Sidmouth Golf Club heralded a new era when the new captains of both the Ladies' and Men s sections 'drove in' to office.

Sidmouth Golf Club heralded a new era when the new captains of both the Ladies' and Men's sections 'drove in' to office. The day involves a shotgun start Texas Scramble followed by the traditional 'putt out' of the old captains, to indicate the end of their reign, followed by the 'drive in' of the new captains. Both Paddy Tallon and Lee Warren did extremely well as crowds well over sixty strong gathered to witness their drives. Considering Lee has not played huge amounts of golf recently, she managed to fire the ball high and straight down the fairway. Paddy, on the other hand, using his trademark out-to-in-swing struck the ball high and reasonably straight although it did have more "shape" than the lady captain's. The event was followed by a buffet, with a huge turnout for both Paddy and Lee - maybe it was the offer of free food that had them coming in their droves. However, I am sure it is the fact that both new captains are hugely popular in the club and I am sure they will do a great job this year.Lee Warren did not start to play golf until she had retired from a busy and demanding job. She is married to Colin who has been playing golf for nearly 30 years. They have one daughter, Kim, and two grandchildren. She spent four years on the ladies' section committee, three years of which as treasurer. As an active member in most events she is looking forward to her 2009 captaincy and becoming more involved with the club.Paddy Tallon joined the club as a junior (a long time ago). He has represented the club at all levels: Palairet (not sure how), East Devon League and B Team (only because we don't have a C Team). A highlight of his golfing career has been captaining the 2003 winning Palairet side, a feat that has yet to be repeated. Paddy has served on the competitions committee for the past three years. He is married to Sheila, who also is a keen golfer, and they have two children, Mark and Kate. A plumbing and heating engineer he works for local company Fords & Son. Past captains Richard Bowden and Terry Carter led the comeback team to victory in the Texas Scramble played on the day of the Captain's Drive-In. Richard, captain in 1986 and president from 2006 to 2008, and 'Dangerous' Terry, the 2004 captain, joined with Stuart Coles and Spencer Macklin, on his return from Honiton, to collect the top prize from the new club captain.Men's: 1, Richard Bowden, Stuart Coles, Spencer Macklin and Terry Carter; 2, John Dunn, Mark Thomas, James Winchester-Smith and Chas Jarvis; 3, Damion Gee, David Burgess, Neil Faulkner and David Pepperell.Ladies: 1, Yvonne Anning, Coral Roberts, Penny Lyne and Ros Eaton.Ten extremely brave ladies tackled the bitingly cold wind on Wednesday, February 4, for the County Prize par competition. Despite the recent bad weather, I understand that the course was in good condition, although understandably there were some temporary greens. As there were not enough Silver players in the field, it was a non-qualifier and CSS for the day was 69.In first place was Sue Pyne with -2 on count back; Liz Chance was second, also with -2, and Marie Timms came in third with -4. There were no 2s so the money for that will rollover.Following the annual review of handicaps in accordance with CONGU requirements, two ladies have had their handicaps increased slightly and two have had reductions - Ros Eaton and Shirley Reynolds.This Wednesday, February 11, saw 21 ladies turn out for the Rose Bowl and Rose Basket competitions, when the sun shone and, at times, it was positively hot on the course - it seemed quite unbelievably clement weather considering the heavy overnight frost and early morning fog! Again, there were a few temporary greens, so no 2s to count, but overall conditions were good under foot. Many other clubs locally are either closed or restricting the use of electric trolleys so we are very grateful to the greens staff who must be congratulated for the work they are doing to enable us to go out with trolleys despite the snow and rain. Winner of the Club Stableford competition was Sue Pyne with 33 points on count back and Sue also was in first place for the Rose Bowl competition. Maureen Howard, also on 33, was second for the Club Stableford and the Rose Bowl, and in third for the Club Stableford was Sheila Tallon with 30 points on count back. Margot Beauchamp came in first place for the Rose Basket on 30 points with Sheila Skittrall, second place with 26 points. Again, CSS for the day was 69 and it was a non-qualifier as played on 7/8ths handicap.