It was a ‘tough day at the office’, when the Ladies played in Thursday’s Stableford competition on 26th April. After the benign conditions of the previous week, the return to more normal seasonal temperatures, a roaring 20 mph wind and a heavy rain shower announced that summer is not here yet.
Given the conditions, it was no surprise to find the CSS rose to 75 and no lady played to their par. Maureen Charlton and June Symonds were the only players to record birdies, at the 15th & 9th holes respectively.
The weatherman had been promising a heat wave; no-one quite believed it would happen after the cold, wet conditions of the past weeks, but summer arrived in Spring for the ladies on Thursday, 19th April. A field of 43 ladies had entered the Foxy Lady Trophy Stableford competition; everyone anticipating an exciting day of low scoring golf. Lena Warren and Wendy Butt had birdies at the fifth hole, June Symonds and Carol Jones had birdies at the shortened fourth and first holes respectively. The only lady to score over 36 points was June Symonds, with a fine score of 39 points. Normally, June would have received a handicap reduction, but that will have to wait for another day. June was presented with the Foxy Lady Trophy by Captain, Rosi Brown.
After her heroics on Thursday, June did not have long to wait for her handicap to be reduced. The Duchy course was fully-open on Saturday, 21st April for the first Saturday Stableford competition of 2018. June showed the way with a birdie at the fifth hole and a score of 34 points to take first place in Division One. She received a handicap reduction for her efforts. Paula Chivers was second, with 31 points, one point ahead of third-placed Margaret Seery.
In Division Two, Sue Forshaw won on countback from Linda Rogers, after both ladies finished with 29 points. Tracy Grist birdied the difficult par five 13th hole to take third place with 28 points.
With the first two matches lost to the weather, the Men’s Avalon team set off on the long trip to Minehead hoping for calm and dry conditions. After a hearty brunch, Danny Farnen and Jack Cook got the season underway, but found their opponents in good form, falling to a 5&4 defeat. Paul Thomas and partner, Gary Prater, were set the task of taking on the home team’s +1 handicapper and used their shots well, but a five-under-gross round proved too good and they finally lost on the 17th green.
Tom Snelling and Charlie Wigmore were next out and soon in control, winning by a 2&1 margin. Unfortunately, Nick Poore and Phil Heyslop, along with Mark and Guy Adams, both fell to 2&1 defeats, resulting in a 4–1 team loss. A big thanks to the ten who gave up their day to represent the club.
Farrington Park’s Five Man Scratch Pickeridge Bowl team took on Entry Hill at Saltford on 29th April and came away with a fantastic 5–0 win. Danny Farnen won 8&7, Club Captain, Shane Phelps, won 7&6, Lee Bruton won 6&4 and Mark and Craig Adams both won 5&4. A great start to the campaign.