THE finals of the South West of England open winter foursomes competition were played at Yelverton Golf Club on Sunday.
The final was played over 36 holes, Nick Horrocks and Adam Bridgewater, both playing off scratch, against Mike Philp (24) and Darren Mallafre (9) from China Fleet Club.
The morning round was played in difficult conditions, although the wind did assist on some holes, with Horrocks' drive on the fifth being measured at 400 yards.
The higher handicap pair received 12 shots and made good use of this advantage and they putted well to held their opponents, who were expected to be better equipped to handle the strong winds.
The match was close all the way, all square after nine holes. Horrocks and Bridgewater went to lunch one up.
After lunch the wind abated slightly and the China Fleet pair immediately got back to all square with a 4 net 3 on the first hole, only to concede the third.
They then won the sixth after Bridgewater over-clubbed and their putt from off the green hit the hole to stop dead.
Fortune then favoured them on the seventh when a kind bounce directed their ball onto the green for an easy 4 net 3 to go one up.
Horrocks and Bridgewater got back into contention by winning the 11th, but then gifted the 12th hole by 4 putting.
Fortune then see-sawed back and forth over several holes until the China Fleet pair won the 16th and 18th holes to win the prestigious title by two holes.
Meanwhile, the third and fourth place finals were taking place, Tom Squire and Joe Yorke from Yelverton competing against the Torquay professional Martin Ruth and his son Jonathan.
This match was always finely balanced, young Joe, only ten years old, doing well to stand up to the very strong winds, his 'never say die' attitude serving him well.
The match was all square going up the 18th with little prospect of a decision, but it ended up, as in so many golf matches, being decided by the putter.
Joe had a ten foot putt for par, and Martin was a couple of feet closer to the hole.
Joe, totally fearless with a crowd watching, calmly slotted his putt, while Martin pulled his putt just wide of the hole.
The Stover pair of Jason Hampton and Joe Hicks-Beach, the last Lady competitor in the competition, beat Barry Megson and Stuart Smith (Holsworthy) to decide fifth and sixth positions.
In the Plate competition the local pair of Dave Wright and Graham Plumb used their local knowledge to beat another Torquay pair, Martin Butcher and Jason Brooks, by 6 and 4.
The professional prize had been decided in the semi-finals, when Nick Horrocks beat Martin Ruth to win the £1,000 prize.
Jody Bee, Bobby Moore, Neil Holman and Tim McSherry shared third position.
Prizes were presented by Paul Creaven, captain of Yelverton Golf Club and representative of the sponsors Ryearch Limited.