Sidmouth Seniors hosted the home leg against Libbaton on a wet and blustery day last Thursday, although most of the rain had eased by the time the late starters reached the second tee, writes Hugh Dorliac.

Captain-for-the-day Chris Grubb, playing with Bruce Harcourt, was first out and despite Chris starting with a par on the first, the opposing Libbaton captain sank a 20ft putt to win the hole with a birdie, giving them an immediate lead.

However, Chris managed to get it back on the third, leaving the Libbaton pair baffled by the difficulty of the sloping green.

By the halfway stage they were still all square thanks to Bruce’s birdie on the fifth and good consistent play. The match continued as a very close battle but in the end the Libbaton pair came out winners on the seventeenth by two-and-one.

The second team of Phil Spencer and Mike Davis also had a very close match with both pairs playing exceptionally well, despite the conditions. In the end the home pair came home winners by one hole.

Third out, Brian Cole with Paul Blay played well with Brian in particular good form on the outward nine, winning four holes in the first six.

In the second half it was Paul’s turn to keep the home team flying and they ended up winning three-and-two, which was the best result of the day for Sidmouth.

Malcolm Couldwell and Charles Brown were next out against a very in-form Libbaton pair, both playing well below their handicaps and so found themselves unfortunately losing five-and-four.

The pain was eased a little by Charles winning the nearest the pin on the 12th.

Colin Paddon and Ray Gunston had a bad day with Ray’s recent good form deserting him and the pair struggled against a very good Libbaton pairing who beat them six-and-four. Last out were Vernon Ruffle and ‘H’ Thompson, who played steadily and eventually were able to overcome their opponents to secure a two-and-one win for Sidmouth, which was a very creditable result knowing the form of the visiting Libbaton team.

When the final shot had been played, overall honours were even at 3-3.