The Mendip Ladies held a three-ball Bowmaker event in chilly conditions. As always, this turned out to be a competitive affair.

In third position were Jean Padfield, Chris Williams and Diane Stanton with 67; in second place were the Ladies’ Captain Elect, Bron Cooper, Jan Fukuyama and Chris Atkinson with 69 points; but winning with a fine 71 points were Club Chairman, Mary Ware, Liz Rose and new Member Marilyn Barker.

Ladies’ Captain Patricia Rawlins, who is now coming to the end of her year, was pleased to announce that thanks to everyone’s generosity, £2,400 had been raised during her year for her chosen Charity, Barnados.

The Seniors held their annual Turkey Trot event on a very cold day, with frozen greens making scoring tricky. Nevertheless, the event was well supported, with 76 Competitors taking part. The event was won by Alan Evans-Jones with 37 points, and he was followed by David Garnsworthy with 36 and John Mitchard with 35.

Following the event, the Seniors’ Annual General Meeting took place. The Seniors’ Captain, Henry Banks, reported that they had played 41 matches with 22 wins, only ten losses and nine draws. More to the point, 75 Seniors had taken part.

The Seniors’ Captain’s Charity was the Somerset and Dorset Air Ambulance, whose services he had used in early 2016 when being airlifted to Bath following a heart attack. Thanks to many persons’ help, £1,517 was raised during the year. The various Officers of the Section were thanked for their efforts. The Seniors had donated funds for the Centenary Stone to have some restoration work carried out and they had also provided some new glass doors for the Trophy Cabinet. Henry now hands over to Andy Frampton and Andy’s Vice-Captain will be Bryan Lewis.

Despite the best attempts of the weather causing an hour’s delay, the Seniors’ Captain’s Drive In took place at the first attempt. Whilst some temporary greens were in play, the Greens Staff were thanked for getting the Course fit for play and thanks were also given to the Pro Shop Team for their continuing help, the Ladies for sustaining the players with mulled wine and hot snacks and to the new catering Team, JJ Sports Catering, who provided pre-play breakfasts and post-play meals.

The four-person Bowmaker event was won by Phil Bendall, David Collins, Alan Roper and Alan Williams with 87 points. One point behind were Rod Dyson, Nick Inskip, Adam Spragg and Doug Thompson and a further one point behind in third place were Jim Scott, Terry Carter, Nigel Hill and Mike Snaith.

The second mixed event of the winter season saw sixteen pairs compete. A very good social gathering, with the golf followed by an excellent meal. The winners were Patricia Rawlins, Sue Needham, Martin Wilkins and Rob Needham, with 87. They were well clear of Liz Rose, Allison Rumming, John Whyman and Peter Rumming with 83, with Lyn and David Cox and Cora and Terry Pavey in third position with 82.

Tony Williams