He had only reached the fifth tee when Stan Hudson’s driver failed him; it snapped off as he attempted to hit the perfect drive. Back to a more consistent form, Idwal came to his rescue as this Tenby pair involved themselves in a very close match against Barrie Davis and Terry Taylor. They gained a hole early on, only to lose it and fall behind through the middle of the round. In a match of many pars and a few lost balls, they regained the lead just as they were running out of holes and managed to hold on to it.

In this annual match against Cardigan, played in bright but breezy sunshine, they were not the only four-ball to have a close encounter. Captain Dudley Williams had chosen the big Kiwi to help him get over the line this week. In the end, it was the very last putt of the round, holed out by Dudley, that won them the final hole and the match. Graciously, Allen Watts conceded that Dudley had driven well all day and this helped, as his ball had developed the habit of drawing towards the gorse in the middle of the round. He corrected the problem just in time, with the help of a few expletives, and they shook hands with Trevor Boyce and George Snape just one up.

Roger Scolfield and Martin Neilan set off against Keith Phillips and Don Fletcher hoping to repeat the success they had at Milford last week. They were up against a steady and consistent 10 handicapper in Keith. While he efficiently halved many of the holes, and won a few, his partner made the most of his surplus shots to make this a very close match. Close, that is, until the last five holes, of which the Tenby pair lost four.

Peter Williams and Jeff Banfield, talented and modest as they are, dovetailed well as they battled it out against Tony Simpkin and Brian Brotherton. Peter remained calm and steady while Jeff drove like a six handicapper and finished like a 13 handicapper. Jeff was giving away 14 shots, but between them they managed to secure a win, celebrating with a drink on the patio before their meal.

Mick Whale rode his luck on the par three 16th. Having put his ball wide on the left, he chipped up onto the bank and was delighted to see it meander its way down towards, and finally into, the hole. It was not enough, however, to achieve the much-needed win. In a match played in great spirit, he and his partner, John Hayhoe, traded friendly banter with Nigel Clarke and Ken Evans. They couldn’t win that either.

The bells were ringing as Paul Bradley introduced his new buddy, Derek Cole, to his style of golf. They reckoned that it was a ding-dong battle all the way as they fought for supremacy against John Hagen and Josh Williams. They may have gone one up early on, but that lead was soon pegged back and they found themselves two down. It didn’t help that Paul lost his ball in the rubbish on the 16th and later managed to slice his second shot on the 14th into the farm buildings. Was that chicken feed or bull**** Paul? Whatever it was, they were unable to overcome the opposition and had to settle for second place.

Alan Jones claimed that having his photograph taken on the first tee was enough to put him off for the rest of the day. Steve Sutcliffe was a late volunteer for this match, but even he couldn’t pacify Alan as they were beset by some ill fortune in this very close encounter. Ian Tushingham and Dan Rout proved a touch too consistent in what turned out to be a very close fought match.

John Hall and Alan Yates had a great afternoon as they strolled the ups and downs of this well prepared and well manicured coastal course. Bernie Webb and Ed Wilson were their opposition and this was another close match with never more than one or two holes in it at any time. John stated that Alan had played well and deserved the result they achieved. It was with a wry smile that they reported their two-hole win to the captain.

Jim Martin shared the buggy with Des Stone this week, something they had done many times in previous summer matches. Taking advantage of a few miss-hits by their opposite numbers, they took a three-hole lead in the early part of this match. Over-confidence must have set in as Graham Walker and Vernon Lewis came back at them to level the score. Despite a bit of scratchy gorse hunting and a few lost balls, they managed to recover the lead over the second nine holes and were able to hang on to this as they completed the course.

Results: D. Williams and A. Watts beat T. Boyce and G. Snape 1 up; A. Jones and S. Sutciffe lost to I. Tushingham and D. Prout 1 down; S. Hudson and I. David beat B. Davies and T. Taylor 1 up; D. Cole and P. Bradley lost to J. Hagan and J. Williams 1 down; J. Martin and D. Stone beat G. Walker and V. Lewis 3 and 2; M. Neilan and R. Scholfield lost to K. Phillips and D. Fletcher 3 and 2; P. Williams and J. Banfield beat T. Simpkin and B. Brotherton 3 and 2; M. Whale and J. Hayhoe lost to N. Clarke and K. Evans 3 and 1; A. Yates and J. Hall beat B. Legg and E. Wilson 2 up.