THE South West of England Open Winter Foursomes competition, sponsored by Ryearch Ltd, is held on Yelverton Golf Club's well-drained course throughout the winter.
The first round is played over two consecutive weekends and many local players competed, including past winners Ashley and Martin Moon, who lost this time, 6 and 4, to Derek Owen and John Haslem from Okehampton, where Ashley is the club [rofessional.
Another professional to go out was the local assistant at Yelverton, Simon Wood. He and his young partner were unable to match the experience of A Hughes and Rob Vooght from Stover and lost by 1 hole.
The largest margin of victory was 8 and 6; local players Mark Taylor and Colin Nolan played excellent golf against Simon Francis (Elfordleigh) and Tony Clarke (Staddon), and must rank as among the favourites for the title.
Two other local players, Ian Cuthbert and Tony Rushbrooke, used their local knowledge, and Rushbrookes's newly purchased driver, to good effect to beat Tony Jeffs (Hele Park) and David Henson (Stover), winner 3 and 2.
The second round will be played on November 2, when local professional Tim McSherry with Laura Eastwood will enter the fray, along with ex-China Fleet professional Bobby Moore, just returned from a spell in Germany, and his partner Andrew Welsh.