Thurlestone Golf Club

Ladies captain Heather Spencer with 33 ladies enjoyed excellent weather for their awayday at Bovey Castle on Monday, writes Liz Line.

They were met at their cars and their clubs and trolleys taken for them so as they could meet and enjoy coffee or tea and croissants.

They played in threes with two scores to count, and the winners were Wendy Stewart, Liz Stewart and Bernadette Law with 73 points, from Judith Lungmuss, Jane Smyth and Trish Gledhill. Gill Hicks won the longest drive and Barbara Smith won nearest the pin. They had an excellent meal and prizegiving after the ­competition, with all agreeing it had been a memorable day.

On Sunday, the Dartmoor League team played Teign Valley at home and won 3.5-1.5. Stewart Barnes and Ashley Crow halved, Matt Messias and Nick Crispin won 2-1, Craig Blount and Connor Eva won one-up, Mark Chapman and Martin Oakes-Monger won one-up and Dean Lowden and Ken Riley lost two-up. Connor and Dean shared the spoon.

On Wednesday, the ladies’ section had a four-ball team open and 120 ladies enjoyed good weather and a course in great condition. The competition was three scores to count and the winners, from Bigbury, were Amanda Burchell (4), Jane Rickman (15), Melanie Adcock (19) and Cathy Harrington (12) with 99 points.

Lesley Saffin and Liz Hay played the third round of the Inter-Club Knockout Competition at Teign Valley. They were against Axe Cliff, beating them one-up on the 18th hole, despite being three down on the back nine. They are now through to the semi-final – to be arranged – but Lesley is unable to play

so reserve Liz Sharman will stand in.

Thurlestone’s seniors lost to Saunton 3-2 at home, which leaves them facing a tough battle when they go to north Devon later this month for the second half of their bid to reach the semi-final of the Emerton Court competition. Threatening skies over Thurlestone were ignored as Saunton set up an early lead by defeating the ­usually strong pairings of Peter Coates and Stuart Barnes 2-1, as well as club captain Harry Cattell with team skipper Bill Campbell 4-3.

Bill Hutchison and Patrick Robinson hit back with a 2-1 win, but Paul Dunne and David Horne were outplayed 4-3, before Graeme Fairley and Geoff Holt restored some hope with a clear 5-4 success. By that time, the rain had held off.

One hundred and twelve members entered the Vegas Texas Scramble on the Professional’s Day on Saturday, organised by Steve White. This was played in teams of four and there were many prizes. The winners’ names are on the website.

For members who were unable to play, the evening was very entertaining as they turned up to watch golf professional Duncan’s performance with trick shots and enjoyed the cold buffet. They also ­listened and danced to classic sounds from past decades ­performed by The Penguins.

There were 34 entries for the Kennedy Cup Medal competition on Sunday. The weather was fantastic again, and there were some very low scores.

In the lead to start with was 10-year-old Noah Mulligan (10) with net 66 and Dan Cunningham (11), also with 66. Then Matt Messias (4) came in with net 64 and finally Malcolm Breton (26) came in with net 63 to win the Kennedy Cup.

Seniors captain Tom Burnett’s annual awayday attracted 20 members to Oake Manor in Somerset, where teams played a three-ball ­stableford, which also included some additional competitions, one of them involving the occasional use of a bonus-winning pink ball. Nearest the pin and putting contests also featured in a thoroughly absorbing day that left members feeling they had earned their dinner.

The overall individual winner was Graeme Fairley with 39 points, followed by Peter Coates with 37. The team prize went to Mike Morgan and John Davies (126 points), with Tom Burnett, Graeme Fairley and Andrew Longhurst (113) second. A hole in one secured the putting prize for David Hoare, while the two nearest-the-pin contests were won by Jeremy Poyntz and Richard Lungmuss.

Tom Burnett expressed his gratitude afterwards to all who had supported his day.