MINEHEAD and West Somerset Golf Club was a busy place over the weekend with two prestigious competitions taking place - the Elizabethan Trophy and the Bickerton Bowl. 

Fortunately, the weather held up well which encouraged full entries for both competitions. Considering the bad weather for much of this year, it was brilliant for all concerned.

Rain has been the biggest problem since Christmas but Minehead is fortunate in not being as affected as many clubs in the county who have been forced to cancel competitions because of the poor state of courses. They have also had to reduce the number of holes in play.

The Elizabethan Trophy, a foursomes strokeplay format was played on Saturday. Some excellent scores were returned, notably a nett 66 from the pairing of Keith Williams and Colin Milton to deservedly take the trophy. The runners up with 67 were Warren Knight and David Farmer, while third place went to Martyn Ketchen and Archie Walsh with a nett 70.

The Bickerton Bowl was held on Sunday, a scratch 36 hole strokeplay open competition sponsored by John Bickerton, senior professional at the Club. 

In terms of handicap, the 56 players that took part represented the best ever field assembled for the Bickerton Bowl. 

At the end of a closely fought competition, the winner with a magnificent effort, was Warren Knight (Minehead) (Hcp 0) (71 + 70 = 141) who won on countback. Warren’s second round included 8 birdies and two 7’s in compiling a two under par 70. His achievement is all the more impressive, having played 36 holes on the Saturday, taking part in the Elizabethan Trophy in the morning before playing against Long Sutton Golf Club in an Avalon league match in the afternoon. 

Runner up (70 + 71 = 141) was Sam Roles (Hcp 3) (Ferndown Forest GC). 

Third place went to  home golfer Will Paton (Hcp 4) (74 + 68 = 142) while Stuart Ponfield (Hcp 3) (The Mendip GC) achieved fourth place (71 + 72 = 143). 

There were also some excellent performances from other Minehead members, with Archie Walsh, finishing  sixth which included a 70 in the second round while David Hillier and Peter Whalley finished seventh and eighth respectively.

The winner of the best nett competition on countback with a score of 66 + 70 = 136 was David Farmer. This included an eagle on the par 5, 11th in Round 2. 

Dennis Compton (66 + 70 = 136) was runner up with an excellent performance, while David Hillier took third place with (69 + 68 = 137). 

Grateful thanks go to John Bickerton for all his efforts and generosity in sponsoring this eagerly anticipated event which once again proved to be a great success.