PLAYING conditions on the two Dartmouth GC courses were as good as possible given the winter weather, though the greens were tricky having undergone essential winter tinning.
In spite of this, hopes were high for the ladies’ first Stablefords of the year. Sadly, golf rarely delivers on just hopes and the scores were low - perhaps everyone was trying too hard.
On the Championship course, Shelley Durrans started badly but rallied to manage 30 points, which was the best of the day. Chris Aresti managed a 4-point par on the third which contributed nicely to her second-place score, with Alison White in a morale-boosting third place.
On the Dartmouth course, Anne Woodward had something of a mixed bag, particularly on the second nine, but managed to bag top spot. Sharon Jones would have been a serious challenger but had to leave unexpectedly after ten holes, still scoring enough points over those few holes to get second place.
The effects of Storm Eowyn were felt in the following days resulting in the cancellation of the Men’s Midweek Stableford, so many thanks to the efforts of the greenkeeping staff to get the course back in a playable condition by the weekend.
Heavy overnight rain gave a delayed start so the Mixed Stableford had a tenth tee start - with a narrow fairway, out of bounds to the left and unplayable conditions to the right it’s a nervy starting hole, but with the sun now shining, anything felt possible.
Gary Bonser could do no wrong on the first nine, coping beautifully with the greens and finishing with 21 points. Unfortunately, the walk through the car park (the downfall of many players) and the slower second nine meant that he accumulated only 10 more points and finished second in Division One with 30.
Greg Pearman also responded well to the back nine start and maintained reasonable form throughout to finish first with 36 points. Division Two was tighter but the only two of the day helped Gary Widdicombe to a single-point victory over Tim Cronin, 34 and 33 points respectively.
The fourth round of the men’s Winter League brought some great scores, with the top six groups all scoring 40 points plus.
With the best four scores to count from the seven rounds, it’s getting to the business end, where league positions can change significantly. Injuries can have a big impact and saw the round three leaders Paul Brown and Jeremy Wiltshire drop from first to eighth place; Kevin Hoare and Colin Weedon were making the best of Colin’s injury with Colin just walking to support Kevin but it’s a big ask to match the high scores alone.
Pete Hannaford and Rob Haddy were the team to capitalise, with their second place 41 points moving them to the top of the league, but there’s still all to play for.
1st - Ian Metchette and Alan Foot 42 points
2nd Pete Hannaford and Rob Haddy 41 points (on count back from two other teams)
MOVING over to Bigbury GC and the first of the very coveted men’s honours board trophies was, thankfully, played as scheduled on Sunday, January 12, with 24 pairs taking to the course. The very pleased winners of the Hogmany Trophy were Tim Dando and Ian Harris.
Ian says – “Really pleased to win the first boardie of the year with Tim, especially the Hogmanay 4sms Trophy, being an alternate shot medal and probably the hardest format in golf. We were playing off a combined 6 handicap. This follows the Lawson Cup 4sms Winter League Knockout 2024/25 that Tim and I won after a hard-fought final against Martyn Scarterfield and Diggory Vowles”.
This proved to be a very tightly fought competition with the second and third pairs, James Keetley & Sean Massingham and Peter Bird & Mike Daniels, only one shot behind with their scores of 71.
Nick Buck and Diggory Vowles bagged themselves three of the nine birdie twos but the competition was so competitive that this wasn’t enough for them to get into the top three places.
Bob Brocklehurst & Mike Parker bagged themselves a pair, as did Nick Hanbury & Crispin Manners.
The last two of the nine were recorded by David Hills & David Shields, with second-place James Keetley & Sean Massingham making theirs on the 10th hole. This is the St. Austell Brewery trophy-sponsored hole so James and Sean would also have taken home a Keg of Beer.
Finally congratulations again to Ian and Tim - retaining their winning habit for the start their 2025 year.
2025 Lady Captain, Mary Wilcox, has announced a couple of dates for Gazette readers for their diaries. On Wednesday, March 26, the very popular Bigbury Golf Club “Soup and Puds” lunch is to be held at the Bigbury Memorial Hall. The second date is the Bigbury Ladies Coffee morning which will take place on Monday, April 28. These events will be raising funds for some of the club’s 2025 charities and Mary hopes to see many of you there.