Bowl quarter-final place is secured in close match

In fine sunny conditions last Saturday, Bath Golf Club’s men played a medal round for the Dening Bowl which is awarded for the best gross score.

In Division 1 Michael Smith finished top on nett 69 followed by Danny Farnen also with 69 with Steve Francis third on 71. Division 2 was won by Lee Sumsion with a fine nett 68, second on 69 was Andrew Brady and third on 71 was Mike Beese. Division 3 was won by Giles Henton with nett 69, second on 74 was Todd Mercer and third Tim Sefton also with 74.

The Dening Bowl was awarded to Danny Farnen, whose gross score of 72 was four strokes ahead of Michael Smith and Steve Francis who both scored 76.

The first team progressed to the quarter-final of the Somerset Bowl Foursomes after victory over Minehead at Taunton & Pickeridge last Sunday. In a very close match, and with some great golf being played, Bath managed to win 3-2 and will now play Taunton & Pickeridge at Clevedon.

Special thanks went to Pete Glanville, David Rushgrove, Richard Longhurst, Simon Harris, Martin Cashnella, Tony Mccallum, Roy Aust, Paul Wainwright and Martin Warman who all gave up their Sunday afternoon and drive 70-miles to represent the club.

Last Wednesday, in the Bristol & District Golf League, the first team secured a half against Saltford. The wins were for Will Warman & Andy Cottle and Kelvin Green & Martin Cashnella, with Spencer Sinden & Rich Longhurst achieving a fantastic half having been four down with six to play. Troy Scott & Simon Harris lost on the 18th with Steve Francis & Pete Forster losing on the 14th.

Captains Day took place on Saturday June 15. The day started with a coffee in the clubhouse, before the 72 players set off with their team for a 9.30am shotgun start.

The winning score was 115 points for the three scores to count 4 Ball, Bowmaker. This was achieved by Simon Calvert Jones, Tom Gardener, Andrew Souter and Deborah Mcardle. Second were, Andrew Kynoch, David Sumsion, John Hathaway and Kathy Ogden. Third were Tony Mccallum, Tim Sefton, Alison Rushgrove and Tim Edgell.

Once the golf was over it was time for lunch and the Charity Auction and raffle. Thanks to the generosity of those in attendance, £1,164 was raised for the ‘Friends of Young Carers, Bath.’

■ LANSDOWN Mike Burt held his Captain’s Day competition in glorious weather last Saturday. The Captain’s Shield was won this year by Steve Magee with an excellent 44 points, which put him three shots clear of the field.

In Division One the honours went to Dave Gladwin with 41, some three clear of Paul Jones and Ken Madden who could only be separated on countback. Steve Coombs took Division Two, again with 41, with Alan

Sheppard in second on 39 with Dave Williams just a further point adrift. Division Three was a tight affair led by Jay Harris with 38, just two points ahead of Blaine Crooks and Ryan Silcocks.

There was a clear winner in the ladies’ section as Jo Francis-pope came in with 40, some four clear of Suzanne Wheeler with Trish Ritchie two points further back.

Only one point covered the prize winners in the seniors’ section as Phil Hill took the honours with 39, just a solitary point ahead of Lester Ferguson and Doug Lodge. The junior winner with 33 was Edison Butler, following in the family footsteps of dad Edward and grandfather Simon who have been club champion many times.

There were nearest the pin prizes on all the par threes – the winners were Bob White, Andy Evans, Dave Lambern and Dave Whyte on both the eighth and tenth. The longest drive, to everyone’s delight, was won by Margaret Ruxton, whilst the straightest drive prize went to Derek Godwin and the putting competition was won by John Hodges.

As is tradition, there was a barbecue at the half-way cabin and Burt raised money for his chosen charity, KIDS. He was delighted with the day and the support shown to him by everyone who took part – whether helping or playing.

On the previous weekend the Glass Cup, a mixed medal competition, was won by Jo Francis-pope and Paul Blackmore with a nett 74.5

■ APPROACH Mike Fear produced a majestic round of level par, but amazingly he had to fight back from three down to snatch victory on the final hole in the League Cup due to an outstanding performance by Alasdair Campbell.

George Thurston confirmed his place in the quarter finals with a comfortable win over John Vowles, who has yet to secure a point.

Bob Mcgregor retained an outside chance of qualifying from Group C after eventually overcoming the resistance of Colin Lee who faded on the last few holes.

Dave Peacey kept his faint hopes of qualifying from Group D with a well crafted win over Brian Woodford, who is stranded at the foot of Division One.

Terry Gleeson made his way into the second round of the KO Cup at the expense of his Division Two opponent Mike Hazel.

Danny Peel achieved his best round ever to gain a hard fought win over Reg Morris and vacate the bottom of Division One.

Malcolm French eased his relegation worries with a superb win over the combative Sue Norris, who also played near her best.

Brian Lambern accomplished his first league win of the season in Division Two after a top class battle with Ann Fear, who made a brave recovery over the second nine to no avail.

Craig Jones continued his superb form, putting daylight between him and second placed Dave Peacey, winning a competitive contest against Roger Randall, who was on the way to a surprise victory after 13 holes.

John Vowles gained an eventual comfortable win over the eternal Dave Ferebee to ease into the promotion places.

■ There were five games played again this week in the Summer 12-hole section. The star performance was between Derek King (42) and Kevin Croker (52) in the League Cup. Croker started with two pars to go one up, but had no answer to King who only dropped five shots in the remaining holes to be two up at the turn and eventually running out 7-1, with a nett score of three under.

Shirley Charity (51) had a very tight match against Maralyn Hiattgipson (46). Good scoring by both on the front half ended with Shirley holding to win 4-3.

Rob Croker (46) lost 5-2 to Mark Daniels (40), who started off with seven straight pars. Ann Fear (58) lost 5-2 to Barbara Hale (54).

Sue Norris (48) lost 7-1 to Mike Fear (36). Sue was unable to repeat her great form of last week as Mike parred the second half to seal victory.