Bigbury v Sidmouth

With the return match taking place at Sidmouth within the week, John Bainbridge was looking for a few away points before benefiting from home advantage, writes Terry Carter.

He and Barry Jones received two and three shots respectively, but lost the first and second holes.Only one down at the turn, but two down with two to play, the par three 16th provided enough drama to bore Mrs Bainbridge to tears when he got home.

I am always delighted to get within earshot of this green with a tee shot, but Jones won nearest the pin with his, and Bainbridge chipped in from the fairway to win the hole. Despite the high spirits, the last hole was halved, and the first point lost. Next off, Chris Grubb was giving the shots as he and Vernon Ruffle fought a close game before easing in front by the 15th, and held the lead to win 2 and 1.

Glynn Hewitt and Roger Bawden lost the first but won the second, third and fourth before improving still further to win 5 and 4. By this stage, the seniors’ captain was planning a team celebration at Bainbridge Heights, but a 3 and 2 defeat for David Roberts and Bob Skelly, despite receiving 11 and 16 shots respectively, and a 3 and 1 loss by Roger Freer and Ray Gunston in an otherwise close contest left the last game to provide just the possibility of a drawn away match.

Partnered by Derek Geear, Colin Paddon was giving shots to the home pair, but the interesting thing about golf is that no matter how badly you play, it is always possible to get worse, and in an off day he didn’t quite justify his handicap. A heavy 6 and 5 defeat gave a 4-2 win to Bigbury, and the prospect of a good contest at Sidmouth later in the week.