Golf

6:11pm Tuesday 13th May 2008

The Burnham Ladies have recently played their Spring Meeting. The morning competition was an 18 hole stableford and in the afternoon it was a nine hole Texas scramble. The winners for the morning were: 1st Liz Tolhurst 37 points on count back 2nd Cally Fearn 37 points 3rd Jacci Firmin 36 points The scratch prize went to Sue Frost on count back to Helen Ford.

Best front 9 Anne Mapes Best back 9 Thelma Duce Longest Drive Jane Baker Nearest the pin 2nd shot Sue Frost Nearest the pin Liz Tolhurst Afternoon results: 1st Front 9 Lesley Nicholls, Jacci Firmin, Rita Sorrell and Dot Hamilton.

2nd Front 9 Pat Spraggon, Judy Duck, Vera Oates and Gina Horlick 1st Back 9 Maurine Pace (lady captain), Maureen Turner (lady vice), Maureen Robinson and Avis Greenaway.

2nd Back 9 Helen Ford, Jeanette Wilson, Anne Mapes and Sue Frost After a delicious meal Liz Tolhurst thanked everyone for making it a most enjoyable day.

The following Saturday the Ladies held their Mini Guest Day. They played a four ball better ball competition with their guests from other surrounding golf clubs. The first place went to Hilary Skeens with her guest from Chelmsford, Sue Britten. In second place was Liz Wastnage with her guest from The Warren Lesley Peirce and in third place was Jillean Hipsey with her guest Jan Hibbs from Three Rivers golf club.

A busy 10 days for Five Lakes culminated in a nail-biting finish to their Thornton Cup clash with Three Rivers on Sunday.

Trailing 1-4 after the morning Foursomes, Five Lakes faced an uphill task with Three Rivers needing only 4 points from the 10 afternoon Singles to achieve victory.

Early wins from the Five Lakes' front-runners, Andy Shakespear, Will Boniface and Adam Morris gave the home side hope but fortunes fluctuated throughout the afternoon as Three Rivers fought back hard.

After further Five Lakes' wins from Dan Carroll, Mark Snoad and Geoff Hopkins, plus a tenacious half point from Malcolm Pook who finished his match all-square, the result hinged on the last match on the course.

Matt Foot of Five Lakes went down the par 5 18th hole needing to win to square his match and give Five Lakes the half point they needed to win the tie.

After splashing out of a greenside bunker, Matt holed a 35 foot putt across the sloping green to score a superb birdie 4.

However, his Three Rivers opponent, Dave Remington, maintained his composure and coolly slotted home a four foot putt for his birdie to secure the win and tie the match overall at 7-7.

This meant a sudden-death play off to decide the winners. Andy Shakespear for Five Lakes and Wes Wray for Three Rivers were the nominated play-off players and they teed off again from the 1st tee.

After both players made par on the 1st extra hole, they made their way down the 2nd.

Both players made good drives, but Andy Shakespear then produced a magnificent 142 yard 9 iron shot to within 18 inches to make a birdie 3 and win the match for Five Lakes.

This was a very closely fought contest with some magnificent golf played by both teams.

Afterwards the team captains, Dave Milne for Five Lakes and Bobby Platts for Three Rivers, complimented their teams on the standard of play and for the sporting manner in which the game had been conducted.

Times Choice