The first of the Sidmouth seniors golf matches of the season took them to Cricket St Thomas, writes Chris Grubb.

After the previous weeks rain and course closures, play was contested in warm, dry conditions.

It had obviously been a long winter, for the Sidmouth team struggled to keep up with the home team who played some excellent golf, and, in certain cases, had the luck of the ball with them!

The first pair out for Sidmouth were Chris Grubb and Colin Paddon and they began well, but found themselves two down after four holes.

They mounted a fight back to be all square at the halfway stage. However, the putts did not want to drop despite Colin Paddon’s verbal encouragement at each of his efforts and the second half of the match proved to be their downfall as they slipped to a four-and-three reversal.

Next out were Hugh Dorliac and Paul Blay and they fared little better, losing their match three-and-one, an outcome that was a little surprising as last year’s captain Hugh had been in good form.

John Bainbridge and ‘H’ Thompson were third out, but their play did not match the glorious sunshine that their contest was played in and they succumbed to a three-and-two defeat.

The fourth pairing of Brian Cole and Charles Brown started well, winning the first, but then lost the nest two and were two down at the halfway point.

They made a valiant effort across the back nine, but ultimately went down three-and-one.

Tony Willson and Roy Smith were next out, but, despite Tony’s recent win in the opening competition, and Roy’s support, they couldn’t find the form they were looking for and eventually lost by two.

Saving the best for last, at least in terms of a positive result, were the final pair of Malcolm Couldwell and Ken Price.

Both were in good form on the day and saved the Sidmouth blushes of a potential whitewash by winning their match three-and-two.

A 5-1 final score to the hosts was a blow for the Sidmouth seniors, but it most certainly was an enjoyable day’s golf with the return match to be played in July when the home side hope to have regained winning form.