Being the captain of a seniors’ side is a bit like being a teacher on a class outing, writes Charles Oram.

He has to make sure that everyone knows where they should be going and at what time they should be there.

Some past Sidmouth captains have even taken spare club ties to away matches, anticipating that at least one of their charges would forget to bring the necessary piece of neckwear. But captains are human too, and the captain of Tiverton seniors was late for the match at Sidmouth last week.

It seems that he had cruised past the Sidmouth exit on the M5, thinking his team were playing at Teignmouth. (A good job he did not think they were playing at Tynemouth!)

The weather was sunny and warm, with a bit of a breeze. ‘A bit of a breeze’, is also a good description of the afternoon’s play, from the home perspective!

Alan Billinghurst and Charles Brown swept aside their opposing numbers with a victory by five-and-four.

One of their opponents secured a prize for being nearest the pin, but he was let down by his putter, as he took three further strokes to get the ball in the hole. Glyn Hewitt and Bob Winstone’s win was even more decisive, since they were six up after 14 holes.

The first Sidmouth pairing of Doug Goodall and Peter Emery thought they had a good chance of a win on the 6th hole, when one of their opponents hit his tee shot towards the woods on the left. However, an obliging tree guided the ball back into play and it was soon in the hole for a par. Nevertheless, Goodall and Emery won the match three-and-one, despite Goodall losing a ball that was inadvertently played by a golfer who was not involved in the tie.

Ray Gunston and Colston Herbert were the only home players to lose (by

Two-and-one), but they were up against an excellent golfer playing off eight.

There were halves for Terry Carter and Mike Anderson, and for Chris Grubb and Colin Mitchell. Mitchell also won a nearest-the-pin prize.

If you were playing golf last Thursday at around 4 pm and have a ball in your bag marked ‘DG’, then Doug Goodall would be pleased to hear from you!