The first of five busy days of golf at Freshwater Bay was Wednesday’s hotly contested Better-Ball Stableford. Nine pairs entered and the top two carded an impressive score of 42 points, but Dennis Smith & Chris Tansley’s back nine of 22 points was not good enough to beat eventual winners Ray Cooke and John Herbert, who had 24 points on the back 9.
Thursday saw the Ladies EWGA Medal played in breezy conditions. Joanne Wright was the winner of the Silver division, with a nett 70 including 4 birdies, and the Bronze division was won by Rita Smith, who scored a nett 76. Sammi Keen was second overall, with a nett score of 72, seeing her handicap reduced to 8.
Friday played host to the re-scheduled Veterans Stableford, and Ray Cooke, Peter Scott and John Mew all posted a good score of 39 points, but the Seniors Vice-Captain Richard Couse scored 41 points to win the day, and had his handicap cut to 13.
Two competitions were played on Saturday, with the men’s Stableford being won by Nick Riby with a score of 41, Keith Kimber was in second place with a score of 38, and Dennis Smith came third with a score of 35. Following their victory over Brockenhurst 2 weeks ago, the Ladies Section played the second round of the Mail on Sunday Classic, against fellow Islanders Osborne. 5 of the finest from each side started the singles match play in foggy conditions, and by the 5th hole the visibility was such that the match was put on hold and the players returned to the clubhouse. An hour later the fog had sufficiently cleared, and the ladies returned to the course to continue the match in much sunnier weather. After the first 4 matches had finished, the score was 2.5 – 1.5 in Freshwater’s favour, and team captain Sue Keen secured a half on the 18th hole, making the final score 3-2 to Freshwater, and allowing the ladies to progress on to the 3rd round. During the speeches, another rendition of Happy Birthday was sung to Osborne’s team Captain Gillian Fahy, who was celebrating her birthday that day.
The week concluded with Sundays re-scheduled February Monthly Medal, which saw 35 entrants compete for glory. The lowest gross of the day was an impressive 72 from Derek Wright, and third place overall went to junior Conor White, who scored a nett 66. Both Miles Oldershaw and Adam Keen carded a respectable nett 65, but Miles came out on top with a back nine of only one over par, which was good enough to knock Adam into second place.
