Sidmouth Herald published 16 October 2011
The Owen Cup
The Owen Cup is a handicap competition for those in the 11-18 handicap range and this year there were eight entries split into two blocks of four, with Colin Walls and Nancy Temple progressing from Block A and Rosemary Bradshaw and Graeme Pryor from Block B, writes Mike Taylor.
In closely fought semi-finals, Graeme beat Colin +1 and Nancy beat Rosemary +2.
The final, which was played in rather wet conditions, saw Nancy open with both her balls on the East boundary. Graeme hit-in on his first ball which he had placed South of corner 2 and then took-off to the East boundary balls. Graeme gradually moved ahead without making a substantial break, whilst Nancy was unable to get sufficient innings to make much of an impression.
The game eventually resulted in a +11 win for Graeme, who added this trophy to the Sheila Adams Cup which he had won earlier. This has been a good finish to the season for Graeme, who has also seen a reduction in his handicap.
The Woodward Salver
The Woodward Salver is an Advanced Play Singles competition for those in the 2-11 handicap range. The final this year was played between Mike Taylor (6) and last year’s winner Richard Wood (2.5). Luckily the weather was fine and Mike was able to bask in the sunshine whilst Richard drifted round in an almost perfect performance to win +26. This can happen when one player is on exceptionally good form and allows his opponent only a minimal chance of hitting-in!
The Belmont Cup
The Belmont Cup is open to competitors with a handicap of 16 or lower. Roger Hendy and Peter Nelson emerged as finalists after a season-long competition and in glorious sunshine it was Peter who reached Rover using only two of his five bisques, whilst Roger had clips on 2 and 3. Peter then took his second ball to 3 back using his remaining bisques. A rather nervous period of play followed in which neither player made much progress, but eventually Roger got going and ran eight hoops to Rover. It was too late, however, and Peter held his nerve to win +10.