Sunday was the chosen date for the Sidmouth Mixed Open, writes John Barnard.

It’s a day when the ladies sigh knowingly as their partner’s ball fires off into places they have never visited before and the men have to curb their usual descriptions of a bad shot and not disappear into the undergrowth under the pretext of studying the local nature!

Fortunately, the weather was perfect, the views breathtaking and, to top it all, the largest visitors’ field that have played for some years.

The winners of the visitor’s prize were Steve and Karen Wakeham from Stover Golf Club, shooting an excellent 39 points, the second best score of the day.

They were four shots in front of C Rowe from Dainton and S. Baxter from Torquay. In third place were John and Bet Gazzard from Cotswold Edge in Gloucestershire; the couple that travelled the furthest for the day. In fourth were Colin and Jayne Wayman from Exeter.

There were separate prizes for the visitors and home players, to even up opportunities. Leading the way from the Sidmouth players were Angie Coles, ladies vice captain and David Burgess. David was striking the ball well and drove a couple of the par four’s which does make life a bit easier for the partner! They scored an excellent 41 points. Second were Paul and Jane Renken. Paul should have been in America as he said he was playing as well as Justin Rose (not immediately apparent to the rest of us), but his wife graciously admitted he played as well as she had ever seen. Third were Sheila Tallon and Trevor Kerridge who were near to an excellent round, but a few putts got away from them. Finally and much to their surprise, Marie Timms and the injured Bob Webber were in the prizes