Contrary to popular belief it did not always rain on a Wednesday! The Seniors of Farrington Park can testify, under oath, that since the turn of the year they have lost seven – yes, seven – Wednesdays due to the appalling weather conditions.
Thankfully, last Wednesday went some way to forgiving the weather gods.
The first qualifying medal of the campaign produced some excellent scoring, especially in Division One, with the top five players recording sub-seventy scores. In the Seniors’ Rosebowl, Farrington Park beat Mendip Spring at the Isle of Wedmore. They now play Clevedon Golf Club at Stockwood Vale.
At long last, beautiful weather greeted the teams from Farrington Park and Kingsdown for their first-ever mixed section fixture at Farrington Park.
This friendly match was played to the Greensomes format. Matches were very closely fought, but the Kingsdown team (many playing the Duchy course for the first time), just had the upper hand and won the match six games to two. The Kingsdown players were very complimentary about the course and the facilities at Farrington Park.
A great day’s golf was enjoyed by all. The nearest the pin prize on the par-three fifth hole was won by Dave Forshaw with a hole in one! This was Dave’s first ace after seventeen years of playing. Many bottles of wine appeared on the dinner tables, generously purchased by the star of the day.
The second qualifier medal competition for the Dickinson Cup took place on Saturday, 5th May. The players were blessed with very warm, sunny weather, temperatures soaring to 25c and, ironically, after all the wet conditions of recent weeks, many players had to use their umbrellas to get some shade from the strong sunshine. Like the ‘Thursday Ladies’ who had struggled to make low scores in the first Dickinson Cup qualifier the previous Thursday, the ‘Saturday Ladies’ found it just as hard to do the same. The CSS increased to 75 to reflect these conditions.
There were a sprinkling of birdies, but equally some “cricket scores” on a couple of holes. Two spot birdies were scored by Jacqui Gregory and Dawn Stacey at the fifth hole, and Corinne Durbin at the fifteenth.
Jacqui Gregory had the best round of the day in Division One with a nett-76, three shots ahead of second- placed Terri O’Shea. Clare Salter was third with a nett-eighty. Jane Ball had a nett-82 to take first place in Division Two. Margaret Seery beat Linda Rogers on count-back to take second place after both Ladies finished on a score of nett-85.
The first Men’s medal of the summer season played in calm conditions at Farrington, with some excellent scoring in both divisions. In Division One, Mark Chivers took top honours with a round of 85-71, followed by Mike Hillier a close second with 85-72, with Simon Waller third with a round of 86-73. In Division Two, it was Charlie Holmes taking control with 87-72, followed in second by Nick Farrar with 95-72 and Jeff Bruton third with 89-73.
The Sunday medal was played in beautiful sunshine and great conditions, with Jamie Lake taking the honours with 84-72, followed in second by Liam Copp with 73-72 and Kevin Kehoe third on 85-73. In Division Two, Nick Hemmings came in first place on 92-73, beating Lee Matthews on count-back into second, 92-73, with Ben Park third on 94-78.
Jon Cowgill