Russell and Tony lift Carthagena Bowl

From early morning until late evening some 96 pairs battled to win the prestigious Greensome stableford competition.

In initially damp conditions, improving during the morning to be warm and sunny with a light wind, this competition was ideal for good scoring and the pairs did not disappoint.

The top 49 pairs played to par or better. Russell and Tony, the early leaders in the clubhouse, held on to win with an excellent 45 points, two points ahead of four pairs on 43 points

Second was Simon Albone partnering Mark Eaton, and coming third on count back were Kay Daniels and Diane Munns.

The trophy was presented to the winners by club captain Dave Wilsher.

The weekend golfing started on Friday evening with a Fun Texas Scramble shotgun start over the Carthagena course.

One hundred players, in teams of four, were seeking not only to win but to beat the Club’s Professional Team. The Pros did not have the best of rounds and were beaten by a number of teams, winning a small wager.

After the golf the players enjoyed a platter buffet and plenty of banter. The winning team was Andy Fage, David Gabbitas, Rickie McKay and Gary Branch with a score of 51.5 from Barry Gaynor, David Lenton, Gary Tait and Neil Willson with 53.1, third 0.1 shots behind were Simon Albone, Joe Carroll, Andrew Florence and Mark Tyler.

The Bedfordshire Golf Club hosted the Bedfordshire Ladies County Golf Association County Championship from May 11 to 14. Running at the same time as this major competition for the County Championship was the Division 1 Spring meeting.

The County Championships began with a 36 holes medal on Thursday, May 11, to find the top 16 players. On May 12 the top qualifying ladies played in the match play knockout rounds, then the quarter finals, with the winners going through to the semi-finals and final on Saturday morning and the final on Saturday afternoon.

There was some success for the club with Sophie Hillier having the best 36 hole gross score on Thursday in the County Championship with 155. In addition, Sophie Mills (79 and 78) was in third place on gross 157, with Dawn French who had the best 18 hole score in the morning round with a gross 78.

The three players progressed to the knockout phase. Sophie Hillier progressed through to the final and after a terrific battle with Annabel Pitts of Beadlow had to settle for runner up, losing 4 and 3. Sophie Mills made it through to the semi-finals missing out to the eventual winner Pitts.

Unfortunately Dawn French did not progress from the first knockout round.

The Ladies Division 1 Spring meeting was played on the morning of May 11 with Chris Billington achieving the best front nine and finishing third overall with a net 72. She was one shot behind winner Rita Farmer (Beds and County) and Yvonne Richards in second (Aspley Guise and Woburn Sands).

In the afternoon Foursomes stableford competition Chris Billington with her partner Hilary Pearmain achieved some more success, coming third with 31 points behind the winners Wendy Haslam and Pauline Hulance on 33 with Carol Gould and Jenny Prior second on 32.