TAVISTOCK Tennis Club held its annual dinner at the town?s golf club last Saturday attended by 50 people. Guests included the mayor of Tavistock, Jenny Metcalf. Mike Prout in his first year as chairman thanked the committee for all it does and the function of each member with special reference to the new ladies? captain, Gaynor Pollard, which Phil Harbottle the men?s captain had covered for many years. Mike emphasised the importance of a strong junior section which is the club?s future. He said with the departure of coach Linden Hardisty they were fortunate to acquire the services of Richard Stafford, an enthusiastic young man with a good grounding in the game and a qualified coach, primarily for juniors but also seniors. With the Plymouth & District League competitions there were 5 men?s teams, 3 ladies and 3 juniors, where the men?s A&B teams held their positions in Div 1, the D team in Div 5 and the new E team promoted from Div 7. With the ladies the A team were promoted, the B team demoted from Div 3 and the C team demoted from Div 4 by the narrowest of margins. With the juniors the A team were runners up in Div 1, the B & C were low in Divs 2 & 3 with placings next year dependent on entries. After a lapse of two years the club hosted a Juniors Sanctioned LTA Rated Tournament which was a great success with 64 participants. There had been 16 friendly matches which included some clubs outside the PD&L area with some juniors performing well who played up to gain experience. Social events as well as this lunch consisted of a beginning of season skittles match, a barbecue on finals day and a successful quiz. Mike thanked president Norma Woodcock for all her help and the two previous chairmen Mike Jefferies and David Isaac for all their assistance and advice. Norma Woodcock said it was an honour to be president of such a thriving club, thanked Mike for his role as chairman and wished the club every success in the future. The cup for the outstanding member of the year went to John Burgess for his contributions as public relations officer and running the friendly matches. Viv IIes who organised the event presented a bouquet to the mayor. In the afternoon for the eighth year running the traditional fundraising competition took place for the cup donated by Mike Blagrove in memory of his wife June and was won by Gaynor Pollard and John Jackson. The event with donations in the evening raised £309 for the Children?s Hospice SW in Barnstaple. In eight years it has raised over £2,000 for this charity. l Results of the Open Mixed Doubles tournament played after the main tournaments. Main event Olga Rogers/Ron Skinner beat Viv IIes/John Jackson 6-5, 5-6,(10-3). Plate event: Gaynor Pollard/David Isaac beat Jenny Read/Malcolm Tripp 6-3, 6-2. Recent friendlies: v Chagford at home drew 5-5; v Okehampton at home won 7-2; v Bude, LDs, at home lost 4-5. Triangular match Tavistock, East Cornwall (hosts), Launceston. Tavistock won on points; 44, 38, 36.
