The Men’s RAFA Trophy was played in difficult conditions that saw CSS rise to 74, 3 over Par. 114 competitors took part. Division 3 was won by a rejuvenated Abe Fukuyama, playing off 19 these days, with net 76. Second was Gary Butler with 77 who beat James Pitchell, 78, into third place.
Division Two was won by Ian Fairclough with a fine net 70, with John Ellis second with 71 beating Steven Whalen on countback. Division One saw an excellent round of net 69 by Three handicapper Tom Lowe to win by one shot from Neil Onslow who beat Simon Jefferies into third place. However, the trophy winner came from Division Two, with 15 handicap Stephen Ledger, also scoring net 69, but winning after countback.
The Mendip Vase Open event was this year run as a Three person Bowmaker Medal event. This prestigious event was historically a 36 hole singles and when that type of event became less popular, it was run as a 36 hole greensomes for many years. So this latest version maybe reflects changing times. Overall winners were the Mendip team of Board Members, Martin Myers, Alan Fussell and Ian Stolworthy with net 138. In second place was another Mendip team of Chris Butland, Dean Lewer and Scott Butland, with net 139. Best Visiting Team came from Stockwood Vale and Knowle.
The annual running of the ever popular Berkeley Hall Foursomes event drew a good entry and with a shotgun 6 p.m. start, everyone arrived back in the clubhouse together to continue a most pleasant evening. In third place this year was Ian Fairclough and Chris Lindley with net 73.5. In second place the low handicap pairing of Tom Lowe and Jack Hayes with 72. However, comfortable winners were long standing member eight handicapper, Danny Middle, who paired up with fairly new to the game of golf 26 handicap, Graham Colbourne, who scored net 69.
The Ladies held a qualifying Stableford and with the course set up for the Ladies County Week event, most competitors found conditions fairly challenging! Division three was won by Caroline Simper, with Elaine Richardson second and Caroline Laws third. In Division two, Chris Atkinson was first followed by Mary Ainsworth, with Nichola Croft third. In Division One, Chris Olds was third, with 32 points losing out to Jenny Merrett on countback. However, the winner and the only player to better Par was Vi Hayes, with a splendid 39 points, which saw her handicap tumble to 12.2.
In the Bristol and District Scratch Foursomes event, Gill Brown and Aimee Sawyer, continued their fine run of success with a comfortable win over a pairing from Burnham and Berrow and so progress to the semi-finals. The Ladies Alliance A Team had a resounding home win over Mendip Spring, winning all seven matches. On the other hand, the B Team came up against strong opposition when visited by Wells, who only field one league team. This resulted in a straightforward win for Wells, with only Elaine Kitchenham successful for the home team.
The Seniors’ Team entertained Orchardleigh at Mendip with the match ending 3–3. There were wins for the pairings of Henry Banks and Merlyn Saunders, Steve Creese and Bryan Lewis and John Stembridge and Colin Davies.
The Seniors also visited Tidworth to contest the first leg of the 1908 Seniors’ Trophy. It was a very unfortunate clash of dates with Mendip’s Captain’s Charity Day, hopefully lessons will have been learnt for 2017. However, the weather, course and hospitality were first class and the event was enjoyed by one and all. The result narrowly went Tidworth’s way 4½ – 3½ with Mendip’s wins coming from Gary Perkins and Nick Inskip, Selwyn Rees and Bob Smallcombe and Henry Banks and Martin Lambert. A further half was gained by John Whyman and Rod Dyson.
The weather was very kind to the Ladies of the six Counties that contested South West Ladies County Week. The course was set up as a true challenge by Richard Gregory and his Greens Team with the greens getting faster as each day passed and overall was presented in tremendous condition, a fact commented on by so many of the Ladies taking part. Andy Jones and his team played their full part in proceedings with their catering, again much appreciated and commented on during the week. The competitive golf went on throughout the week with a mixture of formats and the spectators were treated to some splendid play from the six teams, with several England players demonstrating their skills.
Somerset fielding a fairly young and relatively inexperienced team at this level, fought valiantly during the week and will certainly have gained invaluable experience. A lot of support was given to the event by Mendip Members in many different roles, something greatly appreciated by the Competitors. Overall Winners were Gloucestershire who will now represent the South West in the Regions Finals in September.