The Lombard trophy was contested at Sidmouth at the weekend, writes John Barnard.

The winner gets to play with the Club professional in a county qualifier and could end up at Gleneagles competing for a national prize.

The scoring was much improved on Saturday, compared to previous weeks. The format was a medal round and the happy winner was Mike Davis who shot an excellent round of 61 and achieve a handicap reduction of three shots to 20. A birdie on the second and some pars were enough to see him home.

In second place was Will Hastie with 62. He had a few lucky breaks including holing from the bunker on the 14th after leaving his first attempt in the sand and also being a little erratic off the tee. However, four birdies meant a reduction in his handicap to five.

In third place was Mike’s playing partner Phil Spencer who scored 63 which meant a two shot reduction to 13. Phil had a great back nine with a number of pars and birdied the 13th.

Shot of the day probably went to club captain John Barnard who holed out from 124 yards for a two on the par four ninth.