Ladies’ Section

As the summer comes to a close so the journeys to Open Days for the Tenby ladies become fewer. Eleven ladies took part in a C & P stableford competition at Derllys Court on Wednesday, August 30, with Maura Gunning flying the flag for Tenby with a sixth place finish scoring 35 points - losing out on countback after matching the third place score. Well done Maura.

Thursday, August 31, saw the annual Charnwait Texas Scramble - a draw for partners with an 8.30 am shotgun start around the course which enabled the competitors to all meet back at the clubhouse for after-match refreshments and the presentation. For some this is one of the few times you will see them on the course at this time of the morning.

The competition has been sponsored for many years by Ruth and Matt Goldwait (which they generously continue to support even though they are currently in the US) and the Ladies Section are grateful for their continued funding for this popular event.

Thirty-four ladies were divided into 10 threes and a four and the weather conditions were thankfully good. There were a number of post-tee-off favourites and the result saw the top five teams all within one shot of each other.

There was one team who managed a birdie two - Fair Ball, Nesta Hart and Liz Storey did the deed on the 17th.

Third with a score of 65.5 was the team of Heather Morgan, Anna Hubbard and Louise Hill, with the runners-up being the team of Vicky Burks, Marion Clarke, captain Linda Thomas and Sue Shooter who, although having the lowest gross score, lost out on countback to the winners, Pam Cole, Irene Gilman and Angela Gottwaltz with a score of 65.

Each member of the winning three teams received a generous pro-shop voucher and all the entry fees were donated to captain Linda’s charity.

GUW run a Welsh Open Senior Ladies Championship and it was held on September 5 and 6 at Holyhead this year. Denise Edwards and Heather Morgan from Tenby were amongst the 43 who took part and Heather came tied 28th overall after the two rounds despite her saying she had a “nightmare back nine on the first day.” Denise had an excellent second day to go with her good first round score which meant she not only won her age category, but also came an impressive sixth place overall, meaning she has been selected as a non-travelling reserve for the Welsh Seniors team for the Home Internationals. Well done Denise, you have been playing well all year.

Thursday, Spetmber 7, saw the RNLI donations stableford event at Tenby. The forecast was dodgy which may have been reflected in the entry number of 14 and, for those who did venture out. waterproof gear was the dress-code for the day. It was also quite windy, which made scoring difficult for many, although nine did get scores in the 30s.

President Pat Fox had a lovely shot onto the 17th green and sunk her putt for the only two of the day.

In third place was Olivia Bradbury with 36 points - she hasn’t played much golf recently because of studies, but well done for coming third and good luck in the new job. Anna Hubbard was second with a fine 37 points and in first place was Pam Cole with 38 points.

Saturday, September 9, saw the Saltheim Cup being contested. This piece of glassware was first played for three years ago after a discussion one evening involving the first two team captains - Fair Ball and Annette Flower, plus the trophy donator Trevayne Keohane. It is played along the lines of the Solheim Cup (but re-named after nearby Salterns!) with fourball betterball competitions.

Fair and Trevayne were this year’s captains. Trevayne said that on the day there were testing conditions with rain and gusting winds, but when the players got to the 12th tee they were encouraged to keep going by the wonderful sight of Prosecco and lots of snacks and nibbles - served by club president Allan Morton and John Ball.

It was a real nail-biter and the winning team was only decided on the last match, with the USA coming out on top - well done captain Trevayne and her girls!

The organisers are grateful for the support and help from Tom in the Pro Shop, Fair for sorting the cards and handicaps, the greenstaff, cameraman David Morgan, the ladies who supplied the food and drink, the 12th tee waiters, and the ladies who stepped in at the last minute to fill gaps.

Finals Day is approaching - September 24 - and we now know the ladies’ finalists.

The Ladies Scratch Cup will be contested by Becky Harries (who beat Denise Edwards in the semi-final) and Heather Morgan (who beat Sophie Lovatt in the other semi-final). In the Ladies Bronze Scratch Cup, Sarah Waring beat Gill John in one semi-final and in the final will meet Angela Gottwaltz, who beat Louise Hill in the other semi-final. Good luck to you all.

The Chicken Trotters - September 16, 1994

Continuing my campaign to ‘Keep the Chicken Trotters in the Public Eye’, I have consulted the 1994 ledger and discovered what occurred on that Friday morning 23 years ago.

Elsewhere in the world, the last US, UK and French military forces left West Berlin. In Tenby, 51 Chicken Trotters took advantage of a fine day to try their luck on the links, in the third trot of the winter season.

I believe that John Mabe was the Chief Trotter at that time, the ledger entry is remarkably neat and well presented - and a lot of players that you may remember were present on that day.

John Maclean and David George shared the winning score of 29 Stableford points over 15 holes, and were awarded with £2 each and a savage, if temporary, handicap cut. Third place went to John Kicinski, who managed 28 points, won £1:60 and dropped three shots. A raft of Trotters scored 27 points to share fourth place; John James, Sonny Perkins, Chan Thomas, Charles Blackshaw and Ivor Smith all pocketed £1.40 and dropped a shot.

The pin position on hole six must have been quite accessible, because Keith Hine, Ivor Smith, Sonny Perkins and Cyril Hussey all potted their second shot and picked up 60p each - unlike poor old Ray Irish, who only managed to squeeze seven points out of his 15 holes, thus gaining the title of ‘Booby’. Not all bad news though, Ray still won 30p - and he picked up two extra shots!

Two more items to report. John Mabe’s scrupulous accounting showed that the entrance fees totalled £15.30 - all of which was paid out in prize money (you can check the maths!). No wonder the Trotters were broke! The other item is headed ‘Handicap Adjustment’ - not a regular feature of ledger entries - under which is the brief note: Ian Thomas, 28 to 36. I checked Ian’s score, it was 14 points, and how he qualified for an eight-shot increase is a mystery – but I shall follow his progress with interest.

More history in October.

M.F.