The annual running of the Flower Trophy attracted a field of 110 competitors.
The early starters enjoyed good conditions, but the weather deteriorated as the rains came in. As a result, scoring was high and CSS increased to 73. Division 3 was won by David Baker, with net 74, followed by Mike Merrick, with 75 and Anthony Collins on 76. Division 2 was won by James Richards, with 72 on countback from David Kent, with Marcus Jones third with 73, again after countback. Division 1 was won by Matthew Lawrence, with net 70 and he was followed by Simon Jefferies on 72 and Richard Jeffery on 73 after countback. However, the overall winner of the trophy competition was Division 1 player, Simon Grant, with an outstanding 64, six shots clear of the next best score and earning Simon a handicap reduction from 6 to 4.7.
The Men’s 1st Team continue to find the going tough in Division 1 of the Bristol and District League where they come up against the best golfers in the Gloucester and Somerset counties. Many of them are county players and whilst Mendip can boast a very low handicap team, they are coming up against scratch and plus handicap golfers, Henbury for instance fielded a Plus 4 golfer in their team. Against Players Club, after a closely fought contest, Mendip went down 2–3 with a win for Tom Small and Stuart Ponfield and excellent halves from George Morgan and Neil Onslow and Martin Myers and Richard Jeffrey, the latter pairing having been four down at one stage. The three defeats all came on the 18th hole.
Against a very strong Henbury Team and with Mendip missing a number of key players, the match resulted in a 1–4 defeat, with Mendip’s win again coming from Tom Small, this time partnered by young Jordan Vaughan.
The Avalon A Team had a fine win against Cricket St Thomas, 4½–½ with wins for Steve Whalen and Jamie Phillips, Paul Reakes and Alan Fussell, Ian Fairclough and Chris Lindley and Wayne Srawley and Steve Coates. There was also an excellent half for Danny Middle and Trevor Oats who were four down with four to play. This leaves the team in second place at present with a game in hand.
Avalon B are finding it hard and have recently been on the end of two heavy defeats, the only points being gained by Matt Tabor and Paul Smith and a half from John Brooksbank and Shaun Robertson.
Avalon C, having recently lost their unbeaten record when visiting Burnham and Berrow, exacted revenge in the reverse fixture when winning comfortably 5–0.
All of the Men’s teams are again being sponsored by Phillips Tyre Services of Shepton Mallet and the club is very grateful to Mendip Member, Chris Phillips, for arranging this generous sponsorship.
The Ladies Coronation Foursomes event was not blessed with very good weather, but in the event, the scoring was good with Patricia Rawlins and Lynn Cox winning, with 37 points, followed by Elaine Kitchenham and Mary Ware, with 35 and Marian Speed and Vi Hayes, with 34.
The Ladies Alliance B Team recorded another victory against Lansdown. The final score was 8–6 with wins for Jenny Merrett, Linda Brobson, Chris Down and Karen Richards.
The Ladies Inter Club Team visited Wedmore, but found the opposition too strong and went down 2–5 with the Mendip points coming from Libby Bellew and Nola Russell.
The Seniors’ latest match away to Clevedon was a very close affair with Mendip going down to a narrow defeat 3–4. Victorious for Mendip were the pairings of Dick Ransley and Paul Griffiths, Acting Captain Bryan Lewis and Andy Griffiths and Simon Atkinson and Philip Moores.
Clevedon was also the venue for the Somerset Seniors Championships, where the only Mendip entrants were Peter Davies, Bryan Lewis and Tony Williams. Conditions were challenging to say the least. The course was playing from the back of the Medal Tees with a three club wind the ‘wrong way around’. Scoring reflected the severity of the conditions and the event became ‘reduction only’. The outright winner was Stephen Francis of Bath, with a gross 80, but only after a three way play off over four holes. Mendip’s best performance, by far, came from Peter Davies, who finished 6th with an excellent Gross 82.
Tony Williams