THURLESTONE GC ladies enjoyed a friendly match at Exeter on Friday and in lovely, warm weather, it ended all-square, reports Liz Line.

On Wednesday, there were 36 ladies in action again in the Patey and Steer Bowl, which is a 4BBB Stableford competition. The winners were Kaz Phillips (25) and Jacky Jacobs (27) with 43 points. Second were Jane Mason (17) and Maggie Best (19) with 41 on countback, from Diane Baker (30) and Liz Lacon (32).

There were just two birdie twos, courtesy of Diane Baker and Victoria Gibbens.

George Inch and William Hoskin (junior captain) represented Devon Juniors at Clevedon GC last week in the annual Four Counties Championship (pictured).

Both contributed well to a Devon win in the stroke play aggregate event and then they finished second to winners Dorset despite being unbeaten, with William scoring 2.5/3 points and George winning all 3 of his singles matches. Well done boys!

Thurlestone seniors recorded their first win of the season, beating Dainton Park GC on Thursday 24, at home.

On an ideal day for golf, captain Phil Colman and senior’s captain Gary Keen won the first match with further wins for Stewart Barnes and Ken Riley and Martin Eyre and Owen Rees. The final was 4-2 and nearest the pin for Thurlestone was Steve Gallagher.

On Sunday, the Devon U18 girls team came to Thurlestone to have a match practice round. Martha Massingham is one of our Thurlestone juniors who is a member of the team and she played in the match.

NOW for Bigbury GC and club professional Sam Edwards, organises a weekly “Golf Shop TUAP Stableford Competition” which is very popular, writes Marlene Johnson.

Sam reports that a few days ago, the sun was shining, the wind was calm, and the temperature felt quite pleasant, but does that mean that the golf was easy and spectacular scoring was on display?

An impressive 20 points over the first nine holes and a steady 18 points on the back nine to total 38 points gave Pete Cook top spot without the need for countback.

Phil Davies was the next player to enjoy an under-par round, scoring 37 points and taking second place.

Countback was called upon now with three players finishing level.

Bob Brocklehurst is finding form at the right time as we head into the season; when he totalled up his front nine to find himself one over gross and with 21 points, he must have felt his game was back. But alas, golf is cruel, and the back nine wasn't quite as strong, which sadly places Bob in 5th place and just outside of the prizes. Still, it was a tidy round of golf and some green shoots for the season.

This leaves us with two golfers, both in the prizes, but only one in the top three...

Brian Walker was another one to conquer the front nine under par, but unfortunately, this doesn't bode well for countback. A costly blob at the 16th after back-to-back Nett birdies on 14 and 15 means Brian returned home with 17 points, which was not a disaster by any measure, but not quite enough to grab third place.

This brings us to Roy Mitchell, who, after a run of blob, one pointer, one pointer midway through the front nine, must have thought his race was run; his playing partners enjoyed his momentary silence. However, he was to have the last laugh.

A storming back nine of 20 points led to more conversation in the group and a countback winning score, taking home not only 3rd place but also claiming the lowest gross on count-back from Diggory Vowles, a sweet nine holes for Roy.

The par threes provided a test and no twos were scored, leaving a rollover of £48 in the kitty for the next TUAP.

Pictured alongside the report is the aforementioned Sam, in action hole 12 at Bigbury. If you are thinking of taking up golf, Sam is able to offer early lessons providing appropriate equipment. He can be contacted on 01548 810557 or by email: golfshop@bigbury golf club.co.uk; Sam will be pleased to hear from you.

FINALLY, to Dartmouth GC and Monday, April 28 saw a Stableford qualifier from the blue tees for the seniors, writes Gordon Holmes.

24 players were involved on a warm day and the top six all finished on 33 points, countback being called into action.

Best of these was Nigel Osborne, who totted up eighteen points on the inward nine. He was closely followed into the house by Philip Green just one point adrift. Very well done to both.

Holes seven & fifteen retained their integrity as no played parred or bettered par on them. So, a very close endeavour with many players missing on league duty at Exeter. We look forward to a degree of competitive normality when the spate of Monday bank holidays is at an end.

Colin Cooper, Bernard Taylor, Tony King and John Garner also notched 33pts. No birdie twos were scored.

Competition guru Nigel Osborne counted them back with his customary efficiency. Many thanks to him.

The first leg match of the newly established Mayflower Cup against Staddon Heights was played away on Tuesday 22. Six pairs were in play on the day.

With cool and breezy conditions and the course in great condition, the team put up a good performance but fell to defeat by a strong Staddon team.

Greg Pearman & Malcolm Toone managed a creditable draw and Keith Moffitt & Nigel Osborne won their match 4&2 - a great result! Keith making his debut for Dartmouth seniors.

Nearest the pin was won by Nigel Osborne. The final score was a win for Staddon by 4.5-1.5. Hopefully we will reverse this result on the return match at Dartmouth in July.

Dartmouth seniors’ first match in the South Devon Seniors League for 2025 was held at Dawlish Warren in early April on a breezy sunny day. Besides Dartmouth and The Warren, 12-man teams from Stover, Exeter and Torquay took part. The course was very difficult due to a prolonged dry spell with all teams struggling with the bounce and running of their golf balls.

Top scores for Dartmouth were by Mark Whitworth & Malcolm Toone with 40 points, Andy Dix & David Sparks 37, and Gary Bonser & Steve Atkins 35.

With three teams all scoring within three points of each other, it was a very close result. Unfortunately, Dartmouth came 5th with a total of 170 points. Next SDSL match is at Exeter at the end of April.