St Pierre – Mathern Course, 20th May
Sunshine at last!! After too many wet and cold trips to Cornwall, the relocation of the tour to that notoriously warm and sunny country that is Wales, meant that fine weather was guaranteed for the whole trip.
The drought like conditions that Wales always suffers with at this time of year meant that the course was not in the greatest of conditions. The green staff, we assumed, had been suffering with heat exhaustion and thus were unable to cut the grass. Regardless, the 2018 competition began in earnest with the “Pierre” and “Mathern” teams battling to win the coveted Harris team trophy.
The format was 4 Ball, better ball, and the results were as follows:
Pete Cosford lost to Richard Edmonds 2&1
Rob Austen & beat Dave Scott & 3&2
James Austen Sue Scott
David Mitchell & lost to Nigel Wain & 2&1
Reg Brown Phil Reay
Derek Craston & beat David Wain & 2&1
John Pritchard David Richardson
Sue Pritchard & beat Jane Wain & 4&3
Steve Mulford Martin Sykes
Paul Needle & lost to Peter Harris & 6&4
Christine Mitchell Paul East
The day ended with the teams tied at 3 points each.
The valuable 2’s pot was shared between Rob, Richard and Christine (x2).
St Pierre – Old Course, 21st May (am)
An early start was made easier by being greeted with more sunshine. The Old Course was in excellent condition and the 4 Ball better ball competition resumed. The results were as follows:
Rob Austen & lost to David Wain & 2&1
Paul Needle Nigel Wain
David Mitchell & lost to Jane Wain & 1 hole
Reg Brown Paul East
Sue Pritchard & beat Sue Scott & 5&4
Derek Craston Peter Harris
Pete Cosford & lost to Dave Scott & 1 hole
Steve Mulford David Richardson
Christine Mitchell & beat Richard Edmonds & 4 & 3
John Pritchard Phil Reay
Spot awards were as follows:
NTP 6th Pete Cosford
NTP x2 10th Paul Needle
LD 14th Richard Edmonds (men) Sue Pritchard (ladies)
The morning finished with team “Pierre” falling behind by 5 points to 6 and Christine with more money thanks to making the only birdie 2.
St Pierre – Mathern Course, 21st May (pm)
The green staff, having recovered enough to resume duties, had been hard at work and the course was presented in much improved condition. A number of players dropped out of the afternoon’s competition to allow themselves sufficient time to re-visit the enormous buffet that St Pierre had laid on for us. It was quite something to behold – the buffet that is, not Phil’s stomach after his 4th visit… The traditional afternoon competition format was Greensomes, and although a detailed record of events is unavailable, the day concluded with the “Mathern” team a further point ahead.
St Mellons Golf Club, 22nd May
The Open championship was held at a sunny and very well presented St Mellons with champion Nigel Wain leading the way with a respectable score of 32 points.
This was only good enough for fourth place behind Dave Scott 33 (out in 20 pts), Sue Scott 36 and our new champion – keeping the trophy in the family – David Wain on 38.
Team-wise the prize went to team “B” comprising the Davids mentioned above along with Sue Pritchard & Phil Reay with a total of 86 points (50 on the front nine).
They were closely followed by team “A” of Nigel, Paul East, Richard Edmonds & Sue Scott with 84 points. The other teams scored in the seventies.
Spot prizes were awarded as follows:
NTP 5th Richard Edmonds
NTP 11 Pete Cosford
NTP x 2 16th Nil return – Interesting choice of hole !
LD 18th Pete Cosford & Jane Wain
Birdies 2s David Scott & David Wain – both on the third hole.
St Pierre – Old Course, 23rd May
The team competition resumed on another bright and sunny day with the traditional singles format. The results were as follows:
Fay Austen lost to Jane Wain on the final hole
Sue Pritchard beat David Wain, again on the final hole
Steve Mulford lost to Sue Scott – 4&3
Peter Harris beat Martin Sykes – 2 up
John Pritchard beat David Richardson – 4&3
Paul Needle lost to Dave Scott – 4&3
Pete Cosford beat Nigel Wain – 5&3
The spot prizes were awarded as follows:
NTP 3rd – Sue Pritchard
NTP 6th – Nigel Wain the only 1 on the green
NTP x 2 – Pete Cosford
LD 17th – Richard & Sue P
With the “Pierre” team winning the day by 4 points to 3, the overall winners by 1 point were the “Mathern” team.
However, it’s fair to say that both teams won this year given the excellent weather we enjoyed and the change of venue was warmly received by everyone. Well done Peter!!
