The phrase “Famous Last Words……” sprang to mind for one team of ladies as they finished their round on Thursday, 23rd August; counted up their team’s Stableford score and exclaimed “Steady golf, but not spectacular. That’s not good enough to win, far too low!”

They were playing in the Sycamore Trophy, a 123 Bowmaker competition, in memory of Chris Symes, who was one of the original members of the club. She loved team games, but sadly died of a brain tumour in February 2008.

Twelve teams, consisting of a low, a medium and a high handicap player, entered the competition. The players’ names had been drawn at random, which added to the fun of the day. Each team member had to score on par 3 holes, the best two scores out of three were noted on par 4 holes and only one score counted on par 5 holes.

With the wind roaring at a good 12mph and the fairways just recovering from the recent drought, it soon became obvious that no team was going to have a “runaway” score. Two birdies were made on the par 3 holes by Rosi Brown (5th) and Jean Sage (10th).

The winning teams’ scores did reflect the playing conditions. Third place went to Carol King, Peggy Edwards and Lesley Stone with 67 points. In second place were June Symonds, Corinna Bates and Lally Gibson with 70 points.

The winners, much to their surprise and amusement after the comment they had made earlier, were Jane Ball, Sandra Hares and Maureen Goodsir, with 71 points.

They received the handsome glass Sycamore Trophy, which features an etching of a tree on the 11th hole, Chris Symes’ favourite tree, from Captain Rosi Brown.

The CSS increased by 3 to 76 to reflect the playing conditions on Saturday, as the players found it was not easy to score consistently. Jackie Walker and Sue Forshaw had two spot birdies at the par 3 15th and 8th holes respectively.

The only player to play under par for her handicap was Tracy Grist, whose fine score of 37 points was 4 points clear of her nearest challenger. Tracy received a handicap cut for her effort.

(18/08/2018 CSS: 76 Par: 73).

Division One Result: First, Jackie Walker, 32pts, second, Corinne Durbin, 26pts.

Division Two Result: First, Tracy Grist, 37pts, second, Linda Rogers, 33pts, third, Susan Forshaw 28pts.

Seniors

Farrington Park Seniors put on a stunning display at Tall Pines Golf Club to reach the final of the Somerset Rosebowl.

A very strong Weston- super-Mare squad boasting mainly single figure golfers were convincingly beaten by a Farrington team totally focused on reaching their first final in more than nine years.

Team Captain Phil Thompson, who had a number of players unavailable for selection, now has the unenviable task of picking his squad for the final to be played against the winners of Orchardleigh and Wells.

With a number of senior golfers playing in Open competitions, a reduced turnout of senior golfers played at Farrington Park, now almost back to its pristine best after many weeks of dry weather.

A fourball betterball competition was the order of the day, with the strong pairing of Alan Taylor and Swampy Marsh coming out on top with a fine 43 points on countback from Mike Ashwin and Ian Clement.

Results: First, Alan Taylor/Graham Marsh, 43pts c/b; second, Mike Ashwin/Ian Clement, 43pts; third, Tim Waller/Eddie Cheasley, 41pts c/b; fourth, Terry Thatcher/Ray Wilkinson, 41pts; fifth, Rick Clark/Kevin Gould, 40pts.

Friendly Match results: lost 6.5-0.5 away to Knowle. Won at home to Kendleshire 5.5-1.5.

Club

Captains’ Day was recently held at Farrington Park Golf Club by the men’s and ladies’ section for the benefit of their chosen charity of the year, Hannah’s Willberry the Wonder Pony.

The format of the competition was 4ball Bowmaker played in teams of four with an individual Stableford competition running at the same time.

All 18 holes were sponsored by individuals and local firms. There were two ‘crazy golf’ holes, aptly named “the Green-keeper’s Revenge”. Here the tee box positions had been set at crazy angles, the holes were cut into slopes on the greens and various items of green-keeping equipment had to be negotiated before the ball even reached the green. A great amount of laughter echoed around the course, as players attempted (and in many cases failed) to get their ball into the hole. On the long par five, seventh hole, there was a prize for the tee shot that landed nearest to a ‘gin bottle’, which had been placed in the fairway. The eventual winner of the actual bottle of gin was Steve Symonds.

At the end of the day’s competition, Men’s Captain Shane Phelps thanked all the sponsors and players for contributing towards a very enjoyable day. The greens staff were thanked for their help on the course and the bar staff for their service.

Shane had great pleasure announcing that the Charity Day had raised £1,308 for Hannah’s Willberry the Wonder Pony charity.

Results: 4Ball Bowmaker team. First: Paul Brown, Warren Cowling, Eric Reddy, Adrian Beale – winning a fourball at Celtic Manor. Second, Andy, Helen, Josh and Oliver Barlass – winning a fourball at the Dorset Golf & Country Club. Third, Dave Brain, Mike Hillier, Alan Fussell, Phil Button – winning a fourball at Bath Golf Club. Fourth, Mike Graves, Lee Francis, John Chedgy, Huw Jones – winning a fourball at Mendip Springs.

Stableford competition: Overall winner, Phil Button – winning a Motocaddy golf bag.

Division One: First: Guy Adams, second, Dave Forshaw and third, John Chedgy.

Division Two: First, Paul Brown, second, Helen Barlass and third, Oliver Barlass.

Men

Saturday Stableford 18/08/18

As conditions improved on the fairways following the end of the drought, top scoring was achieved in both divisions.

Count back was needed to determine the winner after two men finished on 40 points. John Ward took first place, edging Mike Hillier into second spot. Jake Russell was third with 38 points.

In Division Two, 39 points was the score for the top three players, with Steve Ball taking first place ahead of Eric Withey and John Marquiss on count back.

Sunday Stableford 19/8/18

After welcoming rain overnight for the golf course, division 1 had a three-way tie at the top with 36 points. Dave Jones took the honours on count back from Jack Broadway and Steve Kingman.

Jon Cox took first place with 36 points in Division Two, one point ahead of Adam Gumbleton, who beat Shaun Robinson into third place on count back.