Bigbury end Thurlestone’s dominance of Lantern Trophy

BIGBURY Golf Club's men's first team played seven matches this summer, home and away, with two historic trophies on the line against old rivals Torquay and Thurlestone.

It was a season of contrasts: a gale-battered away win, a treasured trophy reclaimed after many years, and two hard-fought defeats to Exeter and Torquay. The season opened against Torquay playing for the Top Hat Trophy.

On one of Bigbury's regular foggy mornings, Torquay had a convincing 5-1 win. There was another defeat at home against Exeter, losing 4-2 with a further home defeat came against the Royal Navy Golf Society losing 2-5.

However, in the Lantern Trophy against local rivals Thurlestone, the away match saw the best result of the season, a 6-2 victory, albeit in horrendous weather conditions with 40 to 50 mph gusts!

The home tie saw a 3-4 loss, but it was not enough for Thurlestone to overturn the first leg deficit and Bigbury won the trophy 9-7, the first time in many years. The return fixtures against Torquay and Exeter saw two 5-2 defeats.

The qualifier for the Lawson Cup, the winter league foursome knockout, saw Adam Burch and Mike Daniels take first place with 39 points, Nick Buck and Martyn Scartfield were second with 38 points and Chris Atkinson and John Bamfield took third place with37 points.

Meanwhile, the Ladies Winter Matchplay Cup qualifier saw some great scoring across both divisions. Ruth Bickle took the honours in Division One with 41 points with Sally Belsham taking second with 39 points.

Division Two saw the ladies VC Eve Naylor in first place with a fantastic score of 46 points, whilst Mary Ayres had 44 points, a score that on most occasions would win.

Thurlestone Golf Club had two trophies up for grabs on Thursday, September 29, and Christopher Paschalides won the Al Parker Trophy for the best nett score of 38 points, beating Gus Kemp on countback.

The Western Trophy for the best gross score was won by Dave Eva on 35 points from Darrell Day (32pts).

The ladies had a very windy day for their Club Foursomes and Daily Mail Foursomes qualifying competition. The winners were Jenny Bates & Lou Read with 38 points from Sally Huntley & Anna McGrath (also 38pts).

In third place were Maggie Best & Jan Brooking with 35 points whilst Sally Cahill and Liz Stewart had the only two.

17 past lady captains sat down for a delicious lunch and prizegiving following their Hills Trophy and MacKenzie Coaster competitions.

Sally Huntley prevailed in the Hills Trophy with 39 points, narrowly ahead of Fiona Turner (38) and Sheila George (37).

On the men’s side, last year’s captain John Rogers won the Hubert Brunskill Legacy Jug competition.

Lastly, on Sunday, October 4, there was a big field of 61 men and two ladies for the stableford competition.

Lou Read won out with 46 points, two ahead of both Nick Jenkins and Kevin Rogers. Congratulations to them and the eight members that scored a birdie two.

Dartmouth ladies started the week with a friendly match at Stover. It was the first time that many had played in such a match and it’s an experience that they will be happy to repeat!

In true friendly fashion, the match was halved and the day was much enhanced by the delicious food and the very welcoming Stover team. Many thanks to all involved.

The previous day’s friendly resulted in a relatively small field for the stableford and the scores were also quite subdued.

Lady captain Shelley Durrans led the way with 32 points, managing to stay ahead of her playing partner Jan Cousins. Jan had been challenging but three blobs on the back nine put paid to that and she finished a point behind with 31.

Jodie Kenyon managed a four pointer on the eighth, which made her front nine score more respectable than it might have been, and built on that with a good back nine to end the day in third place with 28.

The Dartmouth course ladies had been heavily involved in the friendly and so settled for a nine-hole fun competition.

Moving on and the men’s midweek competition was the Shareholder’s Trophy - a medal for all with those who had finished in the top three of a designated midweek qualifying competition being eligible to win the trophy.

Nigel Osborne doesn’t have the lowest handicap but supports all competitions so it was good to see him finish in the top three with a nett 78.

Rob Haddy had made a good start but then suffered a number of dropped shots and finished second with 76. Steve Blackie also had a somewhat nervous back nine but still held it together to win the trophy with a nett par 72.

Rob didn’t have to wait long to make amends for Wednesday’s dropped shots as he was also eligible to play in the Newton Trophy - the weekend equivalent of the Shareholder’s Trophy.

He started with a very positive birdie on the first hole and maintained a steady game throughout to finish as the winner of the Trophy with a two under par 70. Matt Young and Dave Nicholls were the chasing pack but missed out by a single shot. Commiserations to Malcolm Barrett who also returned a 70 but was ineligible for the trophy.

There was a mixed stableford for those not playing in the Newton Trophy. Jeremy Wiltshire had a great front nine with 20 points but, with just a further point after the next three holes, added only 15 to that and finished third.

Bernard Taylor played a very steady game, with 18 points on each nine to take second place. Steve Tozer had the best front nine with 22 and overcame a blob on the thirteenth to win the day with 39 points.

It has been lovely to welcome Carol Davies back to golf after a lengthy absence due to injury. Carol has been working hard to regain her handicap and, with her latest card, was rewarded with a 26.8 Handicap Index.