4/10/18
Yesterday was the final match in the Seniors Channel League for the Wiltshire team in 2018.
In what has been a disappointing season with no wins to date the thought of the Glamorgan arriving at Bowood with an extremely strong side was quite daunting.
All the morning foursomes went to the final hole with just one win and one half going Wiltshire's way and unfortunately the afternoon singles didn't go exactly as planned either!
With a final result of 9 - 6 in Glamorgan' favour and lifting them to second place in the league behind Devon it left Wiltshire at the bottom. Congratulations to both Devon and Glamorgan for their efforts this year. The standard of golf within the league has risen again this year with counties producing 10 man teams with aggregate handicaps of less than 30 home advantage is becoming less important.
Although finishing bottom of the league Wiltshire actually won more individual games than the team above, Somerset, With many of the games going to the final hole the outcome could have been different with just a little luck or good fortune, but, of course each county could say this. Never mind we go again next year.
2018 has been the final year of Bill Cardno as captain. Although we would have like to have sent him on his way in a better fashion we thank him for all his effort and energy over the past three years. It must be like trying to herd cats!
5/9/18
When you go to Newquay in Cornwall in the summer the weather is usually sunny and warm with surfers and sunbathers in abundance.
This proved to be the case Saturday and Sunday of last weekend with the practise round over the golf course resulting in a few sun burnt faces Sunday evening for the Seniors team who were ready to play on Monday.
How things can change and although the morning foursomes were won 3 - 2 by the away team during lunch things deteriorated rapidly.
The wind got up and the rain began to fall and for those of you who have not played Newquay these are not the best playing conditions.
A typical links golf course overlooking Fistral beach with little shelter and a couple of 'quirky' holes suffice to say that the Wiltshire lads struggled and lost the match 10.5 - 4.5.
As usual the Cornwall team were a joy to play against and fully deserved the win albeit a couple of matches were very close and although they have not been in the league that long they will be vying for the title very soon.
The Wiltshire team have struggled this year following the heights of a couple of years ago but have one last chance to gain the first win of the season against Glamorgan in a couple of weeks time.
16/8/18
It gets tougher and tougher in the seniors channel league as the Wiltshire team suffered another loss against Gloucestershire at Marlborough yesterday.
A final result of 4.5 - 10.5 didn't really reflect how close the match was, with several matches going to the final hole.
The Gloucestershire team had a few new faces added to their stalwart core and to date theu are unbeaten in the league.
The Marlborough course has suffered somewhat during the recent weather which made playing conditions a little more difficult.
Our player of the match was Chris Graham (Ogbourne) who was the only Wiltshire man to win both of his matches.
Onward and upward with our next match against Cornwall at Newquay at the beginning of September, a match that will need to be won to get the team off the bottom of the table.
19/7/18
The most recent match for the Wiltshire Seniors team in the Channel League was played at St. Pierre Golf Club against Gwent yesterday.
Like all courses at present only the greens were green with the rest of the course being a yellow - straw colour. That's not strictly true as the magnificent old trees that abound the course were is full verdant leaf making the holes quite narrow in places and being a real nuisance at times.
With a couple of fresh faces in the Wiltshire team, Martyn Lewis (Upavon) and Eric Lewis (South Wilts) together with Scot Talbert (Wrag Barn) who was making his second appearance Wiltshire went into lunch trailing 3 - 2 following the morning foursomes. Two of these matches went to the final green and were lost 1 down.
The afternoon singles would be a massive challenge and although a great effort we just came up short losing the match 8.5 - 6.5.
Special mention to Simon Dymoke (The Wiltshire) and Nigel Phillips (Kingsdown) who both went unbeaten on the day.
Although the league position does not look great at present, we are propping up the league with just half a point, it should be noted that two counties above us have more points but have won less games than us. This goes to prove that most matches are very competitive and mostly very close and with just one match win we would rise rapidly up the league.
5/7/18.
Yesterday had the Wiltshire Seniors team playing their second match of the season, at Cumberwell Park GC, against Devon Seniors.
The Devon team, historically are a very strong team, and although Wiltshire were victorious in their last home match against them and with the Devon team going undefeated last year, the home team are never the favourites for this fixture.
It's always a pleasure to meet and greet all the teams on their arrival and seeing the lads from Devon we knew we had a game on our hands. The aggregate handicaps of the 10 man team added up to 28 and if you added the non playing Captain it would only go up by another 4!
Following on from the hot, dry weather the morning foursomes on the Orange course was a very close run thing with both counties winning 2.5 points each.
The afternoon singles commenced at the same time as it started raining. A very useful thing for the course but a little inconvenient for the players, although umbrellas were used there wasn't much sign of waterproof clothing as it was still very warm.
Initially the singles went the way of Wiltshire but as with all close games that go to the final putt on the final green Devon managed to grab a half from Barrie Keith who birdied the final two holes which swayed the match in there favour 8 - 7.
The standard of golf continues to rise and the Wiltshire team stock is rising with it. Devon are a fine team with an incredible squad of players who regularly feature in national competitions so for us to run them so close is slightly disappointing but something that we can be proud of.
Yesterday was the final match in the Seniors Channel League for the Wiltshire team in 2018.
In what has been a disappointing season with no wins to date the thought of the Glamorgan arriving at Bowood with an extremely strong side was quite daunting.
All the morning foursomes went to the final hole with just one win and one half going Wiltshire's way and unfortunately the afternoon singles didn't go exactly as planned either!
With a final result of 9 - 6 in Glamorgan' favour and lifting them to second place in the league behind Devon it left Wiltshire at the bottom. Congratulations to both Devon and Glamorgan for their efforts this year. The standard of golf within the league has risen again this year with counties producing 10 man teams with aggregate handicaps of less than 30 home advantage is becoming less important.
Although finishing bottom of the league Wiltshire actually won more individual games than the team above, Somerset, With many of the games going to the final hole the outcome could have been different with just a little luck or good fortune, but, of course each county could say this. Never mind we go again next year.
2018 has been the final year of Bill Cardno as captain. Although we would have like to have sent him on his way in a better fashion we thank him for all his effort and energy over the past three years. It must be like trying to herd cats!
5/9/18
When you go to Newquay in Cornwall in the summer the weather is usually sunny and warm with surfers and sunbathers in abundance.
This proved to be the case Saturday and Sunday of last weekend with the practise round over the golf course resulting in a few sun burnt faces Sunday evening for the Seniors team who were ready to play on Monday.
How things can change and although the morning foursomes were won 3 - 2 by the away team during lunch things deteriorated rapidly.
The wind got up and the rain began to fall and for those of you who have not played Newquay these are not the best playing conditions.
A typical links golf course overlooking Fistral beach with little shelter and a couple of 'quirky' holes suffice to say that the Wiltshire lads struggled and lost the match 10.5 - 4.5.
As usual the Cornwall team were a joy to play against and fully deserved the win albeit a couple of matches were very close and although they have not been in the league that long they will be vying for the title very soon.
The Wiltshire team have struggled this year following the heights of a couple of years ago but have one last chance to gain the first win of the season against Glamorgan in a couple of weeks time.
16/8/18
It gets tougher and tougher in the seniors channel league as the Wiltshire team suffered another loss against Gloucestershire at Marlborough yesterday.
A final result of 4.5 - 10.5 didn't really reflect how close the match was, with several matches going to the final hole.
The Gloucestershire team had a few new faces added to their stalwart core and to date theu are unbeaten in the league.
The Marlborough course has suffered somewhat during the recent weather which made playing conditions a little more difficult.
Our player of the match was Chris Graham (Ogbourne) who was the only Wiltshire man to win both of his matches.
Onward and upward with our next match against Cornwall at Newquay at the beginning of September, a match that will need to be won to get the team off the bottom of the table.
19/7/18
The most recent match for the Wiltshire Seniors team in the Channel League was played at St. Pierre Golf Club against Gwent yesterday.
Like all courses at present only the greens were green with the rest of the course being a yellow - straw colour. That's not strictly true as the magnificent old trees that abound the course were is full verdant leaf making the holes quite narrow in places and being a real nuisance at times.
With a couple of fresh faces in the Wiltshire team, Martyn Lewis (Upavon) and Eric Lewis (South Wilts) together with Scot Talbert (Wrag Barn) who was making his second appearance Wiltshire went into lunch trailing 3 - 2 following the morning foursomes. Two of these matches went to the final green and were lost 1 down.
The afternoon singles would be a massive challenge and although a great effort we just came up short losing the match 8.5 - 6.5.
Special mention to Simon Dymoke (The Wiltshire) and Nigel Phillips (Kingsdown) who both went unbeaten on the day.
Although the league position does not look great at present, we are propping up the league with just half a point, it should be noted that two counties above us have more points but have won less games than us. This goes to prove that most matches are very competitive and mostly very close and with just one match win we would rise rapidly up the league.
5/7/18.
Yesterday had the Wiltshire Seniors team playing their second match of the season, at Cumberwell Park GC, against Devon Seniors.
The Devon team, historically are a very strong team, and although Wiltshire were victorious in their last home match against them and with the Devon team going undefeated last year, the home team are never the favourites for this fixture.
It's always a pleasure to meet and greet all the teams on their arrival and seeing the lads from Devon we knew we had a game on our hands. The aggregate handicaps of the 10 man team added up to 28 and if you added the non playing Captain it would only go up by another 4!
Following on from the hot, dry weather the morning foursomes on the Orange course was a very close run thing with both counties winning 2.5 points each.
The afternoon singles commenced at the same time as it started raining. A very useful thing for the course but a little inconvenient for the players, although umbrellas were used there wasn't much sign of waterproof clothing as it was still very warm.
Initially the singles went the way of Wiltshire but as with all close games that go to the final putt on the final green Devon managed to grab a half from Barrie Keith who birdied the final two holes which swayed the match in there favour 8 - 7.
The standard of golf continues to rise and the Wiltshire team stock is rising with it. Devon are a fine team with an incredible squad of players who regularly feature in national competitions so for us to run them so close is slightly disappointing but something that we can be proud of.
WIltshire Seniors team at Weston Super Mare for the match v Somerset. (More 'action' shots on the gallery page.
L - R Simon Davis, Chris Graham, Paul Dimond, Bill Cardno (Captain), Scott Talbert, Paul Bloomfield, Clive Watson, Simon Dymoke, Per Axel Warensjo, Nigel Phillips & Kevin Arthur.
In their first match of the 2018 Channel League season Wiltshire Seniors were travelling to Weston Super Mare for the match against Somerset.
Now this is supposed to be a summer league but on arrival at the golf club the wind and rain gave a good impression of being in the depts of winter. However by the time of the first tee time the skies were clearing and the rain had ceased. The wind was still blowing hard off the sea, and with the course being firm the match would be played under 'testing' conditions.
The morning foursomes finished all square two matches won, two lost and one halved. (One note on the morning round was when playing the 5th hole, with the sea on the right, it was the first time I had seen the sea up close at Weston! By the time we played in the afternoon it had disappeared again).
The afternoon singles were played in brilliant sunshine but with the wind was strengthening it wasn't getting any easier.
Wiltshire started strongly with three wins from the first four matches but with a strong finish the Somerset team fought back to win the final matches and square the singles and the match.
For those fans of links golf and the associated weather conditions this would have been a perfect day. For those of us not used to the conditions it was tough so well done to the members of both teams who survived!
A new face in the team was Scott Talbert, Golf Operations Director of Wiltshire Golf, (or GOD) a 'junior senior'. A good introduction to the cut and thrust of this competitive league.
13/4/18
21 Wiltshire seniors rocked up at Bowood on Wednesday for the annual Seniors trials. Great fun on the course if a little moist under foot and the results will give Bill Cardno and Vice Captain Richard Jeffery food for thought in selection of the team for the first match of the season against Somerset at Weston Super Mare in a couple of weeks time.
Some new 'Junior' Seniors were in attendance to strengthen the squad and we look forward to the coming season in the hope that we can maintain the standards that have been set in the last two years.
25/3/18
A belated Happy New Year to all our followers.
With the end in sight of the Seniors Winter League, just five more games to play it's time to turn thoughts to the forthcoming Seniors Channel League.
As usual we will be playing the other Counties surrounding the Bristol Channel, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Gwent and Glamorgan. This year we will at home against Devon (Cumberwell), Gloucestershire (Marlborough) and Glamorgan (Bowood). Our away matches will be played at Newquay, Weston Super Mare and St Pierre. So a few trips to the seaside.
Today a representative team of seniors went to Cumberwell for the Wiltshire Golf launch where the new organisation was introduced together with the new logo.
As part of the launch a Bowmaker competition over the par 3 course was held involving teams representing Wiltshire, Juniors, Seniors, 1st team, Officers of Wiltshire, Male, Female and numerous others.
Representing the Seniors in the event were Bill Cardno, Richard Jeffery, Paul Bloomfield, Simon Dymoke, Chris Graham and Nigel Phillips. Following a decidedly dodgy start this team pulled themselves together and managed to finish in 2nd position following a countback.
Below are some of the Seniors in their new kit . Back row Chris Graham, Richard Jeffery, Nigel Phillips, Steve Kelley and Per Axel Warensjo. Front row Simon Dymoke, Kevin Arthur, Bill Cardno and Paul Bloomfield.