathy Harrington and Janet Burton. It was a beautiful spring morning and the Bigbury course was spectacular and stunning with views of the Avon estuary.

It was a very close match with the home team of Cathy and Janet having to give two shots for match play knockout. The scores were up and down all the way around with the final closed out on the 17th hole with a victory to Jacky and Judith, who now go through to the next round against another club, yet to be drawn.

There were 44 entries for the Stableford competition on Saturday in dry but cold weather. The winner was Paul James 14) with an excellent score of 41 points, followed in by Andy Wood (15) on 40pts and five different players on 37- Richard Walker (17) claimed third place via countback.

All three birdie twos came on the 17th hole, achieved by Roger Baron, Andrew Morgan and Richard Walker.

On Sunday, only 10 pairs entered the Mixed Stableford competition in cold and windy conditions.

The winners were Helen Baker and Scott Edmonds with 38 points. In second place were Alec and Sue Esplin with 37 points and third were Lesley and Simon Davey with 36 points. There were only two birdie twos for Jane & Richard Walker and Sally Cahill & Alistair Woo.

THE weekend of March 1 & 2 was a busy one at Bigbury GC with the men and ladies enjoying their 3-ball Stableford competitions in spring-like conditions, writes Marlene Johnson. This format is three people playing their own golf ball off of an 85% handicap allowance, with the best two scores to count.

It was the ladies out first on the Saturday and the winning team with a convincing 73 Stableford points was Janet Burton (26), Pip Fisher (14) & Sandy Lyon (27).

Mary Wilcox (22), Amanda Sinclair (23) & Vanessa Mabelle (23) took second place ahead of Janet Dimmock (34), Rosemary Sharps (33) & Maggie Sutton (29) via countback with both groups scoring 70 points.

There was just one birdie two bagged on the day by Margaret Taylor on the 17th hole so a good day for her.

On the Sunday, it was the men on the course and it was a very tight competition with only two shots separating the top three teams.

The winners were David Hills (9), Bill Hussell (6) & David Shields (9) with a score of 79 Stableford points, David’s pair of birdie twos helping secure the win for them. In second place with their score of 78 points was the team of Brian Wilson (10), Peter Warley (12) & Phil Nile (14), with Jed Spedding (5), Tim Dando (0) & Paul Newman (9) third scoring just one point less.

There was an absolute plethora of birdie twos recorded during this competition and three players bagged themselves two each: David Hills on the 3rd and 17th holes, Rhodri John on the 5th and 15th and Ian Tait on the 3rd and 17th. The other nine were recorded by Bob Brocklehurst, Richard Thorpe, Rob Perrins, Tim Dando, Jon Wiley, Bill Hussell, Christian Lawrence, David Shields and Diggory Vowles.

Congratulations must go to Richard Shapland and his Green-keeping team; this “Birdie Fest” is an indication of the good condition of our greens at this early stage of the year.

FINALLY, to Dartmouth GC, where the weather was playing havoc with golf at the beginning of the week, reports Chris Mushens.

Frost forced a back nine-start on the Championship Course and so the ladies resorted to a fun competition. Making the best of the conditions and enjoying the company of fellow players became key on both courses, so no scores to report!

Conditions had improved for the men’s Midweek Stableford, enabling the red tee qualifier to go ahead. As the weeks have progressed, the men have become more accustomed to the red tees and the scores are now creeping up in competitions with birdies appearing more regularly on scorecards.

In Division One, John Grattan had definitely got the measure of the tees, picking up birdies on the front nine and scoring on all holes to break the 36-point barrier and finish with 38 points. Paul Brown also had his share of birdies and pars but was well behind in second place with 33 points.

Countback was needed in Division Two to separate the top spots. Martin Collins was playing very steadily on the front nine, with a par on the fourth contributing to his 20 points but found only 14 points more on the back nine to finish with 34.

Meanwhile, John Cousins was a point behind on the front but parred the eighteenth to take him to 15 points on the back and take first place. Being called John was obviously beneficial on the twos front, with Messrs Cousins, Grattan and Oldrieve all in the frame and Ian Black bucking the trend!

Saturday’s Mixed Stableford was played off the blue and red tees and so was a non-qualifier.

As a full-time working lady, Maria Warman’s opportunities to play are somewhat limited so it was particularly good to see her topping the Division One leaderboard. In spite of a blob on both the front and back, Maria finished with 39 points, bringing a broad smile to both her face and that of President’s Captain Alison White!

Close behind was Dave Sparks with 38 points. In Division Two, Mike Smith was also accumulating 39 points with Colin Weedon taking second place with 35 points. There were only two twos and Gary Bonser was responsible for both on the fifth and seventh.