Roger is Tenby Golf Club’s player of the year

As reported previously, Tenby GC finished second in Division Two of the Dyfed League this year with a total of 67 points.

Haverfordwest were champions with 81.5 points and are consequently promoted to Division One.

Regarding next season’s Division Two, Ashburnham are relegated from Division one and South Pembs are promoted from Division Three.

In all, 39 players represented Tenby in this year’s campaign. Four performed particularly well. Jerry Whitehouse won six of the eight games he played and halved another.

Martin Morris won six of his nine matches, including three away, and halved another.

Chris Thompson enjoyed a fine 100 per cent record. He won all seven games he played, including three away.

However, Roger Schooling received the Tenby Player of the Year award. He represented the club in eight matches, winning seven and halving the other.

Footnote: Members of the Tenby GC squad wish to thank Loz Phillips of Cliff Top (part of the Clarence House Hotel) for all his kind sponsorship of the new blue polo shirts.

Seniors say goodbye to Martin Neilan - keep dancing!

Tuesday, October 10, a day that all the Seniors wanted to be fine and sunny, started out showery, windy and chilly - but it did improve for the later starters. The format for the 33 entrants was a 15-hole Stableford Waltz - and if you are concerned that this involved men in tails dancing round the links, rest assured that it is a form of play for a threeball. The trio record the best score for hole 1, the two best scores for hole 2 and all three scores for hole 3 - and repeat this succession around the course.

Another feature of the day was the final appearance as a Tenby Senior of Martin Neilan. Martin has been a member since 2004 and is a popular and well known figure on the Senior circuit, but he is moving back to England to live on the Wirral. More about Martin later on.

The tournament was a great success and a wide range of scores were recorded, but fittingly the winning team was Bob Howse, Robin Hagley - and Martin Neilan! Their score of 61 earned them much gold - and a pleasant memory for Martin.

One point behind was the Alan Jones, John Hayhoe and Ross James trio, who pocketed rather less.

There were no third or fourth prizes, because paying out team prizes is an expensive business!

Entering the scores onto the computer proved to be quite difficult for some teams - hence the bottom team were credited with only seven points - they must have scored more than that!

Martin’s playing partners had arranged for all the Seniors to applaud Martin on the 18th green, and the photographs show Martin’s reaction to missing what should have been his last putt, and the assembled Seniors in a group portrait with him - this one was taken by Ryan from the Pro.Shop - a multi talented lad! Finally, captain Idwal presented Martin with a farewell card signed by all the Seniors, and an almost tearful Martin thanked everybody for their friendship and camaraderie.

Oh yes - the charity raffle -captain Idwal pulled ball number 20 out of the bag, and the lucky winner was Mick Whale - many congratulations Mick!

And finally - next Tuesday, we play the second Stableford Eclectic competition of the season, and on Friday, October 20, the delayed Tommy Hutton Bowl will be fought over - don’t forget to book your place, and a buggy if necessary!

See you there!

M.F.

Gents October Monthly Medal

Seventy-five players entered the Gents October Monthly Medal last Saturday.

It was damp and drizzly for the early starters, but fortunately the weather cleared mid-morning and players were able to enjoy some pleasant conditions on the well-manicured links... although the rough was still punishing!

Leading scores and prize winners were as follows:

Division One (35 entries): 1. Jack Harries 73-5-68 (medal plus £40.50); 2. Richard Morton 71-2-69, on countback (£30.50); 3. Colin Duffield 81-12-69 (£20.50); 4. Chris Thompson 73-3-70, on coountback (£10).

Division Two (40 entries): 1. Neil Dickinson 100-28-72, on countback (medal plus £40.50); 2. Steve Maytum 88-16-72 (£30.50); 3. Ryan Dennehy 88-15-73, on countback (£20.50); 4. David JP Morgan 95-22-73 (£10).

Twos: Rhys TG Davies, Jeremy Peters, Terry Davies, Chris Hughes, Richard Morton, Darren Thomas, Neil R. Thomas, Chris Thompson, Desmond Stone, John Gillespie, Ryan Dennehy, Alan E. James (£6.25 each).

Bag draw: N. Webb, I. Jarvis, R. Reed, P. Bradley, S. Evans, R. Johns (£12.50 each).

Pro Shop draw: S. Maytum (Glenmuir sweater).

Handicap changes: Neil Dickinson 28 to 27; Colin Duffield 12 to 10; Jack Harries 5 to 4; Terence Martin 14 to 15; Stephen Maytum 16 to 15; David JP Morgan 22 to 21; Richard Morton 2 to 1; Michael Smiddy 23 to 24; Neil Webb 13 to 12.

Richard rules the roost

I am pleased - nay delighted - to report that on the morning of Friday, October 6, the Chicken Trotters enjoyed their first outing of the Winter season. The weather was sublime, the course was in excellent condition - and 14 Trotters had remembered that the Winter season had begun!

It was really great to see John Hancock back on the links; John has been set upon by surgeons who have removed chunks of his insides - but he is back, looking remarkably sprightly and teeing off with Paul Bradley remarkably early! - so no change there.

The Roost Ruling Richard is, of course, Richard Davies - whose 31 points rocketed him into first place, earned him £1.20 and cut him by five strokes to a nine handicap -ouch! Just behind him, veteran Ken Goldsbrough, a.k.a. ‘Leader of the Tenby Chapter of Hell’s Angels’, scored a creditable 28 points, worth 90p, and grudgingly parted with three precious strokes so that when he next Trots he will be playing off 30. Peter (Pedro) Ellis came, saw and conquered third place with 27 points - up 60p and down one stroke; he departed smiling. Peter Williams slipped into fourth place with a hard won 24 points. Steve Cole (the administrator previously known as Chief Trotter) awarded Peter with 30p, and reduced his commendably low handicap not a jot!

It is with deep regret that I must inform the many friends and colleagues of the long-time Trotter, Brian Waters -that he claimed the Booby prize this week! His score shall remain a secret, but I hope the award of 30p will lessen the ignominy, while the increase in handicap of two shots should help his score next week!

The par for the 15-hole competition was 24 Stableford points, there were 48 blobs - 3.4 each? (no!) - and not a single two was scored. Ignore the superstitions and resolve to play on Friday 13th.

See you there!

M.F.

Trotting 20 years ago

The second Friday in October 1997 fell on the 10th, and the ledger tells us that the weather was fine and sunny - tempting 51 Chickens to leave the coop and start scratching for corn out on the links. Then - as now - the entry fee was a paltry 30p, demonstrating that the Tenby Chicken Trotters are inflation proof!

High scoring was a feature of the day, Roy Gundry heading the points total with a splendid 39 - that’s an average 2.6 points a hole over 15 holes - which earned him a less than magnificent £2.70 and dropped his Trotter handicap by a cruel five strokes. Moran Boot, Gee Ellis and Derrick Williams shared second place with a much lower score of 31 points, winning £2.30 each and reducing their handicaps by three. John Hancock and Graham Stubbs were joint third with 30 points, each pocketing £1.50 and losing only one stroke.

There were three twos; Ivor Smith, Malcolm Arlott and Richie Hyland all slotted their second shots on the ninth hole. Their skill was rewarded by a miserly 80p each - just about £1 short of the cost of a pint of bitter!

A slim, handsome Gavin Field-Thomas brought up the rear with a fairly disappointing 15 points - which nonetheless made him 30p richer and two strokes better off.

Par for the day was 30.7 Stableford points, and after all the prize winners had been paid out, £1:65 was left for the kitty. It looks like the Christmas Dinner is going to be a sumptuous feast!

M.F.

And so Summer ends

The final Three Counties Summer League match of 2017 for Tenby Rabbits was played on their home course against Priskilly last Sunday in glorious sunshine, writes our links reporter, Warren Hacker. Tenby needed a home win to ensure they finished runners-up behind champions Milford. So what occurred?

The role of Person-in-Charge in the absence of holidaying captain Martin was his deputy - vice-captain Paul C. Could The Medic prescribe a team victory? Would he get his selection correct?

The visitors could only muster five of the required six pairs, so the final pairing of Robin and Boss Man Paul C were awarded the game and preserved their unbeaten home record - four wins and a draw - well wagged the Tail-end Charlies!

First on the tee for the home team were Will and Steve C. They’ve been paired six times and by the end of the day they have five victories. Young Beynon played out of his skin - in fact, he played in the skin of a near-single-figure golfer - and his par-fest meant an early finish after a 7 and 6 success.

Second off were Kieron and Wyndham - together for the second time this summer. Their previous match had been a home defeat against Haverfordwest, but they were hoping to turn it around this time and with both playing steady - although not spectacular - golf they came out with a two up victory.

The two generations of the Watkins Clan - Steve W and Grant - were next on the tee, fresh from their success in Finals Day a fortnight ago. It was a hard-fought contest, but despite falling behind at one stage, the homesters prevailed with a 2 and 1 win.

Next up were John B with new partner Chris. They gave a good account of themselves and they were worthy winners by 3 and 2. Could they be a pairing that captain Paul will send out next summer?

The final match on the tee saw secretary Peter and Adrian take on the visiting pair- which included their acting captain - Adrian’s erstwhile acquaintance and fellow former St. Pierre member, Peter Gomer. They had a nip-and-tuck battle, but the Tenby duo edged a two up victory.

This gave the team a 6-0 home win, meaning three points for the home win plus six for the games won, a total of nine points to bring their Summer League total to a very excellent 81 points after their eight wins and a half from the 13 games (seven home, six away). Their ‘bonus points’ score of 54 was only one less than Milford who won 10 and halved one, so when Tenby won, they won well! Including the game conceded when Glyn Abbey couldn’t raise a team, Tenby managed four ‘clean sweeps’ 6-0 for nine points, as well as an 8.5 success.

The Mick Gillet Trophy for the most Summer League points was won by Grant Watkins with 34 points from his 12 games played. He only lost once - an away defeat at Milford - and the only other non-win was a home half to Cardigan. Runner-up was Steve Watkins (the only other player to play in each of the 12 games played) with 30 points and it was going to be difficult for him to catch Grant as he kept getting paired with him!

Third was Steve C on 25 (from 10), then Kieron on 23 (from 11), 22 for Adrian (8) and Robin (11), 21 for Mark (10) and Phil (9), 20 for Bill (8), 19 for Chris (10) and Peter (9), 15 for John B (5), Paul C (10) and Ian (7), 10 for Wyndham (7), 7 for Dave (2), 6 for captain Martin (5) and Paul D (3), 5 for Mackie (3), 3 for John S (3) and Tom playing one, but not getting a point.

Congratulations again to Milford for their league success, but well done to captain Martin and the Tenby Rabbits for their second place spot - not a bad performance following on from two successful campaigns - and the best of luck to next year’s Summer League players under captain Paul C.

The Gwyn Tibbs Cup (for all paid-up Rabbits) will be played this Sunday (October 15), with the B & H Trophy (for the Summer League players) the following Sunday morning (22nd). The 53rd Rabbits AGM will be held afterwards when Paul C will officially take over the reigns. Both cup scores will go towards the 2017/18 Winter League ‘Best 8’ scores and both will be qualifiers.