GRASS is amazing. After the prolonged drought leaving all golf courses looking very brown, within a couple of weeks and a little rain Mendip fairways have returned to their normal colour; the greens look extremely healthy and are running true and the whole course now looks stunning.

A total of 110 Men competed in the Showering Cup and with the fast running fairways now a memory, scoring reverted to normal with only 4 players bettering par. Div 3 went to William Burns with a net 75 beating Andy Neeve on countback with Colin Davies 3rd with 79 again after countback. Div 2 was won by Simon Park with 69, Brian Rawlings was 2nd with 71 and Darren Darby-Jones 3rd with 72. Div 1 was won by Spencer Pocock with 66 with Darrin Vowell 2nd with 70 and Jack Cook 3rd with 71. However the trophy winner was Baden Wilkinson with a splendid 65. The gross winner was Jack Vowell with a 2 over gross 73 and Ryan Sainsbury was runner Up with 78.

Seventy-eight men played in the Mid Week Stableford. Div 1 went to Martin Thatcher with 38 points, Peter Grafton was 2nd with 36 after countback from Simon Brand. Div 2 was won by Shaun Rich, with the best of the day score of 41 points with Angus Henderson 2nd with 40 and Paul Wood 3rd with 39. Div 3 went to Yours Faithfully with 38 after countback from Alan Williams with David Pilbeam 3rd with 36 after countback from Hugh Graham.

The Ladies Stableford saw 49 competing. Div 3 was won by Pat Roscow with 33 with Pauline Williams 2nd with 32 and Min Woodward 3rd with 30. Div 2 saw a win for Lulu Carolan with 36 after countback from Ann Padley with Anne Collins 3rd with 34. Div 1 saw a win for Corinne Durbin with 36 after countback from Edwina Willis with Lynne Vowles 3rd with 34 after countback from Aimee Sawyer and Rosemary Brown. However Aimee followed this up with winning the Ladies Mid Week Stableford, playing off +1 handicap she carded 38 points with Ann Padley 2nd with 34.

The Ladies 9 hole Stableford saw 12 entrants and a win for Nicola Ogilvie with 21 points after countback from Sue Alcock with Lizzie Wood, returning to golf after a few months off recovering from surgery, 3rd with 19 after countback from Kay O’Connor.

Two more Ladies Cup winners have been announced with Rebecca Edwards winning the John Wain Trophy, a competition run over 3 rounds with the cumulative score counting and Andrea Williams who won the Duchess Cup, again a 3 round competition but over 9 holes. Ladies Captain Louise Scott was also the confirmed winner of the Ladies Order of Merit.

A new competition, the Tri-Captains Challenge, was played whereby teams of 2 men and a lady tried to better the team of the Mens and Ladies Captain and the Seniors Captain. This year the winners were Susie Rudkin, Kevin Brimble and Charlie Holmes.

And on Seniors affairs last week I reported the fine win of Alan Edwards in the Somerset County Autumn Stableford event. This actually completed a notable treble for Mendip as Steve Davis won the event in 2023 when held at Bath and Farquhar Ogilvie won the event in 2024 when it was held at Wedmore.

Tony Williams