A VERY good start to the 2026 Sheelah Creasy season for Thurlestone saw their ladies beat Libbaton at home, winning 4.5-0.5.

Nikki Smith, Sally Cahill & Sue Esplin braved the three singles matches and all won despite giving shots, plus the two greensomes matches went well also.

Barbara Smith and Sheila Fairley had to give 10 shots to the opposition, as did Diane Baker and Liz Lacon. Though a little breezy, the weather was kind to us and the course looked beautiful. The greens were very fast, however, resulting in some difficult putting.

Swiftly following was the second fixture, Saunton the visitors this time around.

Jane Mahood is to be congratulated for her 3&2 in her singles match. Kaz Phillips and Jenny Bates had a closely fought greensomes match, winning 2up with one hole to play.

Despite valiant efforts, the remaining three matches all went to Saunton. Their 3&2 win gave them 11 points against Thurlestone's four. The Saunton ladies all commented on the excellent condition of the course and its stunning views.

Little did we think that this week’s competition would be yet another ‘brutal’ round of golf.

With balls oscillating on the greens, and trolleys falling over; it was lovely to see as many ladies playing and ending their unbelievably testing round still with a smile on their faces and sharing their stories in the clubhouse afterwards.

Scoring 31 points, Pam Adams and captain Heather Spencer prevailed. They are pictured gratefully receiving the trophy from VC Sue Esplin.

A force eight gale welcomed visitors Dainton Seniors to Thurlestone. With the help of local knowledge and experience of the conditions, match captain Bill Ogley and his team took full advantage beating the opposition 5-1. Bill Ogley and Mark Greatorex led the way with a 4&3 win over their Dainton opposition.

Ken Riley and John Mahood followed their lead with a fine 5&4 win. Owen Rees and John Rogers had a sterner test but held on for a 2&1 win. Steve Gallagher and Peter Basten rounded off the victory with a 7&6 win. Steve Gallagher won nearest the pin being the only player who managed to keep his ball on the green on the 17th!

Club captain Tim Stacey enjoyed another very memorable day at Bigbury on Friday, April 17 when he bagged himself a hole-in-one on the 17th hole.

Tim reports that this was his second hole in one and the first was more than 20 years ago when he was on a family February half-term holiday in Portugal. He was playing on the old Quinta do Lago course and he recalls he used an eight iron and the ball landed on the green, two hops and into the hole.

There was a green keeper nearby and he was leaping up and down in celebration with him.

On the 17th, Tim was playing in the Club Circus, an Open Roll Up competition, that takes place every Friday and attracts some 10-20 players each week competing for three trophies over the summer BST weeks.

Tim reports that this hole-in-one was a six iron back into quite a breeze. The ball scuttled along the ground for half its journey, up the green and into the hole, so whilst not spectacular, they all count and Tim thinks half the club will have heard him celebrating; Peter Lawrence was there and took the photograph with this report.

We all congratulate Tim on bagging himself a most memorable hole in one to add to his Captain’s year.

The following day the men’s 2025 Nettlefold “cup winners cup” took place and 25 players entered for this very challenging competition. It is played off the longer white tees and the men play two rounds in one day.

The comfortable medal winner by four shots was Sean Massingham, with a two-round score of nett 155.

A three-way countback was needed to decide the places as Peter Cooper, Jon Wiley and Ray Mitchell all scored a nett 159. The computer showed it was Peter in second place, Jon third, and Roy fourth.

Congratulations to all the players who entered this challenging “cup winters cup” event.

The ladies competed in a Stableford competition on the same day with 19 players entered. And another three-way countback was needed with Eve Naylor, Amanda Sinclair and Sarah West all scoring 34 points.

The winner was Eve with Amanda in second and Sarah third. There were no birdies in this competition so there will be a rollover.

The Dartmouth seniors tackled another Stableford qualifier on Monday, April 28.

Standard handicap protocols were in place with play from the blue tees. I was not at the course today, as I am currently in sunny West Sussex, so the results and commentary have been accessed remotely.

37 players were in today’s field, one of the largest for a while, on what was a sunny day with perhaps plenty of forward running on the ball.

It was a straight fight between two clearly in-form players, namely Messrs Kevin Matthews and Colin Cooper, with the former edging the latter on back-nine countback. It was probably a record inward nine from Kevin, who amassed an astonishing 26 points with a birdie, 7 pars and a bogey — some shooting, sir.

Looks like an ideal day for meaningful golf, with many players making hay while the sun shone.

Competition Result (Handicaps in brackets)

1st, Kevin Matthews (16) – 41 points

2nd, Colin Cooper (21) – 41

3rd, Mark Mitchell (23) – 37

4th, John Cousins (28) – 35

5th, Christopher Newton (23) – 34

6th, Mark Gannon (36) – 33

Division 1

1st, Kevin Matthews

2nd, Brian Mushens (32 points)

Division 2

1st, Colin Cooper

2nd, Mark Mitchell

Birdie twos were scored by Paul Stubbs at seven, and Keith Moffitt and Colin Cooper at 18.

Competition guru Nigel Osborne was in charge of the cards. Many thanks to him.

No competition next week as the early May bank holiday intervenes. We return to action on 11 May.