Once a year, the Seniors practice a form of Civil War, when the Captain and the Vice-Captain each lead a team in a very partisan match. Two factors affect this tournament - first, the team members loyalty is transient –- after all the Vice will be Captain next year! Second, since the event takes place in March, the weather has a huge effect on the outcome.

This year, the delightful Carol had been forecasting almost persistent rain for the morning of March 3 - but then the situation gradually improved a little - however Tuesday, March 7, still looked very wet, windy and unpleasant by Monday 6th. Opinions were divided - play or cancel? Discussions were held, opinions were sought and seaweed was checked for moisture, but eventually the sensible decision was promulgated by our weather-wise competition secretary, Jim Martin, who said “Wait and see - it’s getting better all the time” (in a London dialect). Well we waited, things did get better, and the match was on! - Good old Jim!

Now just because it didn’t rain doesn’t mean that it was a lovely day - it was cold, windy and unpleasant, also the greens had been tined - but we had a match! Eleven teams from each side set out to win for their leader, in fine spirits and several layers of warm clothing (except Jim) and a few hours later, back in the warmth and welcoming atmosphere of the clubhouse, the result was announced.

Now in the interests of historical accuracy, I have been looking back over the years to see which of our leaders has the best record in this event - information is a tad sparse, but it appears that the Captain’s team is slightly ahead.

After the result from the first match was in, it seemed that this trend would continue, because the strong team of Jeff Banfield (standing in for Vice-Captain Idwal David, who is away enjoying sunny Portugal) and Vice-President Chris Beecher was beaten by the even stronger team of Captain Dudley Williams and newbie John Ball.

However, Dudley’s lads failed to keep up the momentum, and the eventual score was a win by the Vice-Captain’s team - I do not feel the need to report by what margin - suffice it to say; “Sufficient.” Congratulations Jeff, commiserations Dudley - it was a good match, enjoyed by all who played, and you both get your photograph in the paper – Hurrah!

And finally, sadly Jim Martin was unable to play because his knee was too painful, seems unfair somehow! It was nice to welcome back Brian ‘Morgie’ Morgan after a fairly long absence from the links, and I apologise, dear reader, for the burst of mis-information in my article last week, when I reported that Newman Vincent had won prizes in both the under 75 and over 75 categories - International Man of Mystery our Newman!

And finally, finally - the weather just MUST be good today (Friday, March 10), because the Chicken Trotters’ End of Season tournament and Luncheon WILL take place - talk about tempting fate!

M.F.

One of them

A dozen Rabbits eagerly looked on as the draw was made for the penultimate Winter League contest last Sunday, writes our links reporter, Warren Hacker. Apparently that means there’s only one week left.

Out first were treasurer Mark, Steve C and Paul. One of them managed to bounce his ball across the bridge on the 16th, one lost two balls on the short 13th and the other one consolidated his 10th league place by improving by one point overall.

The second group consisted of Robin, Wyndham and Peter. One of them was jet-lagged from his Barcelona trip, one has to share golf thoughts with ‘new home’ ones and the other rolled up last and finished top.

Following them were Kieron, Steve W and Phil. One of them notched his highest Winter League score, one lost his outright runner-up spot and the other stormed to eight points from three holes - half his front nine score.

Behind them were John, our leader Grant and Mackie. One of them got his money back for second place, one was trialling his new shorter driver and the other was looking to extend his eclectic lea d- which he did.

There were a few hard-luck stories about opportunities missed for birdie twos - the Medic’s putt on 17 hit the back of the hole and stayed out - but it all means a rollover to next week so there’ll be excitement unbounded if someone slots their second shot.

In the absence of the Rabbits captain, it was the treasurer who announced the scores, with half the combatants managing to get scores in the 30s despite the tricky two-club westerly zephyr. Wyndham and our leader both managed 32, one less than Phil, but the three podium places were filled by Steve W in bronze with 35, John taking home the silver with 36 and the gold going to Robin on 37.

On the Eclectic front, there were only four improvers - Kieron by two, Paul by four and both Robin and Grant by one - so Robin joins Adrian and Tom in third, now five behind Grant.

The Winter League standings show Grant with a 14-point lead over Robin and Phil, two ahead of John, who is four ahead of Steve C. It’s all over bar the shouting for first, but there’s a bit of a tussle for the ‘other places’, so it’s all about the ‘lowest score’ now.

‘What if there’s a tie?’I hear you ask. Democratic results have caused some ‘unusual’ outcomes of late and the verdict last Sunday decreed that there would be a ‘sudden-death play-off’ to decide any ties - strange but true.

Rabbits TABLE

P Eclectic Best 8

Grant Watkins 14 63 309

Robin Bradbury 11 58 295

Phil Carpenter 11 55 295

John Ball 11 56 293

Steve Cole 12 60 289

Chris Smith 10 56 272

Steve Watkins 14 56 269

Martin Durham 11 54 268

Adrian Palmer 9 58 254

Mark Edwards 13 52 248

Wyndham Collins 8 51 240

Peter Turton 10 52 226

Mackie Harts 9 47 207

Tom Watkins 4 58 145

Paul Crawford 5 42 100

Kieron Plested 4 43 100

Gents Stableford - Welsh Handicap Team qualifier

Early morning rain meant that entries were down for the Gents Stableford - Welsh Handicap Team qualifier on Saturday.

Neverthless, 55 players still ventured out during the day and leading scores and prize winners were as follows:

Division One: 1. Jack Harries 40 pts (£38.50); 2. Spencer Harries 39 (£27); 3. Martin Morris 36 (£11.50).

Division Two: 1. Michael Anthony 37 pts (£38.50); 2. Cameron Jnr Davies 34 (£27); 3. Jeremy Peters 33 (£11.50).

Twos: Chris Beecher, Steven Court, Gareth Davies, Gary McNeilly, David Cope, Michael Harries, Spencer Harries, Martin Morris (£6.85 each).

Bag draw: Owen James, Michael Harries, Peter Ellis, Jack Harries (£13.50 each).

Pro Shop draw: Chris Smith (Ping shirt).

Handicap changes: Jack Harries 6 to 5; Stephen Maytum 15 to 16; Allen Watts 6 to 7.

Gents March Mid-Week Stableford

Twenty-seven players entered the Gents March Mid-Week Stableford last week.

Played off the white boxes, leading scores and prize winners were as follows:

1. Terry Davies 42 pts (£37); 2. Chris Beecher 38 (£21.50); 3. Steven Court 37, on countback (£12.50), 4. Austin Davies 37, on countback (£6).

Twos: Stephen Williams, Richard Morton, Philip Goodridge, Tim Poole (£6.75 each).

Bag draw: John Gilman, Jerry Whitehouse, Barrie Frayne (£9 eaach).

Pro Shop draw: Lee Lewis (dozen Srixon balls).

Changes to handicap: Piers Bradbury 17 to 18; Steven Court 13 to 12; Terry Davies 12 to 11; Barrie Frayne 19 to 18; John Gillespie 17 to 18; Jeremy Morris 8 to 9; David Skyrme 18 to 19; Stephen Williams 13 to 14.

Lades’ Section

It was a good start to March last Thursday (the 2nd), with the Ladies managing to get out onto the course in an 18-hole Stableford competition. There were 24 players swinging their clubs and the ones who swung the best were - in firstst place - Denise Edwards with 37 points, who is playing very consistently at the moment, and who actually managed the only two twos of the day on the sixth and 17th holes; in second place, Linda Tordoff-Evans on countback from Helen Hughes in third place, both with a commendable 36 points. The rest of us used the breeze as an excuse for our lower scores!

We soon forgot about our performances back in the clubhouse when we were treated to an extremely yummy belated birthday cake made by our cake-baking member Jo Walsh Morgan for our lady president, Pat Fox, accompanied by musical birthday (can’t turn them off) candles.

The Senior Ladies weren’t so lucky weatherwise on Monday 6th as the forecast of ‘no rain’ turned out to be completely wrong. A dozen or so played a few holes, but came in off the course and enjoyed an early lunch.

Ladies are reminded that we have our first charity event of the year coming up on Thursday, March 23. It is in support of ‘Pancreatic Cancer Action’ which is a charity that focuses on early diagnosis and improving the quality of those affected by it. Dan Shooter, the youngest son of one of our members, Sue, is running the London Marathon on Sunday, April 23. in aid of this charity.

This year will be the 10th anniversary of his father passing away from pancreatic cancer and he hopes the run will be a fitting tribute in memory of his Dad. The money raised from our day will go towards Dan’s fundraising target of £2,000 to support those diagnosed with this awful disease, as well as their families.

Ladies playing are asked to wear something purple to support the charity’s colour.

Anyone wishing to help Dan raise funds for this very worthy cause can do so at www.justgiving.com/Dan-Shooter2

Tenby Ladies wish Dan all the best for his run and his fund-raising.

GUW Senior Men’s 18-Hole Greensomes Stableford Qualifier.

Members of the Senior Section are reminded that coming up soon is the GUW Senior Men’s 18-Hole Greensomes Stableford Qualifier.

It is open to all men aged 55 or over at the date of the club qualifying round.

The winners of the qualifying round will go forward to the Welsh Seniors National Greensomes Final at Creigiau Golf Club on September 20.

Qualifying round at Tenby is to be played on Tuesday, April 4.