Trio triumphant in bowmaker contest

The triumvirate of Jo Joliffe, Stephanie Anderson and Caroline Gilbert took the honours at Bath Golf Club’s ladies’ threeball bowmaker. They shot 79 to finish two points clear of runners-up Katy Pool, Rachel Brown and Ann Cook, who left Veronica Creed, Paula Maclaurin and Helen Oliver third on countback. Meanwhile, Bath seniors played a four-ball better-ball stableford competition. The scoring was excellent and the overall winners, with 45 points, were Graham Feltham and Ken Smith. Runners-up on countback, also with 45, were Russell Wakefield and Barrie Luscombe, while third went to Mark Oliver and Ian Colville on 44. Andrew Cotter and and James Dunlop came fourth on 43. The men’s section competed in a three-ball Bowmaker stableford in cold and windy conditions, yet showed impressive scoring. The eventual winners were Danny Farnen, Stephen West and James Meddick with 81. Runnersup one shot back were Chris Knight, Ron Ives and Stephen Palmer, while third on countback came Spencer Sinden, Martin Cashnella and Steve Francis with 76. They pipped the team of Andrew Brady, Peter Fox and Simon Brown into fourth. ■ BATH Approach Nick Parker had to play at his brilliant best to overcome a tremendous onslaught by George Thurston, whose KO Cup preliminary round heroics came to an end on the 17th. Parker set a hard task on the front nine, completing it in just two over par, but Thurston held on to be only one down at the turn. Thurston made a supreme effort coming back by reeling off six pars and then a birdie, but three birdies helped Parker retain his narrow lead with two holes remaining. For Thurston, a fatal error on the penultimate hole put Parker into the next round. In an unspectacular match, Brian Woodford secured a narrow win over Colin Lee to reach the next round. Terry Gleeson opened his Division 1 account with an eventually comfortable win over Alasdair Campbell, who couldn’t match Gleeson’s consistency. It was on the second nine that Gleeson won out, completing four holes in one under par to guide himself to victory Mike Fear moved up to second in the table after a convincing win over Reg Morris, after a day of struggles with the putter. Danny Peel maintained his unbeaten record in Division with a comfortable victory over Brian Lambern, still yet to win a point. The unpredictable Brian Allen achieved the best net score this season to a convincing win over his Division 1 opponent Malcolm French to top Legue Cup Group C. Elsewhere, Sue Norris achieved a convincing win over John Sercombe thanks to her dominance early on.