Round one of the John Barton Salver Seniors Championships, on Wednesday at Forest Hills, produced some good scores, if not quite outstanding, writes Geoff Norris.

In the gross competition, the first round leader was Gary Reddan, with the best of the day score of 80, Mark Barnard, with 81 was in second place on countback, from Nigel Thompson and Simon Killen. Michael Parry and Richard Keeble made up the top six, as they returned a pair of 82s.

In the Nett competition, Mike Connon held a two shot lead, as he came in with a nett 68. John Humphries was in second place with 70, on countback from Glyn Earle, Gary Reddan and Clive Winward finished with 71s, and David Howard with 72.

There were only three twos recorded and they came from Dave Bennett and Clive Winward on the eighth, and Pete Walters on the 17th.

The weather on day two remained similar to the previous day, that was until the final two three balls, got onto the 16th green.

Before they exited the final hole, the heavens opened, to provide some much needed moisture on the scorched fairways, but in essence, almost got the action suspended, with around only 10 shots remaining in the competition.

In the Nett competition, the round of the day was carded by John Binnie, who came in with a great nett 64, Malcolm Cape finished second with a three under par score of 69.

In the final reckoning, the winner of The John Barton Salver and the 2026 Seniors’ Gross Champion, was Mark Barnard, who picked up his second title, having first won it in 2024, as he came in with a fantastic level par 72, and when added to his first round 81, gave him a gross 36 hole total of 153.

David Howard finished second with 162, on countback from Michael Parry who finished third.

In the Nett competition, Paul Taylor had the best round on day two with a nett 69, with Mike Connon finishing second on 70.

This score added to his first round 68, gave Mike a 36 hole total of 138, that saw him get his name on the Salver for the first time.

There were only two claims put upon the twos kitty, as Mark Barnard birdied the eighth, and Ashley James the 17th.

In his summery of the two day Championships, Seniors’ Captain Kev Doyle thanked Roger Hall and Pete Dovey for their efforts in ball spotting on the course.

Roger also for collating the scores in a timely manner, the house staff for their service levels on the day, and the members of the section, for making the competition a great success.

The Saturday Stableford attracted almost 50 entrants, and not only were there some exceptional scores, but also some rare feathered friends made an appearance as Rob Norris holed his tee shot on the par four 10th for an albatross, and Ryan Burris holed his second on the seventh for an eagle

In the competition, Keiran Jones won Division One with 38 points on countback from Ryan Burris. Countback was also required to sort out the minor places, as Hayden Buford, Josh Goode and Stephen Doyle all carded 37.

Division Two turned out to be a family affair, as Theo Roberts won with 43 points, and his younger brother Henry finished two points behind on 41. Gary French was third with 38, Clive Winward fourth with 36, and Tim Preece fifth with 35.

The twos kitty was shared by Ryan Burris, on the 7th and 14th, Josh Goode and Keiran Jones on the 17th, Phil Manns on the 14th, and Rob Norris, with his hole-in-one on the 10th, and also a birdie on 14.

The final of the Men’s Summer Singles saw Mike Parry win the Youngers Trophy, as he defeated Mark McGirr on the second extra hole.

The match on Saturday afternoon, saw Steve Jones lead his team across the town, for the second leg of the 2026 Mo Pearce Tee Pot Challenge, with the Lords Hill crew holding a 4.5-3.5 lead from the first leg in Mile End in May.

In the opening leg, home Captain Phil Jones and John Entwistle lost 4&2 against Steve Jones and Gary Davies.

Unfortunately, this led to a run of wins for the Lords Hill crew, as Stuart Jones and Duncan Buchanan beat Geoff Norris and Dave Cole two up, Dave Thomas and Kevin Hill then shook hands on the 16th, as they beat Ashley James and Alan Edwards 4&2, Lee Cooper and Paul Kilburn then won 4&3 against Jaques Macinnes and Mark Graham, and Chris Jones and Peter Griffiths won 2&1 against Pat Simcoe and Tony Laws.

The sixth match was halved, as

Mike Baldwin and Martin Ellis shared the spoils with Luke Martin and Ollie Cooper.

The winning point was recorded for the home team in the penultimate match, as Jerry Bolster and Jeff Thomas beat Paul McLean and Paul Sologub 3&2, before Peter Shingfield and Adam Wood lost 2&1 against Simon Ruffley and Jeremy McCulloch, to leave the final score on the day of: Forest of Dean 5.5-2.5 Forest Hills and an overall score of Forest of Dean 10-6 Forest Hills.

To ease their embarrassment, the visitors did manage to collect both the nearest-the-pins prizes, as Mark Graham claimed the bottle on the fifth, and Pat Simcoe on the 15th. Thank you Bells for another great day, filled with good golf, mirth and camaraderie.

The competition on Sunday was the Macullan Individual Stableford, that attracted over 50 entrants, and the winner with a fantastic score of 42 points, was Scott Ayres, who followed up his gross 69 last week, with a 66, that included 8 birdies, incorporating the very unusual feat, of a full set of deuces on all par threes.

Dave Bennett was second with 40 points, and Luke Martin third with 39 on countback from Daniel Morse, who also earned himself two shares of the twos kitty, which included an eagle two on the 10th.

There were also five other claims, that were made by Dave

Bennett, Jaques Malan, Daniel Morse, Connor Mullen and Lance Malin.

On Monday the competition for the Seniors was Stroke Index Bowmaker, that carried a par of 80. The winners with a score of 85 points were Phil Manns, Gerald Woodley and Roy Phillips.

Terry Osborne, Colin Laver and Mike Wallis were second on countback, from Colin White, Mike Steward and Phil Leonard, as they both finished with a pair of 78s.

The five claims on the twos kitty were registered by Gareth Roberts, Mick Hilliam, Pete Dovey, Cliff Hill and Andy Shenton.

Kev Doyle, led the Seniors across the Forest, to meet the challenge of their friends at Lydney, at their Naas Lane course.

In the opener, Kev and Roger Hall managed to hold on for a well earned half against Alan Robinson and Chris Johnson.

Unfortunately for the visitors, this was as good as it got, as Neil James and Adrian Vines lost 4&2 in their match with Mark Lightbound and Kevin Grant. Mark Graham and Paul Adams then shook hands on the 14th green as they lost 5&4 to Gordon Hayward and Jim Bendall. Richard Medlin and Paul Sologub were the next to be put to the sword, despite starting like a train, as they went four up early on, before finally losing 2&1 in their tussle against Dave Prentice and Paul Challenger.

The mood for the penultimate match was summed up in the first three holes, as Dave Howard and Geoff Norris, managed to play the first three holes in just one over par, but were two down against Brian Snook and particularly Wayne Connett, who used his allowance of 15 shots to perfection, and the match was only prolonged by the visitors birdying the 13th and 14th, before they were put out of their misery, on the 15th green, as they finally lost 4&2.

The last match was another tight affair, as Martin Scoles and Simon Ruffley, finally had to concede their the match against Gordon Hewitt and Tony Norris as they lost the final hole to finish one down.

That left the final scoreline of : Lydney 5.5-0.5 Forest Hills but again in his post match address, Kev Doyle claimed something of a moral victory over the two legs, as the score in Mile End in May, was an emphatic 6.5 - 1.5 win to the home team.

Mark Graham again claimed the bottle of wine for the visitors, on the par three fourth hole.

Again thanks were extended to the Lydney members, as the visitors were treated to a competitive match, some exceptional fodder, and a convivial atmosphere in the company of friends.