Dartmouth Golf Club

Men’s section

How many of us leave home after looking at the weather forecast and think, “It’ll be alright today – it doesn’t feel too cold”, and then you get to the club and it’s cold, wet and miserable?

That was the case last Wednesday for the midweek circus, writes John Garner.

Twenty six players were lured out to play on a very soggy course, but hopefully, from now on, the weather will get better and we can all look forward to playing in the summer months.

Despite the conditions, some good golf was played, with the front nine being shared between Mario Aresti, John Cousins, Bob Wotton and Phil Brooking, who was none the worse from his previous day’s escapade with John Garner, when they got their buggy stuck in a snowdrift on the 17th.

It took them 20 minutes to dig it out, with John using his seven-iron and Phil his pitching wedge.

Paul Barlow shared the back nine with the man of the moment Lew Easter, with

20 points. Lew won the ­competition with an impressive ­performance, scoring 39.

There were two twos, and it had to be him again, Mike Whitelaw, on the third, with Lew on the fifth with the other.

There has finally been some movement on the winter league knockout competition, with the latest results as follows: John Oldrieve and Vaughan Wood beat Ian Jenkins and Sam Knight; Paul Dunkerley and Ed Mitchell beat Dave Brooking and Chris Eddows; Brian Mushens and David Thomason beat Vince Doyle and Kevin Hoare; John Garner and Bob Wotton lost to Dave Nicholls and John Wood, who played some of his best golf to date. He carded three birdies on the front nine and the pair ham-and-egged very well – on the odd occasion that John hit a bad shot, Dave was straight up the middle to chalk up another par.

For me, though, the best shot of the day came from John on the 13th: he had a hanging lie on the left bank and with 180 yards to go he struck it superbly to place it 20 feet from the pin. Very impressive!

Perhaps it is something to do with the lifestyle change and fitness regime he’s on: he’s lost three stone and looks lean and keen.

Looking at the leagues in the winter knockout, the latest standings for league A are Ray Coles and Rob Way, who managed the best results after having played three and won three.

In league B, Andy Dix and Roger Mawson have also played three and won three.

League C saw Paul Dunkley and Ed Mitchell playing four and winning three.

In league D, John Garner and Bob Wotton played three and won two.

The quarter finals are looming and, with the weather set to improve as spring approaches, there should be some competitive golf to look forward to.

Seniors’ section

The seniors four-ball alliance fun competition was held on Monday, March 12. The rules for this competition were that all players played off nine-tenths their individual handicaps; teams were made up of four players; stableford points scoring; blue tees; two best scores to count per hole; and the team that scores the most points in 18 holes wins.

Three-man teams were ­permissible, but played off the full handicap. The teams selected themselves randomly.

The following teams, in order of tee-off times, participated: Gordon Holmes, Trevor Pretty and David Ward; Robert Wotton, Stephen Owen, Colin Cooper and David Barnes; Stephen Mayer, Robert Benns and Tony Hall; John Cousins, Lindsay Goss, Bernard Taylor and Philip Brooking; Alan Goldthorpe, Michael Shalders, Paul Stubbs and David Sparks; Brian Mushens, Martin Howlett, Mario Aresti and Roy Baldwin.

Mercifully, the competition was largely unaffected by the weather. Indeed, it was a reasonably pleasant day, with a stiffish breeze against on 12 and 13. The course remains very wet as it tries to dry out from the recent deluge from the snow and rain. Bunkers were in play, but were penal, as many had large areas of water in them, which meant either a free ‘fried egg’ drop elsewhere in the bunker, or if that was not possible, a one-stroke penalty for dropping outside no nearer the hole. Nevertheless, it proved an enjoyable day, with deserved winners coming from the second group out.

The winners were David Barnes, Colin Cooper, Steve Owen and Bob Wotton with 82 points, while the runners-up, with 79 points, were Mario Aresti, Roy Baldwin, Martin Howlett and Brian Mushens.

Twos came from Brian Mushens on the third and Gordon Holmes on the 18th.

In the seniors fun stableford on Friday, March 8, the ­weather forecast said it was going to be a grim morning, which deterred many regulars. The forecast was spot-on and for most of the morning it was heavy rain accompanied by dense fog, which made flag spotting from anything more than 50 yards an impossibility.

Nevertheless, a few of the usual suspects braved the weather and managed to complete 18 holes.

Trevor ‘Fit Boy’ Pretty, who ventures out in all weathers, was today’s winner, aided by forward blue tees on the 18th. Gordon Holmes chased him down the stretch, but was unable to catch him.

All those players who ­finished are still drying out on what was a ‘dreich’ day. Let’s hope some warmer weather is just around the corner in what has been an awful February and early March for the golfing fraternity.

In the Devon Veteran Winter Series, round three, the team selected to play in the

third winter series game at Thurlestone on Tuesday, March 27, is Mario Aresti (handicap 8), Michael Griffiths (13) and Martin Howlett (18).

Dartmouth need a strong showing to move up the ­cumulative leaderboard.