THE third week of October was a busy one for the Fossils, starting with the short trip through Plymouth to Elfordleigh, writes Keith Field.

It was just a short seven days after their initial match at St Mellion and holding a substantial lead of 5.5 to 1.5, the team as a whole were confident of returning home with overall victory confirmed. As a word of caution, their hosts had promised a robust response on their patch compared with the exemplarity conditions at St Mellion.

The weather was fine for the play, and at times warm but quite chilled when the sun was setting.

It is fair to report that the hosts were true to their word and a robust response was soon evident.

The hilly nature of the course did impact on a number of the boys in blue and without doubt they struggled on the greens which were slow in comparison to those at St Mellion.

Captain Coulson-Stevens and team-mate John Raphael were first to experience the change in fortune but even so were on the 18th where the captain had a short putt to secure a half, but alas the ball drifted away.

Although not appreciated at the time, it was probably the most significant half point of the day. Match after match came home with not a sign of a St Mellion victory but only a couple of halved results so everyone in the clubhouse were on tenterhooks as each team came in.

The captains kept the result close to their chests so that as the teams were seated in the dining room enjoying their post-match meal, the result was declared.

Not only had the deficit been reversed, but Elfordleigh had gone just a half point better than their guests by winning the day 6-1 but had taken the aggregate victory 7.5 to 6.5, a remarkable reversal of fortunes.

St Mellion’s nearest the pin winner was Allan Evans.

The day concluded by Coulson-Stevens presenting the perpetual trophy, created by the captain himself

Thursday’s action saw virtually ideal conditions on Thursday for the final Trophy competition for the Willcocks Shield, although it was a little chilly at the start.

The 49 players found the fairways well groomed and hard, and the greens exceptional being well grassed and very quick.

In fantastic conditions, 45 players took part and good scores were predicted, and yes there were a few, especially as the players remembered that The Dreaded Dangler awaited the unfortunate player that sat at the bottom of the field.

Just seven players managed 36 or more with James Simpson sitting at the very top on 40 points, just a single point ahead of Keith Field on 39.

Close behind on 38 was Stan Serwata after a stellar front nine, but not so on the way back.

Five only twos spread across four par threes and a spectacular two on the par four tenth for Tony Hurley.

Now at the tail end of the players were perhaps maybe eight names that could not sit comfortably and especially two who happened to be late out.

Such was the scoring that countback had to separate them, and such was the finger of fate that Colin Hatton had the broadest shoulders and cheerfully accepted the ‘accolade’.

The Section winners were as follows: Gold: David Furse, Pete Mehigan and Tony Hurley; Silver: Keith Field, Stan Serwata and Pete Williams; Bronze: James Simpson, Terrence Higgins and John Clements.

The next day saw the annual match with the Greenkeepers.

With the good weather continuing, course fantastic and a full eight team challenge, all was set for an enjoyable round with much banter.

A full gamut of indices across the greenkeeper’s team, professional Will Warnock playing off zero acting as greenkeeper for the day through to a newcomer to the team with a maximum index of 54, but many with very respectable indices in between.

Although the match is a way for the Fossils to show appreciation for all of the excellent work that their opponents do week in and week out to provide two courses always in tremendous shape which are second to none. The Fossils’ away matches reinforce that assessment which is supported so often by their guests.

Led out greenkeeper for the day by vice-captain, Paul Osborne and partner, Keith Field, they soon realised they were in for a tough battle with Mark Hayes and Ollie Cheneweth which continued through to the 16th where the pair had to concede victory to their guests.

The second group out with Nigel Webster and Allan hosting their guests, Greenkeepers’ captain, Greg O’Reilly and Will Warnock were another tough match to call as the low handicappers fought it out.

Yet again, the Greenkeepers prevailed and captain Osborne was beginning to feel a little nervous about the overall outcome.

However, he could soon rest easy as the pendulum then swung the way of the Fossils with four impressive victories including an eye-catching 8 and 7 plus 6 and 5 wins.

Callum Nowlan and Tom Jeffery halted the slide with a 6&5 win, and so the overall result rested on the final match which ended up with a strong victory for the Fossil which enabled them to win 5-3.

Following the match, the players re-assembled at a local hostelry to enjoy drinks and a meal.