On a day of difficult scoring, which saw standard scratch rise to 67, 61 players contested The County Golfer Challenge.

Sidmouth Men's golfOn a day of difficult scoring, which saw standard scratch rise to 67, 61 players contested The County Golfer Challenge. Merv Anthony will go forward to the county final with a chance to win a trip to the grand final in sunnier climes at the end of the year. He also collects a healthy voucher from Golf Tee-Time Service for a Brittany Ferries trip of his choice. A steady card, topped off with an approach striking the pin on the final hole, gave Anthony the top place with 38 points. The recently erratic Marc Shoobridge put in a strong finish to take second with 36. A welcome new name to the prizes is Paul Blay, who took third on 35 after a countback.Another wonderful round from the man of the moment, James Pickard, saw him collect top prize in the Monday Stableford and set himself clear of the field in the Birdie and Eclectic standings. Birdies at the 1st, 2nd and 5th took him three under the card before losing shots at the 8th and 9th. Four more birdies at the 10th, 13th, 14th and 18th were offset by a single error at the 11th. This all amounted to a round of 62, 42 points, a great round of golf which saw his handicap reduced to one. A seven-way tie for the minor places on 39 was settled in favour of Paul Sexton in second and John Emmott in third.The seniors played a three club team event so were not contained in the Stableford this week.The Palairet squad play their first game of the season on Sunday and captain Dave Pepperell will be hoping his team can shine on the day and progress through to the second round by defeating Fingle Glen at Honiton.l The juniors' Sunday Tiger's matchplay has reached its finale and the Hill family will be have mixed emotions on Sunday with the two finalists being Tom and Fran Hill. Tom has shown consistent form throughout and Fran has played some superb shots during her build up to the final to rightly deserve her place in the final. Result to follow!Sidmouth Ladies' golfThe season is really hotting up now with the both the ladies' league teams getting into swing as well as the usual Wednesday competitions and various four ball events taking place.The President's Trophy team lost away to Teignmouth by 51/2 to 11/2 on April 14 but look forward to their next contest against Teignmouth at home on June 19.The Sheelah Creasy ladies played at home to Downes Crediton on Monday April 27. Minutes before tee off time there was a heavy downpour and waterproofs were certainly the order of the day. Miraculously, the skies cleared as the first players teed off and, despite a brief hailstorm later in the afternoon, the weather was good. The home team were delighted with their 5-2 victory - winners were Pat Bosshardt, Mavis Vanstone, Ann Willoughby, Sue Pyne and Gill Paddon.The 13th annual Fields Cup Competition, followed by a Fashion Show using members as models, was held on April 29. There were 34 entries for the medal competition that also counted for the eclectic as well as a club competition. Sincere congratulations to the winners on their scores as many ladies found playing conditions somewhat tricky to say the least! In 3rd place for the Fields Cup was Janet Humberstone on nett 70, runner up was Gill Paddon on nett 69 and the winner was Sue Pyne also on nett 69 but with a better back 6. Subsequently, Gill's handicap has been reduced to 27 and Sue's to 25. The ladies' captain, Lee Warren, chose the 16th hole for her 'Hidden Hole' for the lowest gross score of a bronze player. Apparently, there were six players in contention so it was decided on the least numbers of putts, and the winner was Ann Willoughby with one putt! Well done Ann.CSS for the day was 70. For the club medal Gill Paddon won Division 3, Sue Pyne won Division 2 and Margaret Thompson won Division 1. There were no 2s, so there's a �10 rollover. Dee Bridgewater claimed the putting prize.