Although very wet and windy, the Men’s Midweek Tankard still took place and surprisingly some competitors were able to beat par. Division 1 was won by Neil Clarke with an excellent 40 points, followed by Greens Chairman, Richard Jeffrey, with 38 who beat Adrian Payne on countback.
Division 2 was won by Scott Butland, with 38 points, with Julian Redpath second, with 37 and John Shakesby third, with 31. Division 3 saw more modest scoring, with Rob Wells first, with 32 points, followed by Steve Turner and Julien Baker.
The Stephenson Cup saw a full entry sheet of 120 men competing in lovely weather and with the course in splendid condition. Division 1 saw a four-way tie on net 68s with young Matt Rawlings coming out on top followed by Neil Onslow, Henry Treasure and James Herniman. Division 2 saw victory for Will Waddington, with net 70 and he was followed by John Harvey, on 71 and Eric Jordan, on 72. Division 3 saw victory for Alan Williams, with net 72, on countback from John Cross, with Mike Merrick third with 73. However, yet again the overall Cup Winner came from Division 3, with 18 handicapper Liam Robertson carding a fine net 67 to lift the Trophy.
The Avalon C Team met their first defeat of the season when losing a very close match 6–8 when away to a strong Burnham and Berrow Team. This was a fine performance as many of the Mendip Team had never played Burnham before. Wins for Mendip came from Team Captain, Malcolm Srawley and Scott Butland and Chris Butland and Tom Black.
The Ladies Friendly Team fought a hard battle with Wedmore, the match finishing all square. There were wins for Andrea Williams and Nicola Croft, Liz Rose and Wendy Norman and a half for Libby Bellew and Eileen Masters. In a Club Competition, Karen Cookson qualified to play in the Barlow Cup which will be played in August.
In the Somerset County Handicap Foursomes, Mendip were represented by Fran Davies and Marian Speed and were drawn away to Bristol and Clifton. Home advantage and having to give shots proved decisive and Mendip lost on the 16th. Gill Brown was Mendip’s qualifier in 2015 for the England Golf Medal event. As a result, she competed in the Regional Qualifying event held at Kingsdown. Out of a field of 120 competitors, Gill finished eighth and so qualifies for the National Final to be held in August at Frilford Heath.
An excellent win was recorded by the Ladies Alliance B Team when away to Henbury with the final result 8–6. There were wins for Vi Hayes, Edwina Willis, Chris Olds and Jean Padfield.
The Seniors Team have now hit form with two wins to report this week. Firstly they were victorious when home to Clevedon 4½–2½ with wins for Peter Rumming and Tom Ryan, Acting Captain, Bryan Lewis and Dick Ransley, Nigel Cheshire and Rod Dyson and David Stephenson and Jim Scott and a halved match for Nigel Hill and Adam Spragg. This was then followed by a win against Worlebury 5–1. This time, the winning pairings were Alan Evans-Jones and Norman Squire, Alan Edwards and Doug Thompson, Seniors Captain David Pilbeam and John Whyman, Merlyn Saunders and Trevor Howse and Nigel Hill and John Brooksbank.
The Mendip Mixed Team visited Taunton and Pickeridge with a much weakened team due to a fixture clash and as a result, whilst fighting hard, suffered a resounding defeat. On the same day, Mendip played their annual mixed Centenary Salver match against fellow 1908 Club, Worlebury. This year, played at Mendip in beautiful sunshine, this always most enjoyable and social of occasions resulted in a Mendip victory by 8½ – 3½. The visitors were very complimentary regarding the condition of the course and the after match meal and service provided by Andy Jones and his team.
Tony Williams