Sidmouth B v East Devon B

B team captain Keith Newton and his team welcomed East Devon to Sidmouth last week, and as usual, the visitors included several Budleigh and Exmouth residents who used to play their golf at Sidmouth, writes Terry Carter.

Consequently, this is always a popular fixture for both teams of golfers, who like to see if old friends are playing, although Brian Leach and Moray Bosence might have panicked when they saw they were up against K Harper. Fortunately, this was not professional Kevin Harper, but his father Ken. Slightly older, but still a threat!

Keith Newton and Roger Trivett were first off in a very close game, with good golf being played by both pairs. Newton and Trivett were behind on the front nine and only managed to get the lead from the East Devon pair on the 11th. However, the visitors kept the pressure on and the game was close all the way to the last. A halved match was a fair result, with the only edge going to Newton, who won the nearest the pin prize on the par 3 sixth. A happy coincidence, because his partner Roger Trivett’s company Acanthus is a team sponsor, and provided the prize.

Next off was Mick Baden and Don Cooper, up against ex-Sidmouth golfers Tim Webb and Alan Dewhirst. Webb was giving shots all round, only fair as there are no surprises at Sidmouth for the popular nine handicapper, but the home pair took the point by winning 2 up. It’s a hard life, and Baden was being compelled to play his ninth game of golf in 10 days. After celebrating his and in-form Cooper’s win over strong opponents, I expect he had to be reintroduced to ‘management’ when he got home.

Gary Adam had played in a club competition in the morning to get the feel of the greens, etc, so with he and his partner, Paul Renkin, also receiving shots, prospects were good. Sure enough, a 4 and 2 win secured another point, together with Renkin’s nearest the pin prize on the 17th.

East Devon’s Bob Horton and Ken Harper were giving the shots to Brian Leach and Moray Bosence, and, in another very close game throughout, a draw was a true reflection of the match.

Sidmouth were now two points ahead with two games left to finish, despite the visitors fielding a single handicapper in each of the previous four.

However, yet again, the home team’s Dennis Fensom and Nigel Sharp were receiving shots, but, in the heaviest defeat of the day, lost 6 and 5 in a game when neither apparently played to form, although, I assume, East Devon’s pair D Chivers and K Wicks’ good form had a lot to do with it.

Finally, it was left to the last pair to try and secure Sidmouth’s win, but Colin Macklin and new B team member Glenn Channing suffered a 2 and 1 loss, having been three holes up at one stage, Macklin was unusually reluctant to talk about the game afterwards, preferring only to say that the company was excellent!

Result: Sidmouth 3, East Devon 3.