DARTMOUTH Golf Club’s Christmas competitions came to a close with a flurry of mixed competitions, writes Chris Mushens.

For the ladies, it was a final better ball ahead of their Christmas lunch. The winning team of Sharon Jones, Chris Mushens and Karen Oldrieve were helped in no small part by Chris holing out on the eighth from 129 yards - a shot she won’t forget for a while! The lunch was a lovely occasion, with current and retired members enjoying a meal prepared by the team - many thanks to all of those out front and behind the scenes.

The Mixed Santa Special Texas Scramble brought quite a range of scores, happily all well below par.

Although nearly all teams performed very well with strings of birdies and pars, it was, of course, the handicap allowances that made the difference.

Step forward Jeremy Enticknap, Tim Enticknap, Rob Penfold and Gary Widdicombe who finished with a nett 58, well ahead of Roger Mawson, Edd Mitchell, Dave Nicholls and Matt Young on 63.

Drawing the 2024 season to a close, the Mixed Ryder/Solheim Cup saw Devon taking on the Rest of the World. The Rest of the World have only won once and, sadly, there was no change in fortune this year, with the Devon team taking full advantage of home soil.

Gale force winds threatened the New Year’s Day Captains’ Drive In but luckily, the gales abated leaving just a strong wind and a miserable drizzle to contend with.

Lady Captain Chris Mushens was first to tee off and finished just short of the green; seeing that, Seniors’ Captain Dave Sparks clubbed up and then airmailed the green!

Men’s Captain, Rob Isaacs-Berry was the last to go and hit a perfect length but unfortunately hit the green on the Dartmouth Course rather than the Championship. The trio are pictured with Rob on the right.

Fellow players try to guess the distance that each Captains’ shot is from the pin to raise money for this year’s charity - the Devon Air Ambulance - and congratulations go to winners Mario Aresti, Mary Thompson and Alison White who were closest.

Heavy frost delayed the start of Saturday’s competitions and reduced the fields.

In round three of the men’s Winter League, only two pairs managed to break the 40-point barrier - Keith Sexton & Mark Scrivener (41 pts) and Pete Hannaford & Rob Haddy (40 pts). The results take Pete and Rob to second place in the overall league, just one point behind the leaders, Paul Brown & Jeremy Wiltshire.

In the Mixed Stableford, Maria Warman showed everyone the way, with a narrow win over Richie Ogle and Bill Coffin.

There was also plenty of action for the seniors at Dartmouth, John Oldrieve and Rob Barratt scoring 41 points to win a 4BBB Stableford competition, reports Gordon Holmes.

John Cousins & John Garner came next on 40, followed by Geoffrey Jewell & Colin Cooper (38pts), Peter Hannaford & Philip Green (37pts), David Ward & Gordon Holmes (35pts) and Andrew Dix & David Sparks (35pts).

Birdie twos were scored at the par threes by Mario Aresti at hole three plus David Ward, John Oldrieve & Philip Green all at the 18th.

The Enticknap pair of Jeremy and Timothy were at the fore once again, taking the top two spots in a circus format with 43 and 36 points respectively.

They were followed home by Rob Isaacs-Berry (36pts), Keith Moffit (35pts), George Reeve (34pts) and Gordon Holmes (33pts). Jeremy won both the front and back nines, scoring 23 going out and 20 coming back.

Birdie twos were scored by Gary Bonser & Mark Mitchell on the third and John Oldrieve & Jeremy Enticknap at the fifth.

Thanks go to the ever watchful Nigel Osborne for downloading the results with his customary diligence.

The club wishes everyone a happy 2025 and a good golfing year.

OVER to Bigbury Golf Club where they were also driving into 2025, writes Sarah West.

Bigbury celebrated on January 4 with the new Captains drive-in, followed by an 11-hole Greensomes competition.

It was a bitterly cold day with rain due in the early afternoon but in true Bigbury style, the show will go on.

First, the past captains Jack Green, Linda Hanbury and Andrew Ware drove out and we say thank you for their time and efforts as Captains for 2024.

We then welcomed Mick McNulty as Men’s Captain, Mary Wilcox as Ladies’ Captain and Charlie Thomson as Seniors’ Captain. They all nailed great tee shots under pressure of members watching them, but I feel Mick may have somewhat been put off his tee shot. He came out dressed as ‘Toni Basil with Hey Mickey playing out loud’ his first ball went into a dust of smoke, the second ball went off to the right, the crowd was loving all these problems.

Steve then put his third and final ball down and smack, off it went like Concorde's last flight, everyone cheered as it went like the wind, right into the road or field. Who knows- it went so fast our old eyes couldn’t keep up with it, and like Concorde, we didn’t see it again!

Unfortunately, Charlie was unable to make the day, and his sidekick Tony Price stood in, all we can say is, that ball was last seen going down the fourth fairway. Come on Charlie, speedy recovery, your seniors need you.

On that note it only leaves me to say well done Mary, you went straight down the first fairway like a pro. Lucky you are there to show the other captains the correct way and driving technique. I’m sure Sam will be available for lessons for Mick and Tony.

All joking aside, the board and members wish the three new captains all the best and an enjoyable 2025, let the sunshine well, especially on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays. This is the ghost journalist over and out until next time.