Lakeside elite go through, Roberts champ at Carmarthen

JASON Thomas is the number one ranked golfer and the man to beat going into the next stage of the Winter League at Lakeside this weekend.

Thomas’s second place in the last event of the regular season saw him climb to the top of the overall standings, his total of 462 points being one better than Nigel Howell.

The best 12 players now go through to compete for a place in the final six next weekend which is followed by the competition’s big climax seven days later between the three men left standing.

As well as Thomas and Howell, who were some way clear of the rest of the field after the last event, Gary Tamlyn and DJ Williams are also through to this weekend. Both accumulated 440 points when their best 12 scores of the season were taken into account.

Bob Davies, James Matthewman and Martin Evans, who pipped Thomas by one point to take victory last weekend, are safely into the next round as is club captain Paul Jenkins. The remaining places are taken up by Ceri Windos, Paul Thomas, Steve Kirkhouse and Brian Channell.

A third-place finish in the sixth and final round of the Carmarthen Winter League was good enough to give Eirwyn Roberts the overall title.

Roberts was a clear winner of the winter competition, ending the season nine points clear of runner-up Paul Davies in the final standings. Berian Jones made up the top three.

Having fallen behind his closest rivals by failing to pick up any points in the penultimate round, Roberts knew he needed a good score in the last outing to claim the overall crown – and that’s exactly what he did.

The best score of the day went to Simon Barratt with 40 stableford points, two ahead of second-placed Mick Fenney, with Roberts third on countback.

And when it came down to determining the champion, Roberts’s best four points totals from the six rounds of play were better than anyone else. He registered 54 points to take the title with Davies a clear second on 45 and Jones back on 42.

Ian Elias was fourth with 38, Tony Fairlamb fifth on 35 and Martin Augur was sixth with 32 points.

The winner of the supplementary competition, with the best three actual stableford scores over the six rounds, was Jeff Harries with 110 points. He just edged out Alan Williams (108) while Stewart Evans was a point further back on 107.

The Ladies’ section of the Winter League produced a nail-biting finish with junior Lowri Thomas taking overall victory with 37 points, just one ahead of both Elin Jones and Jean Barratt on 36. Jones secured the runners-up spot by having the better overall stableford scores.

With lots of golfers hitting form early in the season, the Duxberry Shield in a couple of weeks should be a closely fought affair.

Swansea Bay’s Club Medal was keenly contested with a three-way tie for first being decided on countback. After carding rounds of 66, Lance Heycock edged out Les Evans and Bill Waddell while Billy James shaded the Club Stableford ahead of Roger Williams and Bryan Ashford.

Only two points separated the first three pairs home in the 4-Ball Better Ball at Langland Bay with Julian Mullins and Paul Griffiths taking top prize on 45 points. Sam Hixson and Anthony Thomas scored 44 with Dave Gibson and Mike Payne on 43.

In the Ladies’ Sunday Stableford at Pennard, Holly Crowley took the honours in the silver division with 38 points and Heather Cooper did likewise with 33 in the bronze division. Moira Thomas won Tuesday’s silver division event with 37 and Cynthia Williams went two better to claim the bronze division crown.

Dan Evans came home with an excellent score of 42 points to win the latest Leon Warne Order of Merit event at The Grove. Craig Jones, with 38, nabbed second on countback ahead of Ged Rave.

Rave’s third place came after he had finished second in the previous week’s competition, one point behind winner Paul Wilson and one in front of Ray Slocombe.

Results

CARMARTHEN: Winter League; S. Barratt 40pts, 2. M. Fenney 38pts, 3. E. Roberts 38pts

LAKESIDE: Winter League; 1. M. Evans 42pts, 2. J. Thomas 41pts, 3. S. Kirkhouse 40pts

LANGLAND BAY: 4BBB Saturday Stableford; 1. J. Mullins & P. Griffiths 45pts, 2. S. Hixson & A. Thomas 44pts, 3. D. Gibson & M. Payne 43pts

PENNARD: Ladies’ Sunday Stableford; (silver div) 1. H. Crowley 38pts, 2. H. Jennings 34pts, (bronze div) 1. H. Cooper 33pts, 2. J. Edwards 32pts

Ladies’ Tuesday Stableford; (silver div) 1. M. Thomas 37pts, 2. G. Edwards 37pts, (bronze div) 1. C. Williams 39pts, 2. H. Davies 38pts

SWANSEA BAY: Thursday Stableford; 1. G. Lewis 42pts, 2. S. Evans 40pts, 3. B. Dobson 40pts

Club Medal; 1. L. Heycock 80-14=66, 2. L. Evans 79-13=66, 3. B. Waddell 81-15=66

Club Stableford; 1. B. James 42pts, 2. R. Williams 41pts, 3. B. Ashford 41pts

THE GROVE: Leon Warne Order of Merit; 1. D. Evans 42pts, 2. C. Jones 38pts, 3. G. Rave 38pts