Mendip’s annual running of the Showering Cup attracted a full entry of 130 competitors. Tough scoring conditions saw CSS rise to 74 against the Par of 71, with only 7 scores bettering Par. Winning Division 3 with net 70, was Paul Drew and he was followed by Peter Walsh, with 72, beating Glynn Haddock on countback. Division 2 went to Jim Scott, with a fine 68, which with CSS rising takes his handicap back to 9.3. In second place was Steven Morris, with 70 and in third place, John Harvey, with 71. Division 1 was won by Scott Butland, with 68, which means a handicap reduction to 7.4, with Henry Treasure 2nd with 70 beating Jack Hayes on countback. However winning the cup was Sam Reilly with an excellent 67. Now in his early 20s, Sam has come up through the Mendip ranks, starting as a very young junior and now sporting a handicap of 4.

The First Team continue to struggle in Division 1 of the Bristol and District League. This is solely down to the unavailability of key players on a regular basis, especially with midweek away matches. Their latest two defeats, both by a 1-4 score line, were to Knowle and Long Ashton with sole wins coming from Stuart Ponfield and Tom Lowe in the former and Tom Small and Jordan Vaughan in the latter. It is hoped that Team Captain, Paul Reakes, can field somewhere near his ‘A’ team for the remaining matches.

The Men’s Mid Week July Tankard produced a good field, although scoring still remained testing. The course which is in excellent order is nevertheless making good scores difficult to come by. Winning Division 1 was Scratch Player, Liam Copp, with 38 points, followed by Jordan Vaughan with 37 and Matt Rawlings with 33.

Winning Division 2 with 37 points was Dean Lewer, with 37 followed by Jon Tweed, with 34 beating Trevor Oats on countback. Division 3 winner was Martin Russell, with 36 with Simon Wheeler second with 35 and Martyn Hirst third with 34.

After what has been a poor summer for weather, the Ladies, playing in their qualifying stableford were faced with temperatures of 32 degrees! Silver Division was won by Liz Rose, with Ladies Captain, Hilary Rowdon, second and Linda Brobson, third. Bronze Division was won by Margaret Allen, with Carol Curtis second and Karen Cookson third. Copper Division was won by Caroline Laws with Anne Collins second and Wendy Norman third. There were no handicap reductions. On another very hot day, the Ladies B Team in the Alliance recorded an excellent victory over Clevedon A Team, 10-4. There were wins for Jenny Merrett, Linda Brobson, Lyn Cox, Chris Olds and Jean Padfield.

The Seniors held their annual running of the Bill Freeman Trophy which attracted an entry of 73 competitors. Weather and playing conditions were good, as was some of the scoring. In fifth place after a quadruple countback on 36 points, came Paul Apfelstedt, just losing out to fourth placed Alan March. In third place, again losing out on countback, came Hugh Rowdon, with 37 points, the same as second placed John Stembridge. However, the winner and after a long absence from the winner’s circle, was Peter French with 39 points. The Seniors Order of merit was updated after this event and this shows, unsurprisingly, a clear leader, Chris Bryant with 112 points, with Alan Fussell on 89, Bryan Lewis, on 85, Adam Spragg, on 83 and Tony Williams, on 81. Altogether there are 93 competitors with scores in this event.

Mendip Golf Club’s annual Captain’s Charity event attracted 28 teams of four who competed in hot and sunny conditions on a course presented in stunning order. The Charities chosen this year by Club Captain David Williams were the RUH Forever Friends Appeal for a new Cancer Care Unit and the Maternity Wing at Frome Community Hospital, where the Captain’s daughter is a midwife. There was an auction of 12 items that had been very generously donated including a weekend in London, a day’s shooting and a gourmet meal for 6 served at home by Andy Jones. The winning team overall came from the Men’s Section with 90 points. The team consisted of Malcolm and Wayne Srawley, Wayne Black and Dan Allen. Most importantly, the day raised a total of £5,750 which was shared by the two charities. This brings the total raised for various charities by Mendip Golf Club since the Charity Day event was launched in 1999 to a figure approaching £200,000.

Tony Williams