AT DARTMOUTH GC, Garner and Cousens chalked up an impressed pairs win, writes Gordon Holmes.

The seniors’ annual Winton Foursomes Board Event was held on Monday, June 9. The rules were that players set off in four balls split into two pairs of golfers. Each pair played only one ball per team with each partner taking turns to tee off at alternate holes and thereafter each player taking alternate shots during each hole.

Half the aggregate course handicap of the partners was then applied to the final stroke play round gross score. This is a competition where you know if you can judge whether you are still on speaking terms with your partner at the end of the round.

One bad shot of any kind can put your partner into severe difficulty and a number of lost balls were undoubtedly recorded! So it was with some trepidation that sixteen pairs set forth on this challenging competition.

Last year, an exceptional winning Nett score of 64 was carded. While there were some cricket scores at a number of holes, blighting many rounds, the standout round today came from winners John Garner & John Cousens who recorded a gross 90 (split 44/46), for Nett 66.

Four shots behind were Rob Barratt & Paul Marels with good rounds coming too from Radar Roy Baldwin & Brian Mushens (74) and Andrew Dix & David Sparks (75), who finished third and fourth respectively. In summary, not the easiest of formats but as always, the camaraderie is to be savoured.

No birdie twos were scored at the par threes. Nigel Osborne counted them all back. Many thanks as usual to him.

An update from the Dartmouth in-house competitions and Gary Bonser beat John Thompson in the second round of the individual Blight Trophy knockout. Colin Cooper and Geoffrey Jewell also tasted success, winning in the Perring Cup pairs knockout against Philip Green and David Wilson.

Next week sees the annual Savary Cup pairs competition and the third round of the South Devon League at Torquay Golf Club. A full report will be in this column.