The plaudits in the morning went to Doreen Govier, Mark Shaw and Chris Langridge who carded a 78. They just pipped Nick Kapur, Mike White and Nigel Phillips into second place. On the 9^th everyone was in attendance, along with referee and cameraman Barry Fuller, for the most watched and strongly contested nearest the pin since Tiger was a cub. Much to the writers distress Fay was victorious and claims all family bragging rights.

Over lunch reports were coming in thick and fast. How well Nick Kapur had played, how steady Doreen was, what a brilliant birdie start Janet Fuller had produced. Infact Janet was the best in my team in the morning, supported by Richard Marston (apart from the moment Richard blasted his ball across 2 fairways and onto the 18^th fairway of a different course).We never found that one, probably still rolling.

We had six teams again in the afternoon for the real competition for the silver plate. Barry was ready and rested, Matty Berry was off duty but was to be Barry`s unofficial ambulance driver and medic, plus John Bird (hydrographer and junior 3-wood specialist). By 2 pm we managed to drag ourselves out of the bar and the following teams are presented in order of tee-off:-

THE CUBAN HEALS – Steve Randall, Gil Wright, John Bird.

Given the fact that these three hadn`t said more than a dozen words to each other before tee-ing off and John was an eleventh hour stand-in/ unknown quantity it turned out to be the dream ticket.Having played like a blind octopus for 3 months Gil actually hit the ball and had a good putting day. John turned out to be a dark horse and played the shot of the day with his trusty junior 3-wood on the long 10^th. It was the 10^th that won it for them, a birdie 4 where all three had their best shots, a real team effort, with Steve sinking a long and difficult putt.The team finished as winners with a society record of 77.

THE BADGERS – Nick Kapur, Colin Morris , Fay Wright

It was Nick`s debut and he performed exceptionally well all day. He won the nearest the pin on the Lashpool 4^th hole while everyone else did Jacques Cousteau impersonations or stuck the ball in bushes. I believe John Bird came second. But Nick was class all round, ably supported by Colin and Fay. At the final count they came a very creditable second with 80, a winning score on most other days. The difference was that long 10^th hole.

THE KOALAS – Roger Chapman, Mike White, Doreen Govier

Their card shows it took them 3 holes to settle down on the front nine but were steady from then on. Roger led the way off the tee, leaving Mike with 4 tee shots to take on the second nine.They got a very good par on the Lashpool and a creditable 6 on the long 10^th. Doreen was a delight to have with us. They finished with 94.

THE ROMEOS – Richard Marston, Kev Westwood , Janet Fuller

They improved as they went along, 46 out and 44 back to finish on 90 and 5^th. Like Tiger Woods before him Mr Westwood had his own private jet to and from the tournament.He also stayed on his own at the Travelodge with a chauffeur transporting him between the course and the Racehorse Inn. His usually caddie, Fanny “Tom” Hingley, had to miss this one due to an operation a couple of days before. Kev and Richard agreed on how good Jan is and will get to be. The first five holes were the costliest before they settled down, a very good par on the difficult 17^th.

THE LOST FLYERS – Roz Seabourne, Mark Shaw, Nigel Phillips

They finished 4^th with a very sound 87. Mark and Nigel are improving with every outing. Mr Shaw had a new Taylor Made giving him more distance off the tee. Mr Phillips has a redesigned swing courtesy of his new Welsh coach. Roz is always a dangerous competitor and after the first 3 holes they settled down into steady 5`s and 4`s.

THE KARLOFFS – Chris Langridge, Barry Fuller, Matty Berry

There is always one team – this is it. Barry had the “Popemobile”, Matty was doing his John Daly ( he won longest drive – hardly anyone else hit the fairway), Chris was wondering whether his team-mates needed sectioning. Having decided to get a 5 on every hole whether 100 yards or 3 miles they changed tactics on the back nine peppering the course with 3`s and 4`s to finish a close third on 81. If another 9 holes had been added their card suggests they could have won. Whether this was down to Barry`s medication kicking in or Matty smuggling steroids into their water bottle who knows.They had 4`s on the 11^th and 12^th across the water which is really impressive.

 Ladies Longest Drive – no-one hit the fairway, so instead of a rollover Roz generously donated the balls to the other ladies.

 The Racehorse Inn – great pub. One day we shall have to record the bizarre conversations. We had three classic sketches:-

1. The Barry Fuller proctology/emergency call to Philadelphia USA.
2. The “Holy Adam” is not an anagram of anything – yes it is, Dalmahoy.
3. Chris the “If you squeeze a dogs glands” Barbara Woodhouse Not advice.

 Everyone there will understand the above – but will need years of therapy to remove the memory.

Lastly, the Salisbury House Hotel or “Sunnyvale Rest Home for the Demented”. This proved to be very big, very handy for the pub, have Polish/Bulgarian girls on attendance and finished with 7 of us taking over. Perhaps those travelling can all get in the same B & B in Hastings come October. Talking of October please see details enclosed.

Another thanks to Roz and Mike for suggesting and handling Taunton Vale. Good weather, good course, good company. Hopefully some of the new victims will come to Hastings.

Well done to all that took part.

Gil.