WERNETH WEDGE No. 81 Captain: David Whittingham May 2008

CAIN AND ABLE SMITH WIN SENIORS' OPEN.

Once again home-based players took the top honours in the club's popular Seniors' Open - proof, if proof were needed, that our course is not as easy as many members of other clubs like to claim. The winners, in testing sunny but windy conditions, were Jack Cain and the evergreen octogenarian Eric Smith with 43 pts.

Runners-up were relative youngsters Louis Cordwell and Ian Grant two points adrift. Third place went to the Ashton duo of R. Lawton and D. Gregory. Winners in the 120-139 age group were Barry Hanmer and Eric Webb, with B. Wilson and D. O'Driscoll, from Branshaw, topping the category of those with a combined age of more than 140 years.

Heavy rain and a flooded course forced the postponement of the seniors' Spring Meeting, but there was decent weather - again sunny and windy but wet underfoot - when the event took place at a later date. Geoff Dawson, won the event on his debut as a senior, with 35 pts, with Brian Hope taking second place with 32 pts on a card play-off with Dave Royle and Mel Robinson.

The over-70s prize went to Roy Last.

HOLE IN ONE - EASY FOR SOME.

Many golfers spend years dreaming of the day they achieve a hole in one - and many of them go to their graves disappointed. But 13-year-old Stefan Whaley is a young man in a hurry. Playing his first round as a member of the club with his dad, Vice-Captain Dave Whaley, he holed his tee shot at the 197-yard sixth. To add insult to injury, he achieved the feat with a five-wood borrowed from his father.

Peter Hickey, standing on the seventh tee, saw the ball pop into the hole and heard the cheer from behind. He no doubt felt a little envious because he had still to experience the thrill of an ace. But he had to wait only a few weeks more before holing his own tee shot at the 15th with an eight iron.

TOUGH GOING ON INVITATION DAY.

The heavens opened and the course resembled the Lake District when our opening Invitation Day was staged in mid-April. Inevitably, after the first hour or so, conditions became so bad that the hooter was sounded to postpone play and everyone (except those who had already walked off), trooped into the clubhouse.

Fortunately, especially for the afternoon starters, conditions improved and play was eventually restarted. Club champion Paul Rowbotham, partnered by Saddleworth's John Knight, won the day with a score of 40pts - but only after a countback with Bob Barrington and Steve Hodson, also of Saddleworth, who carded the same score. Adam Rowbotham and yet another Saddleworth guest, Nick Corrigan, were third with 39pts, again on a card play-off with Joe Cassidy and his brother Mike, who plays at Brookdale. Tim Joyce and Romiley's Dave Garner were fifth with 38pts, one more than Nigel Wareing and J. Gates in sixth place.

ARTHUR WILKINSON AND GORDON LOCKETT.

The club has lost two more long-standing members with the deaths of Arthur Wilkinson and Gordon Lockett.

Arthur, who was 84 and a member for more than forty years, used to play the course regularly with his wife, Pat, a former Lady Captain, but had been in poor health for some time. Two of his sons, Danny and Steve, are also members.

Gordon Lockett, who was 78, never fully recovered following a fall in which he broke his hip near his home in Middlegate. Formerly head of the Ferranti group payroll department, he is survived by his widow, Gwyneth, son Anthony, and daughter Heather Jeffreys - also a member.

HAYNES MASTERS FIERCE GALE.

A gale-force wind played havoc in a Mellor Cup qualifier, with only eight players breaking eighty. But two high handicappers ruled the roost, with Chris Haynes, who plays off 19, shooting an impressive 84 (net 65), to take the top prize. Sixteen-handicapper Howard Travis, with an 81, matched his net score, only to be denied on a countback. Perhaps the most noteworthy round of the day came from 75-year-old John Stockley, who carded a gross 80 (net 70), though one-handicapper Paul Rowbotham's gross 70 was quite remarkable in the dreadful conditions.

Biggest loser on the day was John Mellors, playing in a competition which almost mirrored his surname. John, managing director of Taylor and Goodman, the Royton-based electric motor repairers, had already agreed to sponsor ten shirts for the juniors, but agreed to pay for a further five after a request from the organisers, costing him a total of almost £500. The 19-handicapper then carded a gross 104, and lost several balls bearing his company's name! Incidentally, 34 competitors entered no-return cards. Shame on them.

YOUNG FALLOWS AMONG THE MEDALS.

Eleven-year-old Jack Fallows, son of Nick and Ann, proved to be a chip off the old block by winning the second division of the April monthly medal with a score of 88-26-62, with second place going to Bradley Ashford (86-19-67). The first division winner was Nigel Wareing (71-6-65), with Mark Abbott (70-3-67), the runner-up. The first division winner of the May medal was Paul McKee (67-6-61), on a CPO from Geoff Dawson (67-6-61). The second division winner was Paul Williams with a score of 79-16-63, who edged out John Parnell (80-17-63), on a countback.

CLUB TEAMS IN GOOD FORM.

The club's A team got off to a flying start in the Oldham and District League, topping the table after the first four matches. They came unstuck against Denton to slip to fifth place but are still only two points off second position, and beat Brookdale at Ashton in the knock-out cup. In the Archie Preston mixed foursomes, our team achieved a resounding home win over Flixton.

Our seniors also got off to a fine start in the Lawrence Batley league, winning their first two home matches against South Bradford and Crosland Heath by 6-2 on each occasion. But they then lost by the same score at Silkstone and by 5-3 at home to Halifax Ogden before beating Marsden at home by 6-2.

WATERHOUSE REIGNS IN SUNNY SPAIN.

Bill Waterhouse won the Glyn Jones Overseas Trophy when a 31-strong group of members, wives, and friends, spent seven days in Spain on the annual tour organised by Tom McNamara - "Tom's Tours." But several of them suffered from mosquito bites on the course, with Jim Mellor returning in a wheelchair as a result of an insect bite.

Others, including Joyce Milligan and Jean Cowling, suffered from flu-like symptons. Otherwise a good time was had by all. Next year the venue will be Alvor in Portugal.

LEE TAMES SADDLEWORTH.

Lee Rowbotham, who plays off a handicap of one, was in cracking form when, partnered by 14-handicapper Steve Barron, he won the Saddleworth Invitation with a fine score of 47pts.

BETTY REMEMBERS FATHER AND HUSBAND.

Betty Meredith, who has already donated a tree near the fifth green in memory of her husband Ken, who died recently, has given £100 to the Centenary Fund in memory of both Ken and her father, James Waterhouse, club captain in 1963, who would have also been 100 in January. James' name lives on in the form of the silver trophy which bears his name, and for which members compete annually.

The Centenary Terrace has been completed and will open shortly.