FOURTY-five golfers took part in the Thurlestone GC Stableford on Saturday, February 15 with the wet weather clearing up for them at lunchtime.

Trevor Greenwood (23) led the way with 39 points, narrowly edging out Duncan Miller (9) on 38 points and Jonathan Doyle (16) on 37 points.

13 birdie twos were scored with Chris Watt managing two himself, on holes three and five.

The Great Thurlestone Show-Stopper Bake Off organised by lady captain Pam Adams went really well as well- there were 16 entries with 17 bakers and the standard of bakes was incredible.

A huge amount of time and effort had gone into producing the amazing cakes and they were all displayed in the Club House. Judging was done by a voting system with everyone invited to come and vote on their favourite two bakes.

Nearly 100 voters took part with Sheila Fairley taking first place, Melanie Adcock second, Pam Adams third and Sarah Loader fourth.

The following day, a smaller field took part in a mixed Greensomes competition in cold and windy conditions.

Bridget Lafferty and Malcolm Strang’s score of 35 points was enough to take home a proverbial gold medal. Janice & Tony Croke (32pts), Steve & Trish Gledhill (30pts) and Peter Hartley & Tricia Swindell (27pts) came next. Bridget and Malcolm also had the only birdie two on the 17th hole so congratulations to them.

Pictured is Sheila Fairley with her winning cake and also, some of the other brilliant bakes.

ELSEWHERE, the early February competitions at Bigbury GC went ahead as scheduled and this was thanks to some welcome breaks in the unsettled weather.

On Saturday, February 1, the ladies’ Stableford entries meant two divisions were needed. The winner of Division One by a convincing three points was Pip Fisher (15). In second place with 33 points was Helen Dinsdale (21). Ruth Bickle (24) and Amanda Burchell (5), both on 31pts, were separated by countback.

Maggie Sutton would have been pleased to bag herself the only birdie two of the competition on the 17th hole.

The following day, a men’s Greensomes Stableford was played and 42 men took to the course. In greensomes golf, a two-player team will both take a tee shot at the start of each hole. They'll select the best of the two drives, then keep playing that remaining ball as a team, alternating each shot. The player whose drive is discarded plays the second shot, and the team alternates thereafter.

There were some good scores recorded and the winners with 40 Stableford points were Peter Bird & Mike Daniels.

James Keetley & Sean Massingham (38pts) and Martyn Scarterfield & Diggory Vowles (36pts) completed the podium.

There were five birdie twos on the day with Roger Hurrell & Paul Vaggers bagging themselves a pair on the 15th and 17th holes. With their second prizes of the competition, Martyn & Diggory recorded a two on 15th hole and James & Sean on the third, plus Eamonn Byrnes & Roy Mitchell scored one on the 5th.

On Wednesday, February 5, 39 players entered the men’s mid-week Stableford and it was very competitive.

Paul Vaggers (8) topped the leaderboard with 38 points ahead of Roger Edwards (11) on 37 and Roy Stevens (13) on 36.

Four birdie twos were recorded on the day courtesy of winner Paul, Phil Davies, Crispin Manners and Liam Anbany.

The next day, the ladies played their Thursday Stableford competition and the winner was Ruth Bickle (24) with a score of 31 points. Countback was needed as there were two players with a score of 29 points. The computer showed it was Vanessa Mabelle (25) in second place with Pip Fisher (15) third. There were no birdie twos so the prize will roll-over.

FINALLY now to Dartmouth GC and it was back to fun competitions for Dartmouth ladies this week, with a Texas Scramble on the Championship Course.

As it was cold and it was fun, it was agreed that, in an attempt to keep warm, everyone could play every shot. A 9-hole competition was originally mooted but, after weeks of rain and with glimmers of sunshine, it seemed foolish not to play more while it was dry so the compromise was to miss out holes 14 and 15.

Scores were matched for the two top groups until the final two holes, when a birdie par finish edged Chris Aresti, Jan Brooking & Shelley Durrans ahead of Jodie Kenyon, Chris Mayer & Chris Mushens.

The Dartmouth course is slightly more exposed to the wind so it was understandable that the ladies were feeling the cold. The result was a 9-hole fun Stableford which was won by Katie Panton with Barbara Dally in second place.

For the men, their midweek Stableford was a qualifier played from the red tees. The scores reflected the cold, heavy air and the lack of roll for the balls.

Top score of the day was that of Rob Isaacs-Berry, who had started with a blob but still managed 19 points on the front nine and 35 points overall.

Second in Division Two was Nigel Osborne - sadly the form that gave him 18 points on the front nine did not continue on the back though his 31 points was good enough for second place. Just behind, was Lew Easter who had the only two of the day on the 18th.

In Division One, John Thompson had the best front nine of the day with 20 points and although his back nine couldn’t match that, a par on the eighteenth and 34 points ensured that he stayed ahead of Andy Dykes. Andy had one of the best back nines but his 32 points weren’t enough to catch John.

Torrential overnight rain put paid to Saturday’s mixed Texas Scramble - disappointing for everyone but particularly for those who had been working all week in the dry weather!