THE quarter-finals of the South West of England Open Winter Foursomes competition was played at Yelverton Golf Club on February 12. There had been a postponement two weeks previously due to frost. In the first match two professionals battled to advance towards the £1,000 prize, but it was the Torquay pair of Lester Barnes and young Jonathan Ruth who had the better short game and beat Ashley (Okehampton) and Martin Moon (Elfordleigh). In the second match the local pairing of Gary Hawking and Karl Eastwood played well to win two-up, but their opponents A Eke and L West from Staddon Heights putted well to keep in contention. The other Yelverton pair, Wayne Woolaway and Darren Corbett, fared less well than their fellow members, and lost to the big hitting pair from China Fleet, Des Carty and Ian Verner. Carty and Verner started well, going 4-up after five holes, then the home pair pegged them back to a one-hole advantage at the 18th, but they had left too much to do and lost by two holes. In the Plate competition two teams pulled out and there was only one match played, which the local team of Tony Rushbrooke and Les Harries won, beating S Evans and M Young from China Fleet four and three. The semi-finals will be played on February 26, with Lester Barnes and Neil Holman looking to beat their amateur opponents to meet each other in the final. They will be giving their opponents two shots and three shots respectively, so will have to be on top form.
