The main event at Mendip Golf Club this week has been the Men’s Club Championships, played over two days.

With 77 competitors, Day One was dominated by Tom Small, playing off scratch and a member of the Greens Staff, who shot a Gross 70 and opened up a 6 shot advantage over Simon Crick, handicap 4, with third place on 77 being shared by the ever consistent Tom Lowe, handicap 3, and Simon Grant, handicap 6. Day Two brought very poor weather conditions and saw Tom Small shoot a 77 only bettered by Neil Onslow, handicap 4, with a 76 and best of the day Ian Parham, handicap one, who shot an excellent 74. So Tom Small becomes Club Champion with a gross total of 147, 8 shots clear of Runner-Up Tom Lowe with 155. Neil Onslow was third with 156 and Mark Bowers fourth, on count back.

Alongside the Championships, Competitors also competed for the Net Trophy, the Frost Cup. Day One saw 17 handicapper Andrew Wells lead with a fine net 67 and he was followed by Paul Reakes, handicap 8, Spencer Pocock, handicap 11, and Simon Wheeler, handicap 16 – all of whom scored net 70. Day Two saw Michael Sharp, handicap 14, come in with a net 70 and he was followed by Wayne Black, handicap 7, and Harry Phillips, handicap 9; both with 71. However, the overall winner of the net trophy was Andrew Wells with 141, with Wayne Black Runner-Up with 145 and beating Paul Reakes on Countback.

The Mens’ July Mid-week Tankard saw Ryan Sainsbury win Division One with 39 points, with Will Waddington second with 37 and Club Captain Richard Jeffery third with 35. Division Two went to Julian Redpath with 32, with Marcus Jones second with 31 and Chris White third with 29. Division Three saw by far the best score of the day with David Baker scoring 42 points, with Julian Baker second with 36 and Nigel Wiltshire third with 35.

The Ladies held the Champion Chasers Cup, an excellent Competition for those Ladies who do not feel up to the challenge of the Ladies Club Championships. Club Chairman, Mary Ware, was the runaway winner with 43 points, with Sandie Roper 2nd with 35, beating Lulu Carolan on count back.

The Ladies also held a qualifying stableford. Challenging conditions kept the scoring low, with a couple of notable exceptions. Lynn Cox won Silver Division with a fine 36 points, closely followed by Gill Brown with 35. Chris Olds was third with 30. Bronze Division went to Margaret Hawker with 31, Nichola Croft was second with 30, and June Page third on 28 after count-back. The Copper division was a close- run affair won by Allison Rumming with 32 after count-back from Caroline Laws, with Elaine Richardson third with 31.

The Ladies’ Alliance B Team are finding life a little difficult this year in Division Three of the Bristol & District League, where they come up against a number of Clubs’ A Teams. Visits to The Bristol Club and Clevedon, with several regulars missing, brought little joy. In the latter fixture Jenny Merrett secured a win and in the former, debutant Chris Atkinson secured a half. Even with a full strength Team, the home fixture against Filton A resulted in a 4-10 defeat with Lyn Cox gaining a win, and Jan Fukuyama and Chris Down halves.

The Inter-Club Team had better fortunes, beating Orchardleigh 5-2 with wins for Anita Butcher, Mary Ainsworth, Diane Stanton, Margaret Hawker and late replacement Kay O’Connor.