112 Mendip men competed for the Jock Callaghan Trophy in excellent golfing conditions.
Division 1 saw a splendid round of golf from 2 handicapper Ian Parham, with a 1 under par gross 70, net 68. This was good enough to win his division, with Sam Reilly second, with net 70 and Wayne Srawley third, with net 71. Division 2 saw a win for Scott Butland, with a 68, followed by Chris Jackson, with 70 and Brian McFerran third after countback, with 71.
Division 3 saw a first win for Gary Butler with 68 and he was followed by Tommy Warren on 69 and Keith Sanders with 72 after countback. However, no-one could get anywhere near the Trophy overall winner, James Marklew, who playing in Division 3 off a handicap of 19, recorded a remarkable net 61, 10 under par and not only winning the trophy, but seeing his handicap reduced to 15! Remarkably for a 19 handicap player, his scorecard was a model of consistency with 9 pars and 9 bogeys.
Unfortunately, the Men suffered a surprise defeat in the Somerset Rose Bowl, going down to a 2–3 defeat to Brean in a match played at Weston-super-Mare. There were wins for Dave Cox and Tom Small and Wayne Srawley and Steve Coates.
The Men’s Avalon C Team recorded another win, this time at home to Wheathill. The final score was 3–2, with Mendip wins for Scott Butland and Malcolm Srawley, Wayne Black and Dan Allen and Chris Butland and T. Black.
The Ladies monthly stableford event saw challenging windy conditions which kept the scoring low, although the Division 3 ladies seemed to cope the best. Division 1 was won by Lulu Carolan, with 29 points, followed by Elaine Kitchenham, with 28, beating Marian Speed on countback. Division 2 saw a win for Anita Butcher, with 33 points on countback from Carol Curtis, with Carol Howerd making a very welcome return after a long absence with health problems third with 26 points. Divison 3 saw the best scoring of the day with Caroline Simper winning with 35 points, Karen Cookson second, with 34 and Elaine Richardson third, with 33.
The Ladies Alliance B Team recorded an excellent 11–3 victory when at home to Shirehampton. There were wins for Edwina Willis, Lynn Cox, June Millington, Elaine Kitchenham and Jean Padfield with Jenny Merrett gaining a half.
The Ladies Friendly Team recorded a narrow defeat when playing Bath going down 2–3. Winning pairs for Mendip were Liz Rose and Nichola Croft and Team Captain, Sandie Roper and Allison Rumming.
The Seniors’ Bill Smith Cup attracted a tremendous entry of 78 competitors. The playing conditions were nigh on perfect with the feeling that summer was at last on the way. As a result, scoring was good with Tony Whitmarsh scoring 39 points, beating Paul Griffiths on countback for fourth place. Third, with 40 points, was Peter Jones, even on a day when his putting left a few out there. In second place also on 40 points was Doug Thompson, but the overall winner was a back to form Chris Bryant with a splendid 41 points. Your correspondent is led to believe that although Chris has won Team Cups and has held the Frost Cup (the 36 hole Net Club Championship Cup), this is his first 18 hole Cup victory in 26 years of competitive golf. Well done Chris.
The Seniors’ latest match away to Yeovil ended in a 3–3 draw with wins for Derek Bellew and Keith Beasley, Norman Squire and Alan Edwards and Seniors Captain David Pilbeam and Bryan Lewis. In the Somerset Scatch Cup, Mendip played Bath at neutral venue Saltford. This resulted in a very close contest with Mendip just losing out 2–3. Winning for Mendip were Peter Davies and acting Captain Bryan Lewis. Phil Cookson was an unfortunate loser, beaten on the first extra hole after an excellent halved 18 holes.
Tony Williams