The October Stableford saw some excellent scoring, which demonstrates how well the course is playing. The winter greens programme is now bearing fruit, with the putting surfaces looking healthy and playing true.
The course is a far cry from twelve months ago, and a tribute to the resilience of the Greens staff, who – despite the various opinions expressed – had no doubt that, given time, the greens would fully recover. Division Three went to Martin Russell with 38 points, with Richard Clifford in second place with 37 and Paul Smith third with 33.
Division Two saw a fine win for David Kent with 40, Lee Moore was second with 39 and Tony Taylor third with 38, beating Nigel Brokenshire on countback. Division One saw Stefan Golledge in third place with 38 and Andy Laing second with 39, but winning, with the outstanding score of the day, was eight-handicapper, Ryan Sainsbury, with a two-over-par gross score of 42 points.
Division One of The Mid-week Stableford was won by Martin Myers with 35 points on countback from Troy Chivers, with Wayne Black third with 31. Division Two saw a triple countback on 34 points, with Chris Roe winning from Andy Griffiths and Charlie Salter. Division Three went to Darryl Livingstone on 36 points on countback from James Blackstock, with Alan Evans-Jones third with 35 points.
The Ladies’ Friendly Team played Knowle and came out on top, 2½-1½. Wins for Mendip came from Cora Pavey/Ann Padley and Gina Howard/Mary Ainsworth, with Wendy Norman and Team Captain, Anne Collins, gaining a hard-fought-for half.
An excellent result for Mendip came in the Somerset County Adult/Junior Foursomes event held at Clevedon, where Paul Reakes and daughter, thirteen-year-old Ellen, retained their title.
The Pro Shop Bulls Eye Challenge saw the Course lengthened from fifty yards to 100 this week, resulting in lower scores than seen previously. Winning with seventeen points was Tony Taylor, with Andy Matthews second with fifteen and a three-way tie for third between John Ellis, Henry Banks and John Stembridge.
This week Mendip held its inaugural ‘Cyder Cup’ event, its own version of the Ryder Cup. The brainchild of Club Pro, Stuart Disney, proved so popular that the twenty-a-side team event immediately sold out. Despite dire weather warnings, the day was not that bad, with strong winds but not the predicted heavy rain.
Selection of pairings was announced at the pre-match breakfast by Stuart, Captain of the USA Team, and Josh, Mendip’s Assistant Professional, Captain of Europe. As in true Ryder Cup tradition, it was Foursomes pre-lunch and Four-balls in the afternoon. Team USA led after the morning play, 7-3. Fearing a Europe fight back, Stuart selected strong early pairings for the four-balls, and this tactic paid off with victory secured early on in the afternoon; the final score being USA 13½, Europe 6½.
The post-match dinner rounded off an excellent day. The Cyder Cup Trophy, donated by Stuart, was presented to him by Josh. The event is already raising interest for 2019, with an expanded version anticipated.
Tony Williams