Golf: Glamorgan farmers turn the tide at last
AFTER incurring heavy defeats every year since 2010, members of the Glamorgan Farmers’ Golf Society were determined to reverse the trend at their annual match against their farming friends from Monmouthshire Farmers’ recently.
Played on the extremely well-prepared Button course at Cottrell Park, 11 four ball matches took place with three points at stake per game, one for the front nine holes, one for the back nine and one for the overall result.
The Glamorgan team made a solid start with Godfrey Lewis and Mike Lee taking all three points against Colin Jones and Jason Jones, followed by Clive Thomas and Tony McCarthy with a similar result in their match against Gwyn Jones and Keith Spencer.
Charles Vicary and Clive Edwards dropped just half a point in their match against Trevor Baker and John Duthie to get the Glamorgan team off to a flying start. When Gwyn Thomas and Tim Jarvis returned a maximum three points against Dave Allen and Peter Francis, expectation was high.
However, a shock pointless defeat for John Caines and Rob Price against Martin Ley and Ken Davies soon followed with another zero return by Julian Kelly and Martyn Edwards, soundly beaten by Andy Hilditch and Andy Gully. Alarm bells were ringing for the host county when Robbie Llewellyn and Brian Jones were surprisingly trounced by Martyn and James Richardson, reducing the Monmouthshire deficit to just two points.
Thankfully Dave Llewellyn, partnered by veteran golfer Glyn Watts-Jones, stopped the rot with a fine maximum points win over Gwyn Thomas and John Walker. Next to return to the clubhouse were a jubilant Mark Rees and Dan Jarvis whose magnificent birdie on the 18th secured another two and a half points against Jonathan Davies and James Collins.
More success followed for the Glamorgan team when Julian Golunski and Gareth Perkins, both enjoying the rare opportunity of playing off lush fairways, secured another three points after soundly beating Jan Francis and John Morgan. Tim Jarvis, partnered with Gwyn Thomas, extended the lead of the home side with another maximum score against Dave Allen and Peter Francis.
A further three points for the Glamorgan team, courtesy of Dave Williams and James Rees playing in the final match against Peter O’Toole and John Anstey, brought this annual fixture to a close, giving Glamorgan a 22-11 win. Nearest the pin on the par-3 holes were Martin Ley, Clive Thomas and John Morgan (two), and James Richardson hit the longest drive down the selected hole. A total of 69 balls failed to return to the clubhouse correctly guessed by John Duthie
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