The rains of last Saturday were heavy enough to close the course over the weekend, which meant that most of us were able to read a weekend paper properly for the first time in years, write Terry Carter.

The rains of last Saturday were heavy enough to close the course over the weekend, which meant that most of us were able to read a weekend paper properly for the first time in years. I didn't know there were so many sections, which either means that more is happening now than 20 years ago, or the nationals are making more of it up than usual. By Monday most of the water had run off the course and into our back garden, resulting in the course being opened again, and as a consequence the weekly Stableford entry list was one of the largest ever. Best of all 44 golfers in action was Charlie Ralls, who had an exceptional round to score 44 points and take first place, one better than Dave Roberts who earned 43 points. Both had handicap reductions, with Charlie coming down two shots and Dave 1 shot. John Dunn was the first of our single figure golfers to feature at the northern end of the list, making third place for prize money with 41, and his handicap was subsequently reduced to an impressive 7.3. Next was Rob Winter playing off 28, who had a better back nine than David Burgess and so took fourth place. Fifth-placed Burgess saw his 6 handicap reduced even further as he came down to 5.3. Luckily enough Club Captain Neil Faulkner wasn't required to hand out the prizes on the day, as Mr Burgess insists on giving the captain a kiss on the cheek whenever he is presented with a prize. Causes a dreadful rash. He gave me mine in 2004 and its only just cleared up.John Game didn't earn a handicap reduction, but took sixth place with 37 points playing off 9. A past Seniors' Captain, John has a damaged shoulder that restricts his swing but consistently plays to a high standard, and even more important he is great company on the golf course. He was even better company than usual in the clubhouse on Monday, as he made a hole-in-one on the sixth. He therefore had another 12 holes to play as he tried to calculate how many times he would have to fill the crystal hole-in-one decanter on the bar on what was probably the busiest day of the week. We had another five golfers who achieved 36 points or better. Neil French had also hit 37 points but settled for seventh place on countback, and the next four players all had 36 points and were separated by countback too.A lovely day, fantastic scenery, a course in great condition, and a hole-in-one to celebrate in the clubhouse. It won't get much better than that so, if you are not sure you are still the right shape for football, take up golf and play it at Sidmouth.