Hapgood leads home crowd
SYMETRA TOUR:
LYDIA Hall tied 43rd in the latest Symetra Tour event that was staged last weekend at River Run Golf & Country Club in Davidson, North Carolina, writes Tony Poole.
Lydia from Pencoed shot a four-over par opening round of 76, but day two was then cancelled owing to heavy rain.
It led to the tournament being slimmed down to just 36 holes, and her opening round left her on the cut mark.
She then shot a final day 73 to close on 149, and that was nine shots behind the two players – Jenny Haglund (Sweden) and Dottie Ardina (Philippines) – that finished on top of the scoreboard.
The issue was settled on a first extra hole in favour of Karlstad-based Haguland.
Lydia now resumes European Tour action a week tomorrow (Thursday) at the Jabra Open at Evianles-Bains in France.
FLOGAS IRISH AMATEUR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP:
JAKE Hapgood finished top Welsh player in the Flogas Irish Amateur Open Championship that was held at Royal County Down Links.
The young Southerndown assistant professional, who is also a member of the Coed-y-Mwstwr club, got off to a superb start during the 72-hole event.
His opening day score of one-under par 70 left him tied 11th overnight, and he went on to card further rounds of 78, 76 and 75 for a 15-over par score of 299 and tied 36th place.
The wire-to-wire winner was Robin Dawson (Tramore) with scores of 65, 71, 69 and 77 for a twounder par total of 282.
He had four shots in hand over England’s John Gough and Alex Gleeson from the Castle club in Ireland.
GLAMORGAN COUNTY GU KNOCKOUT CUP:
FOUR local clubs – Maesteg, Pyle & Kenfig, St Mary’s and Southerndown - have all made it through to the second round of the Glamorgan County GU Knockout Cup.
In the opening round, P & K defeated Royal Porthcawl, 2.5 – 0.5 – while Bargoed eliminated Coed-yMwstwr to the tune of 3-0.
Pennard beat Grove, 3-0, while Maesteg received a walkover against Wenvoe Castle.
The second-round draw reads (ties to be played by June 11): Fairwood Park v Southerndown, Morlais Castle v St Mary’s, Pennard v P & K and Vale Resort v Maesteg.
ROYAL PORTHCAWL:
THREE players finished locked on 39 points during a tight conclusion to a May Stableford event last Saturday at Royal Porthcawl.
But once the numbercrunching was completed, it led to Clive Davies being declared winner ahead of Nicholas D Jones and Michael Price.
Davies sunk a putt for two on the seventh green; got further birdies on the 12th and penultimate holes while he matched par on seven occasions.
The card of Jones displayed birdies on the 13th and 17th holes, but a noreturn on hole 11 cost him a win.
Price got nine pars in his 39-pointer and they finished one point to the good over Richard T Johns (two on hole 11).
Three players then signed for 37 points – Richard Jones, Jack S Bull and Gareth W Jones.
Bull carded a Tutu (twos on holes seven and 14), and also registered four more birdies.
Par 36 points then came from Steffan Rowe (two on hole 11), Richard Hayes and Simon H Judd.
SOUTHERNDOWN:
THIS Saturday Southerndown are staging a Club Championship 36-hole qualifying event while on Bank Holiday Monday the Nick Ellis Trophy is up for grabs.
Last week, Llewellyn Matthews and Kieron Harman won their firstround match in the Victory Shield while Theo Baker and Kyle Harman secured places in the final stage of the English Open Strokeplay.
On the Ladies scene, Paula Wilson was triumphant in a May Medal & Bronze Championship competition.
Her winning score was 100-28-72 with the round containing five pars and she had one shot in hand over Sally Bryant 89-16-73 (six pars).
Maggie Townrow took third spot with 98-25-73 and on the same mark was Helen Evans 94-21-73.
Low gross score came from fifth-placed Ali Churchouse, who birdied the opening hole and carded four pars, only to rue a seven on the home hole.
PYLE & KENFIG:
STEPHEN Brown shot a colourful 37 Stableford points last Saturday to lift the Roger Thomas Trophy at Pyle & Kenfig.
However, it was a countback victory after Huw Consitt and visitor R Bagnall also came in on the same mark.
Birdies on the fifth, 11th and 14th holes led to Brown mounting the victory rostrum, and his card also contained eight pars and seven bogeys.
Consitt got a two on hole four, 12 pars and five bogeys with fourth-placed Thomas Flint signing for the 34 points along with Matthew Gubb, David Phillips (two on hole four) and Paul Maber.
Five competitors then shot 34 points – Jamie Jones (four birdies), Gerwyn Hopkins, G G Williams (14 pars, four bogeys), Chris Dyke and Darren Grant (two on hole four).
MAESTEG:
CLUB champion Thomas Williams broke his course record in shooting 65 to win a Chairman’s Salver qualifying tournament.
In the weekly Senior Section Stableford event, victory went to former Maesteg Quins tearaway centre and top whistler Peter Morgan with an exceptional 41 points.
Runner-up John Richmond signed for par 36 while Stormin Norman Cartlidge was a further two points back.
Also in peak form was Margaret Jones, who ran away with the Moreen Roderick Stableford Cup courtesy of 41 Stableford points.
Eirwen Humphreys was runner-up with Karen Jackson-John in third position.
COED-Y-MWSTWR:
THE drinks were on Sean Boga-Lake in the Samuel Bevan snug last Saturday after he shot a hole-in-one during the IEA Alternate Stableford at Coed-yMwstwr.
His moment in the sun came on the 11th hole, and he came close to another on the 17th – but had to settle for a two.
However, his toasty 42-point card - that also contained birdies on the sixth and ninth holes - was ruined by a six over the trees on number 16.
It led to him having to settle for third spot with 23-handicapper Jamie Williams winning the event via 43 points (birdie and six pars).
Runner-up on a countback 42 points was Matthew Carpenter, who hammered home five birdies only to blob the fourth hole.
A further 11 players went under the card during a day of low-scoring with Jeffrey Harding and Chris Mason on the 41mark.
Dave Archibald got 40 points to finish a point in front of Ben McAndrew while Gareth Bodenham fired 38 points.
Six players then came in with 37 points – Brian Day, Matthew Richards, Jerry Devine, Ross Haskins, Nicholas Richards and David B Ford-Williams.
Meanwhile, Steve Clift last week shot 38 points to win the weekly Senior Section Stableford event.
Despite carding two blobs, a magnificent seven pars got him over the finishing line, and a oneshot success over Arthur Cole.
King Cole was a merry soul before failing to score on the ninth hole, but at least 37 points showed Cole is once more firing.
Third place also on 37 points went to former roadrunner Adrian Morgan while Eric Williams signed for par 36.
Stewart Parry came in with 35 points, one more than Irish star Philip Harrington, and the 33-point mark was hit by Jerry Devine, David B Ford-Williams and William Jones.
The remaining top-10 places on 32 points went to returning Lakeside joker in the pack Tony Poole and Jonny McEachen.
The only two of the day was shot by McEachen on the second green.
Meanwhile, the Ladies Section last Saturday staged the Gina Johnson Cup that Julie Davies won with 39 Stableford points.
Birdies on the third and fourth holes set up the win, as did five pars, and her victory was by four points over Victoria Brooks.
Jill L Davies came third with 34 points (birdie on hole six and five pars) to finish one point in front of big-hitter Rebecca Roberts (three birdies).
Fifth spot went to Carol Harrington with 32 points while the only other two of the day was carded by Caroline E Tremlett over the pond on number four.
GROVE:
MASTER golfer Colin Rumbelow, Michael Lees, Desmond Harper and Michael Howells last week won the Senior Section Yellow Peril competition on the strength of 170 points.
They finished seven points clear of Edward Channell, Terrence Dow- rick, Keith Griffiths and Rob Trainor.
Yesterday (Tuesday), the Senior Section contested the Cynffig Range Cup Stableford while today they head to Pennard for a club match.
Last week under the leadership of Edward Channell, they gained a 5-3 home victory over St Pierre.
The Ladies Section staged two May Medal competitions with Heather Davies taking the third event on the back of 9318-75 from Deidre Ralph with 108-28-80.
Medal Four was won by Jayne Jones, who shot six pars in 89-17-72, with Jacqueline Sexton runnerup on 94-18-76 and Sylvia Lambe skipped into third spot via 113-31-82.
LAKESIDE:
DENNIS Gould last week took the third leg of the Senior Section Summer Stableford tournament at the Lakeside club in Margam.
He carded three pars in a winning score of 38 points, and finished two points in front of Peter Colebridge (two on hole 15 and three pars).
Derek Pitt dug deep for 34 points while ideal conditions out on the Llwyd Joseph ultimate golfing experience led to ex-Pyle & Kenfig and Grove star Idris Jones returning from a winter rest in picture postcard Rest Bay.
And the man credited with making something of a golfer out of Coed-yMwstwr comedian Tony Poole, shot an encouraging 33 with a two on hole six and nine pars off a 10-handicap.
Dave Burridge also got 33 points, but some big names like pop singer Cliff Richards, Cefn Cribwr professional D G Hopkins, top cricket umpire Peter Watkins and big gun Nicky Walters limped into Uncle Tom’s Cabin with measly returns.
ST MARY’S:
DAVE Thomas shot a sizzling nett 61 to win a May Medal event at St Mary’s.
He signed for 85-24-61 - having got a birdie on hole four to place alongside six pars – and his victory margin was by two shots over John Barrett 87-24-63 (two on second hole).
Third-placed John Perkins got a perky 91-25-66; Peter Richards entered the clubhouse with 84-15- 69 and Luke Foster fired 82-12-70 (two birdies).
Further down the scoreboard came Nigel Pope 89-18-71, Grant Holmes 84-12-72 (two birdies), Gareth Moore 86-14-72 (two on hole two), Peter Williams 84-12-72 and low gross man in 10th position - Richard Evenden 81-9-72 (10 pars).
Meanwhile, in a Ladies Section May Medal event, Olwen Maund was victorious with 103-32-71.
Just one shot back came Kay Harcombe 100-28-72 from Kathy Northam 9522-73 (two on hole seven), Patricia Brand 112-3874, Tracy Tye 104-30-74, Elizabeth Winkley 94-2074 (two on hole two), Kath McGrath 95-17-78, Caroline Jerrett 98-20-78, Valarie Parker 106-28-78 and Jane Austin 110-31-79.
The best gross round came from 11th-placed Joan Smith, who shot a birdie and six pars in 8910-79.
FOLLOWING a cool early morning start, St. Mary’s Senior Section’s annual Members & Guests competition was played out, for the most part, under glorious sunshine. Scoring conditions were excellent and the players did not disappoint.
The format of the competition is a Pairs Better Ball scored in the stableford system. Members are encouraged to pair up with a guest of their choice but member/member pairings are also allowed for those who may not have acquaintances from other golf clubs.
As always, both members and guests from the 24 pairs which took the field enjoyed the day and commented on the excellent condition of the course.
Tournament winners were Ray Stacey and guest, Lee Jefford, with 48 points. Runners up were Ian Taylor and Norman Lloyd (member/member) on 45 points, and third place was taken by Andrew Lane and guest, Tom Price, on 44.
Andrew Lane won the member’s nearest the pin prize (hole two) and Alun Thomas won the guest’s nearest the pin prize on hole seven. Twos were scored by Roy Denton, Eddie Fothergill and Lee Jefford.
The Section was grateful to Mrs. Olwen Maund who, once again, took exceptional care of the arrangements on the day.