VETERANS and serving military personnel were joined for the first time by the emergency services for the Armed Forces Trophy competition at Forest Hills Golf Club.

A busy day at the club had started with the ladies’ section charity competition organised by Pat Thomas which raised £565 for the Gloucestershire Oncology Centre, writes Geoff Norris.

The pairs competition was won by Anne Wall and Freda Riley, and Anne also won the nearest-the-pin prize.

The Armed Forces Trophy competition, organised by Kevin Greening, followed and was won by local member and RAF veteran Keith Bell with 37 points.

Former soldier Phil Golden from St.Pierre in Chepstow was second with Navy vet Pat Simcoe third.

The Seniors Yellow Tee Bowmaker on Thursday was won by John Skinner, Gerald Woodley, Andy Ward and Keith Bell, with an 18 under 90 points.

Steve Hammond, Jim Fairweather, Colin Laver and Gareth Roberts were second on 89.

The Saturday Stableford attracted a large entry and the exceptional scores were Division Two.

Simon Killen won Division One with a four under 40 points. Nick Jacobs was second with 38.

In Division Two, 12 pars and a birdie from John Binnie added up the a 10-under 46 points, three ahead of Stephen Forsyth.

In the afternoon, Mark Graham welcomed Duncan Buchanan and his team from the Forest of Dean Golf Club for the first leg of the Mo Pearce Tee Pot Challenge.

Mark and Steve Jones halved the opener with Duncan and Ian Smith. Alan Edwards and Ryan McDonald then lost 5 & 4 against Andy Barnes and John Rees.

Steve Graham and Dave Bennett shook hands on the 15th against Dave Thomas and Paul Kilburn.

Geoff Norris and Clive Winward, went from four-up after seven holes to lose two down against Richard Norris and Jerry Bolster.

Paul ‘Sty’ Williams and Pat Simcoe then won 4 & 2 against Will Bradley and Steve Thomson, followed by a 2 & 1 win for Derek Freeman-Jones and Matt Prior against Liam Haggar and James Hosford.

Chris Jones and Jacob Turner lost to a birdie on the 18th green, against Simon Roberts and Zain Wilson in the penultimate match, before David Wilding and Tony Laws lost 2 & 1 against Sean Morgan and Kevin Baggus, to leave the final score of : Forest Hills 2.5-5.5 Forest of Dean.

The Seniors’ Pairs Shambles Stableford on Monday, attracted a field of 40.

The winners were Chas Challis and Martin Shipley with a 14-under 50, with Jim Fairweather and Brian Evans on 49.

John Auton and Andy Shenton were third on 48.

Alex Harvey and Mike Wallis were fourth on 47 on countback from John Humphries and Mark Hyde, and Richard Keeble and Malcolm Shergold.

On Monday afternoon, Seniors’s Captain, Clive Winward, led his team to Cotswold Edge.

In the opener, Bill Peffers and Dave Howard lost 3 & 2, before Phil Gwynne and Paul Morphey lost one down.

The Captain and Vice Captain Kevin Doyle shook hands on the 16th green, losing 3 & 2.

Pat Simcoe and Neil James won 2 & 1, before the result was decided as Mark Graham and Ashley Drew could only half the penultimate encounter.

In the last match, Barry Klein maintained his unbeaten run in Seniors matches this season, as he and Steve Keepax, won one up for Cotswold Edge 3.5-2.5 Forest Hills.