Oh what a joy it is to be back once again at Farrington Park, enjoying the fabulous facilities of one of the finest clubs in Somerset. A huge amount of work has been going on over the last three months – the results of which are plain for all to see. Ponds cleared, ditches dug, bushes pruned – the list is endless.

Well done to the contractors, greenkeeping staff and particularly the army of volunteers for fence painting, (and there’s a lot of fences!) sign cleaning and buggy washing. The whole place looks a picture.

The wisdom of England Golf to introduce a handicap index then using a simple formula to determine your course handicap is commendable. However, the decision to then play off 95% of the course handicap when playing qualifying stablefords and medals appears to be a strange judgment.

The first trophy competition of the year got underway with the playing of the Bill Sims Trophy, a qualifying stableford played off the yellow tees. A glorious sunny day reminiscent of this time last year greeted the 70 senior players entered for this event. Bearing in mind the general ‘rustiness ’and ‘maturity ’of the entrants, the scoring for this competition was surprisingly good!

Winning on his first outing with the Senior Section was Jerry Musselwhite, with a splendid 41 points earning himself the trophy, a three shot cut in handicap and a bit of cash. In second place was Rob Thain, with 40 points and less cash! In third place was Dave Brain on 39 points with only a few pennies!

Division One: Rob Thain 40, Andy Snook 39, Phil Thompson 37, Mike Bradbury 37, Ham Ridene 36, Dave Forshaw 35.

Division Two: Jerry Musselwhite 41 (Winner of Trophy), Dave Brain 39, Phil Bryant 37, Bob Baker 36, John Butler 34, Steve Ball 34.

Division Three: David Cross 37, Roger Stone 37, Jim Farmer 35, David Perrett 34, Mark Greenman 33, Chris Liberty 33.

Rob Thain