ONLY a point separated the top three in the men's four-man team competition at Torquay on Saturday, with countback required to split the top two (writes Coach).

The greenkeepers had been out during the week to carry out the important task of hollow tining each of the greens and then, simply to add to the difficulty factor, added a top dressing of sand.

This, however, did not deter winners Mark Passmore, Chris Overton, Adam Jeffery and Lee Baker in the slightest, and they had an excellent day on the greens, sinking putts from all over the place to score 89 points.

They managed to beat new secretary Colin Nolan's team, that also contained Jason Brooks, Steve Green and Richard Crook, on the back nine on what was the secretary's first competition at the club.

In third place was the chairman Alex Rowe's team which included the current club champion Steve Thorne, Harrison Thorne and Keith Brown.

Playing with his friends after the competition, young Jacob Farley (14) had the club's first recorded hole-in-one this year on the 11th hole. Unfortunately he wasn't old enough to buy a round of drinks, well done Jacob.

After the competition, one of the club's major trophies, the Willes Little Bowl, was presented to George Barbour (pictured).

The prestigious winter knockout trophy was presented to the club on being reformed as the Torquay & South Devon Golf Club.

DESPITE being wrapped up against the cold, Torquay's ladies produced their first qualifying competition of the season, with some welcome handicap reductions into the bargain (writes Diane Evitts).

Surprisingly, though, there was a gap of at least three points separating the first and second places in all three divisions.

Top of the tree in the Silver Division was Claire Carey whose handicap is set to tumble this year. Consistently on form and in the prizes, Claire's 37 points was three shots clear of second-placed Muriel Mitchell.

The round of the day was produced by Toni Jones in the Bronze One division. Her magnificent 40 points was once again three shots clear of the second placed Ray Evans.

In the Bronze Two division, Rosemary Ashley was five shots clear of her nearest rival, taking top spot with 39 points.

Rosemary's card reduced her handicap by two shots, as did Toni's round, while Ray's endeavours brought about a one-shot reduction in handicap.

Whilst there was summer-like run on the ball, the greens still proved a challenge with the recent course maintenance making for tricky putting surfaces. This no doubt accounted for a distinct lack of twos.

RESULTS

Ladies' county stableford: Silver Division: 1 Claire Carey (18) 37pts; 2 Muriel Mitchell (18) 34; 3 Val Atkinson (18) 33; 4 Karen Hough (13) 32. Bronze One: 1 Toni Jones (24) 40; 2 Ray Evans (25) 37; 3 Dorothy Jefferson (22) 36; 4 Helen Jones (28) 33. Bronze Two: 1 Rosemary Ashley (36) 39; 2 Anne Needham (35) 34; 3 Barbara Hele (31) 28; 4 Elizabeth Sparkes (36) 27.