THE finals of the South West of England Open Winter Foursomes competition was held at Yelverton Golf Club on Sunday, the culmination of six rounds of golf, involving players from all over the South West, including club professionals.
For the first year a Plate competition was held, for first and second round losers. Inaugural winners were Duncan File and Lee Carey from Okehampton, who played a solid round to beat Colin Nolan(Yelverton) and Adam Bridgewater(Hurdwick) 3 and 2.
In the main competition the third and fourth place play-off involved previous winner, Stuart Disney and partner Keeley Clarke from Torquay, who beat Andrew Hughes and Rob Vooght from Stover, also 3 and 2. Stuart also collected the Professional's prize, with Peter Laugher(Thurlestone) and Tony Nash (Lostwithiel) taking the runners-up prizes.
The final was played over 36 holes, with the home team of Len Waterfield and Brian Gullick taking on Paul Hill and David Drew from Honiton. The away team were well supported with club captain and past captains in attendance, and their support towards the end nearly paid dividends.
After the first round Waterfield and Gullick were 4 up, and apparently cruising to victory as they approached the 31st hole, having retained their lead throughout the afternoon session. A bold putt by David Drew won the hole with a birdie, on the hardest hole on the course, which gave the away team a glimmer of hope.
On the 33rd hole Waterfield hit a nervous shot off the tee, which gave the Honiton team the opportunity to reduce the deficit to 2 shots, with 3 holes to play. They had the opportunity to reduce the deficit to 1 shot on the 34th hole, following another poor approach shot from their opponents, but a weak chip allowed the home team to halve the hole, and stall their opponent's momentum.
On the penultimate hole David Drew missed the fairway, leaving his partner an impossible pitch over a leat, and Gullick put his chip shot to 6 feet to enable the home team to seal victory by 2 shots.
This was the first time a Yelverton pair had won the championship for 14 years, and home captain Jon Davey was delighted to see the trophy presented to the Yelverton pair by sponsors Brittany Ferries' representative, Stephen Shaw.