This week saw the second round of the prestigious Devon Emerton Court competition. This is a knockout competition for all Devon clubs and very much a sought-after trophy.

You may remember that Dartmouth recently beat Holsworthy in a very closely fought home and away en­counter; this time, they were up against a very determined Thurle­stone team which waspacked with low handicappers.

In this the first of the two matches Dart­mouth had home ad­vantage and hoped to make a strong start and if possible take a good lead back to Thurle­stone early next month.

A very solid start from Dartmouth's seniors captain Mike Whitelaw and his partner Bernard Taylor saw the home team sneak clear at the end to record their first win for the team.

Next up were David Rowsell and Tony An­drew, who must have wondered what they had done to deserve such an onslaught, as their opponents racked up birdies and pars like they were going out of fashion to lose five and four.

Now a win apiece, it was left to Geoff Jewell and George Reeve to steady the ship and so they did with some excellent golf, particularly by Geoff Jewell, to record a second win for the team five and three.

Next in were two stalwarts of the club, Mike Shalders and Alan Goldthorpe, two very fine players who on their day are a match for anyone and although they found their opponents difficult to finish off, finally polished them off two and one.

To finish off a fine day for Dartmouth, the final pairing of Colin Cooper and Bob Wot­ton also showed their prowess by winning the final match five and three. Therefore a fine first leg for Dartmouth, taking a 4-1 victory, but they know that things will be very different when they visit Thurle­stone on July 2 for the return game.

The home side possess some excellent players and will be determined to turn the tables and get right back into the match; after all bragging rights are at stake in this local derby.

Monday also saw the seniors play in their weekly competition; this week it was an individual stableford and despite it being a very much reduced field in terms of numbers, the quality was still up there.

First with a magnificent points score of 44 points was Chris Mus­grave, with the runners-up positions going to Alistair Forbes, Ber­nard Taylor and Bob Wotton, who scored 36, 34 and 31 points respectively.