FOR the second week in a row, the men had to suffer some atrocious conditions for their Sunday competition, writes Peter Crowter.

There was a very strong wind and then along came the heavy rain.

This was the March Medal and of the 70 starters, 34 decided discretion was the better part of valour and made a soggy beeline for the clubhouse with N/R on their cards.

The man who stood out from the crowd was Rob Walter in Division Three.

He was the only man on the day to play under his handicap and his nett 70 earned him a one-shot cut.

The next best score was Matt Gale’s 74 who took Division One, while Mike Barter triumphed in Division Two with a nett 77.

Division One: 1 Matt Gale 84-10-74, 2 Phil Winton 89-10-79, 3 Mike Savage 89-9-80.

Division Two: 1 (acb) Mike Barter 94-17-77, 2 (acb) Roger Galpin 92-15-77, 3 Ian Thacker 93-16-77.

Division Three: 1 Rob Walter 90-20-70, 2 (acb) Don McAllister 98-19-79, 3 Chris Bodycombe 99-20-79.

Ian Thacker did not win the March Medal but his par – a net birdie – on the third hole meant he picked up a useful bonus of £100.

Thacker became the first winner of this year’s captain’s Birdie Bingo competition, in the process raising funds for his chosen charity BCF, a trust which makes one-off grants to people the state forgets.

A new bingo game will begin with the April Medal, but, meanwhile, cardholders may keep playing to win consolation prizes and a chance to play for free at Remedy Oak.

Veterans’ Section

THE Thursday competition was the Luton Ladle Greensome Stableford.

Conditions were reasonable for the 27 two-man teams.

The winners of the competition by a clear five points were the holders, Roy Gill and Malcolm Peach, with a score of 41 points.

It was not arranged for last year’s winners to play together again this year, as this was a drawn competition, so their pairing was pure chance.

In addition, this was Gill’s first competition after a three-month break due to a health problem, so you could say he hit the ground running.

The team of David Inglesent and Dave Buckland came second after countback with 36 points.

1 Roy Gill (12) & Malcolm Peach (22) 41pts, 2 (acb) David Inglesent (19) & Dave Buckland (21) 36pts, 3 Phil Dowell (13) & Ian Campbell (26) 36pts, 4 (acb) Mike McGrady (15) & Mike Conway (28) 35pts.

Ladies’ Section

 AT LAST, the ladies have been able to complete a two-day competition, writes Rosemary Shepherd.

Two Stableford competitions were played over two days with 17 ladies electing to play the nine-hole competition while another nine took up the challenge of playing 18 holes.

Conditions were a little more favourable on Saturday than on Tuesday, which was very windy with a couple of blustery showers.

The winner of the 18-hole competition was Ruth Donovan (30 points) while Lyn Hargrave (28pts) was second on countback.

Liz Walker (13pts) triumphed in the nine-hole event ahead of Jan Clark (11pts), who beat Heather Chapman on countback.