Captain’s Days a success at Bigbury and Dartmouth

The ladies Captain’s Day is a very popular and eagerly awaited event in the Bigbury golf calendar and for 2026, Helen Bertram organised a fun day for the lady members, reports Marlene Johnson.

Her theme for the day was the Sound of Music and everyone joined in – Helen says there were plenty of nuns and lonely goatherds.

The competition took on a different approach with songs from the show as themes on each hole meaning an additional and unexpected challenge for all those playing.

The highlight of the day was Sam Edwards, club professional, who for a donation for Helen’s chosen Charity, St. Luke’s Hospice, took players’ drives on the par-three 15th. Sam certainly embraced the theme for the day, looking splendid in his Lederhosen and Tyrolean style hat (pictured).

Following the competition, the players returned to the clubhouse and enjoyed an Austrian/German influenced meal, joined by past lady captains and retired members.

Following the meal, Helen had the pleasure of presenting the prizes and the competition winners were delighted with the bottles of Austrian themed wines and Mozart chocolates! She thanked everyone who helped contribute to the day.

Meanwhile, the recent mixed Thursday Stableford was very much enjoyed by Bigbury’s low handicap players and the golf course seemed to be unable to defend itself against the winner, Ryan Moore.

Playing off his handicap of -2, Ryan recorded an incredible 41 Stableford points. There were three players with a score of 37 points and on countback it was Rob Joint second, Rob Perrins third and Bob Brocklehurst fourth.

Ryan bagged himself three birdie twos in his round which certainly boosted his score. Six more birdie twos were recorded on the day.

Joint Captains’ Day at Dartmouth is always a popular event too- our captain’s hosting a competition with refreshments on hand at the halfway point, writes Chris Mushens.

This year, Kevin Hoare and Shelley Durrans rang the changes with a four-person scramble rather than an individual competition.

Winning by a single point was the team of Rob Isaacs-Berry, Rob Knight, Barrie O’Shea and Bobby Wotton with nett 55; second place went to Steve Atkins, Adrian Rendle, Johns Thompson and Jeremy Wiltshire, who beat Kevin Bradley, Jeremy Enticknap, Tim Enticknap and Gary Widdicombe on countback.

There were also prizes for nearest the pin (Mary Thompson and Bobby Wotton) and longest drives (Tina Scanlan and Dave Brooking). Many thanks to Shelley and Kevin for a great day.

The ladies played for the greatly loved Badger Bray trophy - a Stableford competition to win the bronze badger presented by the late Joan Bray.

Marilyn Lucas isn’t the longest hitter but she’s one of the straightest and her short game is returning to complement that. Her 38 points again gave a single point win over Shelley Durrans - many congratulations.

There was also a Stableford for the Dartmouth course ladies, with Sharon Jones continuing her fine, handicap-reducing form. After a slight wobble, she regained her momentum to win with 42 points. Barbara Dally was second with a very creditable 39.

Mark Collins is limited in when he can play golf by his job but made his mark in the midweek Medal. A nett score of five under par saw him prevail, ahead of his son Seth (73) and Pete Hannaford (71).

A relatively small number of players were up for the challenge of the Rogers Gold Cup. Each hole seemed to have its own story of joy or misery, with birdies and blobs spread across the front and back nine and there was no sense of why it was happening.

Ian Metchette birdied the fourth hole, the second hardest on the course, but struggled on the easiest. Ian was one of the front runners after nine but finished a couple of points short of the top places.

Three players scored 33 points, with Stephen Blackie having the best back nine to take the trophy. Dave Nicholls and Paul Marels took second and third place respectively.

There was a mixed Stableford for those preferring the blue and red tees and produced some good scores.

Rob Isaacs-Berry had been struggling with his game earlier in the week but found his form on Saturday to win with 41 points. Mike Whitelaw was just behind with 40, followed by Gary Bonser (38).

The Dartmouth seniors tackled a Stableford qualifier on Monday, July 13, reports Gordon Holmes.

Play was from the blue tees on the championship course with standard handicap allowances.

36 players were in the mix and points were also up for grabs for senior of the year.

An extreme easterly wind blew diagonally across most holes today making meaningful scores a bit of a lottery. That said there were however some excellent results carded.

Best of the day came from Robert Wotton who fired 40 Stableford points, beating John Garner on countback. Given the conditions, these were remarkable scores.

Both won their respective divisions as a result with Messrs Taylor & Atkins each in second on 39 points apiece, Paul Harding (38) and George Reeve (37) managing to finish under par also.

Another qualifier bites the dust where many in the field struggled with unusual conditions, ie fast fairways and greens, all of which tested the patience.

Birdie twos were scored by Robert Isaacs- Berry & Bernard Taylor at the third hole. The ever-alert Nigel Osborne kept a sharp eye on the cards. Our usual thanks to him. Elsewhere, Dartmouth senior’s latest friendly match was at home against China Fleet on July 9.

In blistering hot weather and with the course very dry and hard, all players found it a challenge.

Dartmouth won the match 4-2 and the standout result for Dartmouth was a 5&3 win for Geoffrey Jewell and David Sparks. The nearest the pin on the third hole was won by flying Scot Alistair Forbes.

Mark Mitchell has advanced to the semi-final of the Blight Trophy after he ousted Steve Atkins in the quarters.

Next week sees a circus style event alongside a friendly match away at Dainton Park.