ON A very cold and blustery afternoon, 36 stoical players took to the Bigbury GC course for an 11-hole Greensomes event, the Captain’s Drive-In competition.

Simon Hill and Martin Kenny came out on top with 24 points, ahead of Joanne & Nick Shorrocks (22pts) and Brian Henwood & Andrew Ware (21pts).

Pictured on the tee before setting out in the competition are 2025 captains Mick McNulty and Mary Wilcox, who were paired together. Whilst they were not in the prizes, Mary and Mick certainly took prizes for their fancy dress!

Meanwhile, on January 16, the first of the 2025 mixed Thursday Stableford’s took place; both the ladies and men’s competitions proved to be very competitive with the players enjoying a lull in the weather.

There was a two-way tie for the ladies with both Nikki Kidd (5) and Amanda Burchell (5) recording 33 points. On countback, Nikki was first with Amanda in second. In third place with 31 points was Helen Dinsdale (21). The only two was bagged by Sarah West on the 3rd hole.

The Men’s competition resulted in a three-way tie with Keith Naylor (7), Timothy Winzer (12) and Malcolm Symes (28) all recording a very good 37 points.

Countback gave Keith the victory, ahead of Timothy and then Malcolm. There were four birdie twos with competition winner Keith bagging his on the 10th hole, so a very good day for him. David Leard recorded his on the 3rd, with David Graddon and Stan Kenneth making theirs on the 17th.

THERE were a number of competitions at Thurlestone Golf Club last week as the weather was much better.

The ladies’ 18-hole Stableford on Wednesday had 24 entries and the scores were good considering the 14th hole was out of action due to green work.

Heather Spencer (18) prevailed with 34 points, edging out Julia Dorey (14) and Maggie Best (20) who both scored 33pts. The only birdie two was scored by Shona Wilson on the 17th hole, congratulations to her.

The 9-hole Stableford also attracted a good entry of 10 ladies and the winner was Linda Cant, with 20 points, on countback from Roberta Price.

On Tuesday, the midweek Stableford had 32 entries and the winner in Division one was Alistair Whaley (7) with 31 points on countback from both Bill Hutchison (13) and Derek Harwood (14).

36 points was the winning score in Division Two courtesy of Brian Goodhew (20), whilst Andrew Clarke (22) and Bill Campbell (19) both scored 34. Bill also scored the only birdie two so takes all the money.

Seven juniors entered Sunday’s competition on a really cold day and the scoring was strong.

Aiden Mulligan (11) deservedly won with a brilliant total of 42 points, beating out Finn Robson (27) on 40pts, Harry Robinson (22) on 39pts and Martha Massingham (22) on 34pts.

On the same day, the clubhouse was full of players as Thurlestone played host to round four (out of six) of the newly formed Devon Men’s Masons Kings Winter Series.

30 entrants from across Devon took part and Thurlestone had strong representation, with great results.

Matt Millar from Dainton Park took top spot with 40 points, followed by Hugo Dennison in second (Woodbury) with 39 points, 3rd George Inch (Thurlestone) on 39 points, 4th Steve Pike (Thurlestone) on 38 points, 5th Ryan Moore on 37 points, 6th Scott Pym on 36, 7th Will Mulholand, (Churston) and then 8th Dan Rosevear (Thurlestone).

Pictured, from left to right, are Will M, George I, Matt M, Hugo D, Steve P and Dan R.

MOVING on to Dartmouth GC and the ladies were playing a modified T&F competition this week - rather than just scoring on the holes beginning with T or F, all holes were played, with double points on the T and F holes and single points on the others.

The points on some scorecards had to be amended for those who forgot that the first is hole one. Overall, it’s quite a rewarding format but does have its frustrations when you remember that double zero is still zero.

Shelley Durrans was the leader of the pack with 46pts, followed by Chris Aresti on 41 and Jodie Kenyon with 38.

The Dartmouth course ladies were also playing a T and F Stableford, but over nine rather than 18 holes. Anne Woodward was first with 28pts, Barbara Dally was second with 24.

Also ringing in the changes with formatting were the men, who played an Alternate Blue and Red Stableford. John Thompson obviously found the format more than satisfactory, finishing with a staggering 43 pts - in the pub that evening his friend didn’t believe it and had to check the website to confirm the score! What a friend! Some way behind was Pete Hannaford on 35 and Rob Barrett with 34.

It was great to welcome Dave Brooking back to golf on Saturday following his accident earlier in the month. The competition was a Mixed Texas Scramble, so a good one to settle back in with and, judging by the conversation in the clubhouse afterwards, was enjoyed by all.

Receiving only four shots, Peter Blackler, Darren Lockley, Mark Scrivener and Keith Sexton had to do something special to be in contention and did, with nine pars, eight birdies and an eagle on the sixteenth, which also ensured a countback win.

The final results were close and it’s worth mentioning that every group bar one managed a two:

1st Peter Blackler, Darren Lockley, Mark Scrivener, Keith Sexton- 58

2nd Jeremy Enticknap, TimEnticknap, Rob Penfold, Gary Widdicombe- 58

3rd Malcolm Barrett, Bill Coffin, Lee Marels, Paul Marels- 59

Now for the Dartmouth seniors and then enjoyed a fun, non-qualifier on Monday 20, played on the Championship course.

Teams of four with the best two scores to count on each hole was the flavour of the day.

The course was sticky after overnight rain but this did not stop runaway winners led by Paul Marels and his team of low handicappers scooping the prize pot with a phenomenal 88 points split 45 front & 43 back. This included eight birdies and many fine pars and was some ten points clear of the second team fronted by Bernard Young. Excellent golf. Very well done gentlemen.

Competition Result Overall:

1st Paul Marels, John Oldrieve, Rob Barratt & Malcolm Toone- 88 points

2nd Bernard Young, Tim Cronin, Trevor Pretty & Stephen Haupt- 78

3rd Paul Harding, Richard Bevan, Mark Mitchell & Keith Moffitt- 77

4th Brian Mushens, Roy Baldwin, Philip Green & David Thompson- 76

5th Mario Aresti, Andrew Dix, David Sparks & Michael Whitelaw- 75

6th Philip Brooking, Robert Wotton, Robert Isaacs-Berry & Peter Forde- 67

Birdie twos were scored at the par threes by ‘Radar’ Roy Baldwin at the third, Malcolm Toone at the seventh plus Mario Aresti & John Oldrieve on hole 18.

Many thanks go to inimitable competition guru Nigel Osborne who counted them all back with his customary diligence. Next week sees a bogey competition.