TITLE SUCCESS FOR GOLDSMITH

THERE was a remarkable conclusion to the seniors’ Dawn Patrol League at Derllys Court Golf Club when the final round was played.

After 10 rounds over six months the most unlikely of results saw four players tied at the top of the league with the same number of league points.

Round 10 was played in wet and windy conditions and the course proved to be a real challenge for all competitors, with Ninian Davies confirming his return to form with a winning score of 39 points.

Eight-handicapper John Hartley appeared to relish the conditions with a good second-place score of 38 points, matched by Julian Bowen with the same score, and Ian Watson and Peter Webb both just one point behind.

Hartley’s nine league points raised his own total to a creditable 46 points after just eight rounds played but proved not enough to challenge the top contenders despite them finding the course and conditions tough to handle.

With only the eight best scores of the 10 rounds eligible to count in the final league total, there was still all to play for as Nicky Goldsmith’s 34 stableford points earned him five valuable league points to take him to the top of the league table on 48 points.

Next in was Denzil Howells, who found his great front nine score had not been matched by his back nine, and his 32 points only added three points to his league score, taking him into a tie with Goldsmith.

This was then matched by Frank Wride’s 32 points taking him to a share of the lead, and to complete the ties quartet, Huw Hafod Jones’s 33 stableford points added four league points to his total to also take him to 48 points.

The procedure for deciding ties produced a provisional result that identified Goldsmith as the overall winner of the 2018 title due to two first-placed rounds in rounds two and four, with Wride claiming second place, Howells third and Jones fourth.

Howells, however, was rewarded for his consistency during the season amongst the higher handicappers, with first place in the 20-20 league table with a great total score of 138 points,

He was six points clear of secondplaced Wride, with K Huw L Jones and Peter Webb tied on 126 points.

Heavy rain saw the cancellation of the team match against Glyn Abbey, but captain Phil Jones will be hoping for a break in the storms this week when he takes his team to Tenby for a friendly match.