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5 Years of the Horsington Open
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Horsington Open 2017 – All the action
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Full Report
Final amount raised
Horsington cricket picture gallery 2016
Best yet Horsington Open raises £600 for charity.
The 2015 Horsington Open – the third competition in this series – was the biggest and best yet. 42 golfers of varying abilities took part for fun and charity at Henstridge Golf Club on Friday 23rd October, enjoying a good day’s sport, making new friends and raising a grand total of £607 for the St Margaret’s Hospice charity. AND it didn’t rain.
The competition was won by the narrowest of margins by Tony Brodie from Henstridge, coincidentally the oldest player. Henstridge also won the team event, again by the narrowest margin. But why not? After all it’s their home course, and some of them play virtually every day.
Horsington’s golfers performed extremely well. John Macdonald came a close second, beating David Blake, George Wagland and Peter Gripper by a tiny margin. George Wagland, John Macdonald and Richard Gaunt all improved their scores considerably over last year, and Paul Mann won the “Nearest the pin” competition on the 8th hole. Sadly Chris Bailward, playing for the first time for many years, was pipped for the “Putt of the day” competition, putting from off the green on the 8th, having tonked his previous two balls into the lake. He was beaten by Henstridge’s Mike Baker, who putted off green for a birdie. (No I don’t understand either- Ed)
The Half Mooners team, led by landlord Andrew Tarling were in the frame to win the team competition but failed due to what was described as, ahem, “putting failure” by the , er, ahem, team captain.
The competition was so close that the scorers had to take into account performance on the last six, and then the last 3 holes to decide a winner. There were 7 players contending for the first 3 places with 3 points between them. This may be a testimony to the accuracy of the handicapper or the skill of the players. Or maybe the organisers need to look more closely at the handicaps.
A special mention should be made of the Foresters team, of Joan Palmer, Bob Foot, Joy Crabb and Kath Rolls. These brave souls had never been on a golf course in their lives, and although they came last, it was no humiliation, and we observed them executing several spectacular cover drives. The cricket club secretary has been informed and will no doubt be recruiting them next year.
Anthony Yateman, another golfer making his debut (he claims), won the best dressed golfer award, resplendent in plus fours and a bow tie. We hope competitors will take note for next year.
The amount raised for charity was far in excess of previous efforts, helped by the generous donation of a foursome at the championship golf course at Woodbury Park, Exeter by Hunts Foodservice Ltd. This was auctioned at the prize giving, with Howard Bentley-Marchant from Yenston providing the winning bid of £110.
Thanks to everyone who took part, donated, catered, scored or bid – see you again next year.
Photographs (Click on a picture to see full size)
The Bailward biking gallery
A selection of pictures from Chris Bailward’s French trip. Click to enlarge.
Hedges – for the record
A record of the hedge destruction, taken on Wednesday 27 May. Click on an image to enlarge
Forget the New Zealand debacle – Horsington can really lose in style!
Horsington’s fixture against the Tabard Pilgrims from Chiswick, West London, ended in a good humoured defeat after an afternoon of slightly damp, but very entertaining cricket. The teams played 2 innings, reversing the batting order for the second. Local rules meant there was no LBW, and “golden ducks” were banned.
Both teams were refreshed by a liberal supply of Butcombe Rare Breed, generously supplied by Andrew Tarling of the Half Moon, who also umpired throughout, assisted by Chris Bailward and Richard Gaunt (who was thankfully not called on to make a decision).
Horsington, captained by Christian “Snoopy” Bennett, fielded some very fine young cricketers with genuine potential for the future – Michael Tarling, Samuel Rose and star batsman Jake Cockerel. Nick Mattravers and Stuart Lane tonked a few braces of sixes before falling to some beguiling bowling.
Joe Davidson had a spectacular catch, Tom Appleby, who has just taken over the Charlton Horethorne Stores, bowled with great pace and skill. Kevin Lane played with his usual style.
Charlie Mann and Josh Dare-Cullen bowled with an unconventional action with some success.
The view from the pavilion was that this is a team with great potential. If only they could play together more often, they might put Horsington on the village cricket map.
A great day, in steadily improving weather. Horsington were overtaken by the Pilgrims with 3 overs left.
Then it was back to the Half Moon for refreshment and the traditional Bank Holiday Quiz, won by the Pilgrims in a tie-break with the Moonies. The winning team conveniently had a veteran of several TV quiz shows in their team, one Bill Rodwell, still bowling at 82!
Thanks to Rob Hoddinott for preparing the pitch, Belinda Mann and Philippa Tarling for the tea and cake. And thanks to the Pilgrims for coming. See you next year.
You can see and download high resolution versions of these and more from HERE
Horsington Open Photo Gallery
Here is a line up of photographs from the Horsington Open. Click on an image to see full size.
