THURLESTONE men had a good day for their Links Hotel and Scratch Cup. It was a large field of 44 players for the two trophies.

The Links Hotel Cup is a nett competition over 18 holes of medal play for members with handicaps of 18 and below. This round is combined with the results of the Thurlestone Hotel Cup which will be played on 13/09/26, to produce the winner of the Membland Trophy.

Meanwhile, the Scratch Cup is awarded to the player with the best 18-hole scratch score from the Links Hotel Cup.

Simon Parsons won the LHC with a nett 66 on countback from Eoghan Grace. Third place went to Daniel Cunningham with a 68.

The winner of the Scratch Cup was Daniel Cunningham with gross 70, from Chris Jones gross 73. It was a good day for birdie twos as 11 were scored, well done to them.

The junior team was in action on at the Juniors West Devon League matches at Staddon Heights, where they played against Staddon.

George Inch won his match on 18 (2-up), Ollie Chester won on 16 (3&2), Martha Massingham halved, Will Robson lost 2&1 and Finn Robson won on the 18th. This gave Thurlestone a 3.5-1.5 win and they’re currently top of the league.

Total closure of the M5 led to a stressful journey to Libbaton for the Sheelah Creasy team and to the very late arrival of one of our greensomes pairs - luckily the last pair out.

Gill Markham and Liz Lacon deserve the accolade of 'ladies of the match' for their unflustered approach to the delay and for the fact that they were then able to win their match. What stars!

Even though it rained quite heavily at times, it was a good day for the rest of the Thurlestone team, as they won one of the singles matches and the two greensomes match. This 3-2 win gives them a further 11 points.

The Presidents team travelled to Bigbury on a very grey, cold, overcast day with rain threatening. They had very competitive matches but again they all had to give their opponents shots which is tough on an away course.

All the same, they came away victorious with a fantastic away win of 5.5-1.5. Congratulations to the whole team and a big thanks caddies Liz and Eric.

It was then a wet and cold day for the midweek men’s stableford. The winner was Craig Blount with 36 points from Andrew Swan (35) and Bruce Brooker (34). One birdie two was scored by Steve Inch on the sixth.

Wednesday, May 20, saw the seniors friendly against Yelverton away. A match started in wet Dartmoor conditions was soon favoured by better weather, so within a few holes the course could be fully enjoyed.

Overall, Yelverton were able to deliver a strong result 4.5-1.5, but two matches were decided on the 18th so overall things were even tighter than that indicates. Particular mention should go to Yelverton's Kevin Blaber who played an outstanding round off an already low handicap, to deliver a strong win.

Both teams found the greens much slower than had been the case during recent dry weather so that took some adjustment by all. Nearest the pin prizes went to Rob Taylor of Yelverton and Mark Greatorex of Thurlestone.

On Wednesday, the ladies enjoyed a rain free day for their 18-hole Stableford but the wind was strong and the greens were tricky. The winner with 36 points was Jane Smyth from Julia Dorey, Mary Swan and Sarah Loader, all on 34 points. Unfortunately, no birdie twos were scored on the day.

Dartmouth ladies were playing for two trophies this week - the Yeomans for Division One and the Hardy-Jones in Division Two.

The usual hope for a medal round of no big scores held true for some players but was the downfall of others, with even the second easiest hole on the course catching one player out.

Weather conditions weren’t helping - heavy rain threatened to flood the greens and force an abandonment but eased to let the ladies continue.

The two successful players were those who took a leaf out of Aaron Rai’s book and plotted their way carefully round the course, accepting any mistakes as minor blips and just concentrating on the overall score.

Chris Mayer has been playing well in recent weeks and was the only one to keep her score at level par; Marilyn Lucas has been working hard to regain the form which a series of accidents had taken from her. Both were very worthy winners.

Chris won Division One ahead of Shelley Durrans and Marilyn topped Division Two ahead of Katie Panton.

The midweek men’s competition was a Greensomes and gave the pairing of Phil Brookng and Bobby Wotton the opportunity to repeat their previous 41-point victory. The opportunity was taken and history repeated itself with an identical 41-point victory, this time with a more balanced score across the front and back nine.

Steve Atkins & Steve Tozer took second on 39 points, one ahead of Nigel Osborne and Mark Whitworth in third.

The first weekend competition was a Mixed Stableford and was time for the ladies to shine. Karen Oldrieve is another player in good form and put together one of her best rounds, with just one wayward shot on the twelfth robbing her of even more points.

Chris Mushens was also going steadily until a bunker mishap on the thirteenth - time to see our lovely pro Matt Handley for a lesson!

Karen won with 38 points from Chris, on 35.

The men were playing the first round of the Sandbanks Trophy - a Medal competition with winners for both scratch and handicap. The dry weather has firmed up the course, giving plenty of run and it was obviously put to good use.

With some close scores in both categories, there’s plenty to play for in the second round later in the year.

Gross Results:

1st Edd Mitchell 80, 2nd Clive Meredith 83, 3rd Dave Brooking 85, 4th Keith Sexton 86.

Nett Results:

1st Clive Meredith 71, 2nd Tim Enticknap 72, 3rd Keith Sexton 74, 4th Dave Brooking 75.