Former Thurlestone captains return for high-spirited competition

THURLESTONE’S men’s stableford competition on Tuesday, October 6, was another well supported edition with 41 entries.

The winner was Toby Hirons with 41 points, from David Smyth (39pts) and Phillip Martin (38pts). There were seven birdie twos scored and Tony Croke had two- on the third and 13th, congratulations to all.

On the next day, the ladies held a medal with 27 in the field and a medal winners trophy comp with 10 taking part.

Janice Croke won the former with a nett 70, beating Irene Lowry on countback, who was the winner of the latter from Sally Cahill (74).

Match Day Captain Bill Ogley reports on the men’s match away against Dainton on Tuesday 6. An almost unchanged team from the home match played against Dainton. The conditions were good with well-prepared greens and preferred lies on the fairways.

The Thurlestone team arrived with a 5-1 advantage from the home match. All of the four-ball matches were good humoured with each side keeping the other on their toes.

Thurlestone won the day with four wins to two. The match was followed by an outstanding buffet meal much enjoyed by all. Overall, across both home and away matches, Thurlestone won 9-3. A good result for all involved.

On Saturday, it was the Turton-Hart Salver which is the final major trophy competition of the year.

It is played in early October, with the Salver awarded to the player with the best stableford score. There were 58 entries and the winner was Malcolm Swales with 38 points just beating on count back two others on 38- Jason Armstrong and Derek Harwood. Congratulations to the eight members who got a birdie two.

Lastly, to the Hubert Brunskill Legacy Jug, a competition for the men’s past captains followed by a meal. The winner of the trophy was last year’s captain John Rogers. There were 11 past captains in the competition (pictured).

THERE was a stableford on both courses for Dartmouth ladies this week. Jodie Kenyon has been playing well over the summer and at the beginning of play her Handicap Index was five shots lower than it had been at the beginning of May; by the end of the day it was six shots.

Her front nine was a mixed bag of blobs and three-pointers but she scored on all holes on the back to finish in first place with 36 points. Anne Woodward was close behind but a blob on the fifteenth cost her dearly and she finished second with 35. Jules Vincent was third with 33.

On the Dartmouth course, Sharon Jones had a great front nine, scoring 19 points over the first eight holes but suffered a few setbacks at the turn and didn’t reach 20 until the eleventh.

It wasn’t exactly plain sailing from there, but a four-pointer on the fourteenth settled her back into steadier golf and she finished first with 33 points. Barbara Dally also struggled at the turn but did recover to finish second with 27, followed by Sue Warren with 26.

Philip Green has been having a bit of torrid time with golf recently - a feeling many of us share - so it was good to see him having the top score in the men’s Midweek Stableford.

Philip’s 34 points won Division Two and was two points ahead of John Garner in second place.

The scores were closer in Division One, where Andy Birss just edged the win with 31 points. Rob Barrett and Pete Hannaford were pressing but a blob on the eighteenth left Rob one point behind Andy, though he did manage to beat Pete on count back.

Summer had disappeared by the weekend and those who were sticking to “shorts until the end of October” were definitely not feeling the heat. Brian Mushens managed (briefly) to emulate Tiger Woods, somehow stopping his downswing on the fifth when his ball fell off the tee peg.

Sadly, it didn’t do much for his shoulder injury, which caused him to withdraw a few holes later. On a happier note, Dave Nicholls was very pleased with his 45-foot birdie putt on the eighth, but lost any bragging rights to another player in his own group.

Edd Mitchell had wedged his second shot to eight inches from the pin and easily holed the putt for an eagle three. Matt Young was in the same group and only managed a par on that hole but did play the best golf overall and finished top of Division One.

Matt’s birdie on the eighteenth made the difference, giving him the extra point needed to beat Bernard Taylor.

In Division Two, Steve Tozer had one of his best rounds of golf of the year and his 39 points included two blobs, so could have been much better.

Unfortunately, the score which disappeared off his handicap record was the best one of the year, so a handicap increase rather than a decrease. Shelley Durrans was some way behind in second place with 33.

THE fun event involving three clubs and a putter was given an airing from the Championship Course blue tees on Monday, October 12.

The last time this event was held was in 2024 when the champion was Robert Wotton who mastered the challenge with a fine 39 points. He was in the field looking to defend his crown. But on this occasion, he was unplaced.

This competition was a stableford scoring non-qualifier with course handicap the overarching measure alongside the standard 95% equity allowance. It's difficult to know what clubs to take and what to leave out as conditions influence decisions.

One thing was certain, a deal of improvisation was required. 21 seniors braved early fog, rain and wind with only 15 completing the full course.

John Garner led the way on 31 points, one ahead of Nigel Osborne who himself had Gordon Holmes a single point behind.

Nigel took the Division Two spoils ahead of Tony King with Keith Moffitt (27) and Clive Norton (26) also finishing at the top end of Div1.

No birdie twos were scored at the par threes. Many thanks go to competition guru Nigel Osborne who downloaded the results. Next week sees a combination tee challenge.