THE Seniors competition on Thursday at Forest Hills, was set up as a Yellow Tee Stableford, and the section members were divided, by the prospect of a drop of rain in the forecast.

Some demonstrated the strength of character required to tackle the elements, while others opted to stay indoors, to drink coffee and natter.

In essence, it were only the very late starters, that had to contend with anything more than a slight “mizzle”, and then, only for the last couple of holes.

Geoff Pearson continued his recent good form, as he won Division One, with his return of 38 points. John Watkins was second, with 36, and Pete Dovey third on 36.

Division Two was won by Andy Shenton, with a best of the day score of 40 points.

Vice Captain Alan Bridges was second on 36, with Terry Hook third.

Michael Simmonds finished top in Division Three, with 37 points, Trevor Baker was second, a shot adrift, with Keith Hurd in third.

The eight twos that were claimed on the day, were deemed to be worth £8.00 each.

Friday was not only St.Patrick’s Day, but also Cheltenham Gold Cup day, and, as such, the Pro Shop organised a Stableford competition in the morning, followed by some fodder and a few beers.

The winner of the competition was Josh Powell with 43 points, and he managed to just edge out Rob Norris, who in turn, beat Darren Page on countback, as they both came in with 42.

The latest Saturday Stableford, resulted in Terry Davies winning Division One with his score of 40 points. Richard Keeble was second on countback from Alan Edwards on 39.

The competition’s best score on the day of 42, was recorded in Division 2 by Steve Powell.

Liam Maskell was secTwo nd with 40, and Michael Simmonds third with 36.

The first “major” of the new season on Sunday, The Briscoe Trophy, which is a Combined Medal, was won by Kevin Doyle and Colin Grindle, whose combined score of 140 nett, was good enough to get their names on the honours board.

They finished four shots clear of Terry Davies and Gary French, who in turn were one shot ahead of Paul “Sty” Williams and Eddy Annis, who finished in third place.

Monday saw another double header for the Seniors, as the Team Bowmaker precluded the latest and last match in the Winter Round Robin series.

The result of the Bowmaker was a close run thing, as only two points separated the winners from the third placed team.

The winners were Phil Hughes, Bill Peffers, Andy Shenton and Richard Demery with their score of 101.

In second place were John Humphries, Phil Gwynne, Neil Ogborne and Gerald Woodley on 100 while, a further shot adrift in third, on 99 were the quartet of Dave Stuart, Barry Klein, Malcolm Shergold and Terry Davies.

The only one claim on the “twos kitty was recorded by Nigel Green, who will have £41.00 adhered to his club bar account.

Later in the morning Captain Keeble welcomed the Seniors from Ross-on-Wye to Mile End, for their last match in this year’s Winter Round Robin series, and home advantage counted for little, as the visitors ran out comfortable winners.

In the opener, Kev Doyle and Clive Winward were emphatic winners, as they shook hands on the 15th green, as they won 4 & 3.

Captain Keeble and his firs lieutenant Alan Bridges, suffered heavily at the hands of visiting Captain Chris Good and his partner Steve, with Chris, who coincidentally is a former member of Forest Hills, managing to chip in, no fewer than three times, as the homesters were condemned to a 4 & 3 loss.

Mark Barnard and Darren Page were another pair to taste defeat, as they lost 4 & 2, and things didn’t improve much in the next match either, as Mark Graham and Ray Innes took their match to the 17th, before shaking hands, as they lost 3 & 1.

The penultimate match, proved to be closest of the day, as Steve Cole and Geoff Norris, managed 4 wins, 4 losses and 10 halves in the 18 holes played, with neither side more than one up at any time.

It was summed up on the last green, as Steve and Phil Dicks from Ross, both birdied the hole, to take a share of the spoils, and this was considered the most as a fair result by all concerned.

As this proved to be the winning point for the visitors, the result of the last match was irrelevant, as Geoff Pearson and Roger Ovett lost 3 & 2, leaving the overall match score of : Forest Hills 1.5-4.5 Ross-on-Wye.

The final score meant the Wyesiders registered their first victory against the Foresters in six attempts, since Forest Hills joined the league in 2021.