BIGBURY

THE ball is rolling at Bigbury Golf Club, despite the weather doing it’s very best to stop it!

Traditionally, the first honours board trophy of any year is the men’s Hogmanay foursomes played in early January. This foursomes competition is a medal and being an alternate shot is probably the hardest format in golf.

Thankfully the terrible Storm Gorreti was a couple of days earlier and did not prevent the Hogmanay Trophy competition being played as scheduled. This is a coveted Trophy and was very competitive; there were two pairings with the same score of nett 75.

Countback was needed to decide the winning pair and they were James Bond & Phil Sexton with James Keetley & Sean Massingham the runners-up. The 17th hole gave up birdie twos to James & Sean and Jason Holtom & Keith Naylor.

Club Professional, Sam Edwards, reports that:

“With a break in the rain, we had 9 golfers take part in the first 2026 Wednesday T.U.A.P (turn up and play) Stableford, a rare chance to play with 100% of your handicap, albeit a reduced handicap thanks to the WHS and winter mats, but that’s a moan for a different day.

Conditions were tough, and the course, despite a reduced length due to mats, was playing every inch of its length, with the ball landing and coming to a timely stop due to the soft conditions.

Dave Nurrish and Nick Carter both found their handicaps and the course to be a fair match, returning home with 36 points. We all love a comeback story, and Dave Nurrish achieved exactly that.

After trailing the course after 9 holes, he stormed back with 20 points to secure his 36 and, even sweeter, countback success over his playing partner, Nick.

Despite the modest turnout, one performance truly stood out. Martyn Scarterfield was the only player to break par, finishing with an excellent 37 points. This was a well-deserved win and secured bragging rights until next Wednesday.

Martyn also achieved one of two twos on the course yesterday and shares the £18 pot with Adrian King.”

The dates have been announced for the popular Avon Swing Open which is jointly hosted by Bigbury and Thurlestone. This year the competition is to be played on Friday 24th April at Bigbury, and Saturday 25th April at Thurlestone. The closing date for reservations is 12th April.

DARTMOUTH SENIORS

On Monday January 17, the Dartmouth Seniors braved cold, wet conditions and intermittent fog to contest a 3-2-1 Stableford competition from the red tees on the Championship Course.

The format, allowing 85% of individual course handicaps, saw teams of four record three scores on the first hole, two on the second, one on the third, and so on in rotation through to the eighteenth.

A total in the mid-70s is usually enough to claim victory, but with reduced handicaps from the forward tees this was always going to be a tough target.

In November last year, Team Marels had taken the honours, but the same quartet were not in today’s field, ensuring new names on the spoils. Event specialists led by Geoffrey Jewell were keen to regain the title.

The biggest challenge on the day, however, was visibility: extreme fog, intermittent mist and, surprisingly, bursts of bright sunshine meant many players struggled to locate balls from both tee and fairway.

Eight teams competed in what proved to be an enjoyable and spirited event. The best performance came from Team Dix, ably supported by David Sparks, Malcolm Barrett and Michael Whitelaw, who notched up an impressive 75 points, including 25 pars across the 18 holes.

Second place went to Team Bonser, just two points adrift but still an excellent effort.

Results:

1st — Andrew Dix, David Sparks, Michael Whitelaw & Malcolm Barrett: 75 points

2nd — Gary Bonser, David Morrall, Bernard Young & Tim Cronin: 73 points

3rd — Geoffrey Jewell, Graham Burton, Colin Cooper & George Reeve: 72 points

No birdie twos were recorded on the day.

In summary, it was a truly bizarre day weather-wise, with extreme fog, intermittent mist and bright sunshine all appearing in quick succession — conditions unlike anything many had previously witnessed or played in.

Special thanks go to Nigel Osborne, the competition guru, for expertly managing the countback.

Next week’s event is the Seniors Gold Challenge.

THURLESTONE

Thurlestone held the Daily Mail Foursomes qualifier on Sunday, January 18 with 24 entries.

The winners were David Kendall & Gary Raymond with 30 points from Mark Chapman and Alistair Whaley with 29 points on count back from Ben Matley and Kevin Rogers also with 29 points. Ben and Kevin also got the only birdie two on the 6th hole, well done to them.

28 ladies were in action on Wednesday for the 18-hole Stableford on a very wet course.

The winner was Sally Cahill (26) with 37 points some way ahead of second-placed Pam Adams (18) with 29 points. Third place went to Victoria Gibbons (21) with 29 points on countback from Sally Nelson Roberts (34) also 29 points.

There were only two birdie twos so congratulations to Liz Sharman on the 17th and Katherine Lawrence on the sixth hole.

The club Stableford on Saturday was well supported with 53 entries. There was a little rain to start the day but it soon cleared up.

The winner was Mark Knight (12) with 38 points from Malcolm Frank (22) with 37 points on count back from Paul James (13) so on 37. In fourth place was a junior member Aiden Mulligan (4) with 36 points.

There were nine birdie twos and Wilf Cunningham was lucky enough to get two of them on the sixth and 17th holes and also Alister Whaley got two on the sixth and 17th holes, congratulations to them.