BIGBURY Golf Club ladies held their annual meeting on Saturday, November 2 and it was well attended.

At this important meeting the Officers and Committee Members are elected, and any proposals submitted are considered and voted upon by all present. The Minutes of the 2023 meeting are ratified, as well as the Treasurer’s Annual Report/Statement of Accounts. The reports of the Handicap Chair, the Presidents, Sheelah Creasy and Devon League Team Captains and the Club’s Lady Vets County representative are also noted.

The 2024 Captain Linda Hanbury was pleased to be reporting that she had really enjoyed her year to date and was looking forward to the few remaining events that will bring her successful year to its close.

Linda’s Vice Captain, Mary Wilcox, was invited to address the meeting. Mary was eagerly awaiting the start of her year but recognised that it will be a very busy time for her, and that Linda was going to be a hard act to follow.

Mary announced that her Vice-Captain for 2025 is Helen Bertram and they were looking forward to working alongside the Bigbury Ladies throughout year. Finally, Mary confirmed that her chosen Charity will be Dementia UK.

The meeting closed with Mary thanking Linda for her Captaincy of the Ladies Section and presenting her with a gift (and Linda was very pleased with the gift).

Prior to the meeting, 28 ladies played in an 11-hole Stableford competition and this was won by Amanda Burchell (5) with an excellent score of 27 points.

Rose Corbett (37) took the second-place prize with a score of 24 points. Countback was needed to decide the third place as there were two players with the same score of 23 points, Janet Burton (29) edging out Susan Winzer (33).

There was only one birdie two in this competition and this was bagged by Amanda Sinclair on the 3rd hole.

39 Men played in their Thursday Stableford competition on the last day of October. The competition was very competitive with Aneesh Parmar (29) winning with a very good 39 points.

Countback was needed to separate Roy Mitchell (2) and Jeff Bailey (15) who both recorded 37 points. Congratulations to them all as they will have had their handicaps cut with their good scores.

There were three birdie twos on the day: Mike Daniels on the 15th hole and Keith Naylor and Jon Wiley bagging theirs on the 17th.

THURLESTONE GC members celebrated 2024 on Friday evening with the presentation of all the trophies won this year.

Captains Jim Stewart and Pam Adams spoke to the crowd, thanking everyone from the golfers themselves to the kitchen staff and those in the pro shop.

General Manager Jason Pheasant, accompanied by Bett Rhymes, conducted the prize giving.

Some notable winners to collect trophies in the ladies’ section on the night were Irene Lowry, winning The Betty Ord Memorial Trophy, The Patey and Steer Bowl, The Senior Shield and The Stableford Winners Trophy.

Also, Julia Dorey winning The Vets Handicap Salver, The Ford Salver and The Joan MacKenzie Trophy.

Jane Mason won The Betty Order Cup and The Murray Smith Knockout whilst Jane Mahood won The Desmond Vase and The Tregelles Trophy

Claire Guard won The Jennifer Yeo Memorial Rose Bowl and The Winter Foursomes with Fiona Turner. Jane Walker won The Tatham Cup and The Singles Scratch Matchplay Knockouts. Jennifer Roberts retained The Oswald Cup as Club Champion, The Underhill Scratch Trophy and The Joan Mackenzie Trophy.

On the men’s side, deputy course manager Dan Rosevear was presented with the 2024 Devon County Gold Medal by former winners Steve Pike and David Eva, forming quite the triumvirate of golfers.

The culmination of the awards was for the Club Champion's prize, this year awarded to, five-time previous winner, Steve Pike. A very popular winner, Steve gave a superb impromptu speech where he thanked his competitors, Toby White and Chris Jones, amongst others.

Well done to all of the 2024 winners.

IT was just fun competitions on both courses for Dartmouth ladies this week, which was just as well as their golf was decidedly flat and lacking in excitement.

On the Championship course, Chris Mayer made the best score on a poor day, with Karen Oldrieve and Marilyn Lucas just behind. The Ladies on the Dartmouth course split the honours between them all.

The scores were better in the Wednesday Stableford, though all players seemed to find the back nine far more challenging than the front. In Division One, John Gratton parred seven of the first nine holes, finishing with 22 points after nine but the pars ended on the tenth and he could only add another 16 points to his score.

Either way, his score was sufficient enough for the win, finishing ahead of Paul Brown (34 points), who notched the only two on the day.

It was a similar picture in Division Two, with Nigel Osborne scoring 22 points on the front nine and then only 14 on the back. Again, this was still a winning score, with Barrie O’Shea in second place with 33 points.

The Weekend Mixed Stableford was a qualifier and gave the men the opportunity to play off either the red or the white tees.

In Division One, Dave Brooking was level par after nine and had scored 23 points but was hit by the frequent curse called the walk to the tenth tee and managed only a further 14 points. Dave Nicholls made a steadier start with “just” 20 points on the front and had a better back, his 17 points resulting in a countback win.

In Division Two, Alan Foot also enjoyed a series of pars on the front to score 22 points even with a blob on the ninth. His final score of 38 points was well ahead of Barrie O’Shea, again in second place but with 30 points this time. When looking at the twos Report, it’s usually the par three holes which feature, but Paul Marels made the list this week, with an eagle two on the seventeenth - nice one!

This week’s seniors competition on Monday, November 11, was a circus based format underpinned by a non-qualifying Stableford points scoring.

It was a superb late autumn day for the 36 golfers but overnight dew had left the course somewhat sticky with little run on the ball and many awkward lies. Lowish overall scores reflected this with only seven players recording thirty plus scores.

George Reeve and John Oldrieve led the way, countback favouring the former with both on 34 points. Only five players scored at every hole with the best of the day coming from John who shot a superb gross 81, in what were challenging conditions.

Gary Bonser and Andrew Dix came next on 33 points, ahead of Paul Harding (31pts) and Brian Mushens (30pts).

Gary B performed the best on the front nine with 20pts and then it was George R on the back nine, with 18.

Birdie twos were recorded by Andrew Dix at five, John Oldrieve at seven and by David Thompson & Mark Gannon at 18.

Eagle-eyed Nigel Osborne was at the helm for this event as he counted them all back with his customary due diligence. Many thanks to him.