Cornwall Seniors came agonisingly close to emulating the County Mens Team’s achievement in reaching the English County Finals this year but in the end were pipped by the narrowest of margins.

Taking part in the two day South Western Counties Golf Association County Finals Qualifier at Filton GC  the Cornish Seniors 6 man team put together a strokeplay total of 768 only to lose to Gloucestershire by just the one shot on 767.

It was a case of so nearly for the Duchy team from whom over the two days there were some very good individual performances, with Cornish players taking 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th places in the individual. Defending his individual title won last year Falmouth’s Colin Ross shot 73 on day one to lie in 4^th place and although he followed that up with a 77 on day two he retained the 4^th spot. Bude’s Cornwall Seniors Champion Mike Wigley recorded 76 and 75 to be in 5^th place but the individual honours went to Simon Harper (St Austell) whose first day 78 was disappointing. However on day two Simon shot a 72 to claim 3^rd place in the individual event.

As a team the Duchy Seniors were in second place after day one on 386 and just three shots behind Gloucestershire 383 and the day two efforts of the team saw them close the gap to just that one shot. The other three team members, Mike Marshall, Alan Poole and Andy Clotworthy did not quite match the performances of their team mates and in the end there was huge disappointment for the team but nevertheless the overall performance is creditable and an indicator of the competitive nature of Seniors Golf in the region and the improvement of the Cornish team.

Individual Results

Team Scores

Next up for the Cornwall Seniors is the first of three home Channel League matches against Wiltshire at Bude & North Cornwall on Tuesday 5^th August. County Seniors Captain Mike Marshall has named a squad of players for the match

Mike Marshall, Alan Poole (St Mellion), Andrew Clotworthy, David O’Mahony (Tehidy Park), Colin Ross (Falmouth), Rod Frost (St Enodoc), Mike Wigley (Bude & N Cornwall), Simon Harper (St Austell), Duncan Powel (Carlyon Bay) David Goodman (Bowood Park) and Trevor Ashton (Trevose).

Cornwall County Captain Richard Simmons has named his team for the Channel League match away to Somerset at Saltford GC on Sunday 3^rd August 2014. The team who remain unbeaten this year and who are seeking to retain the Channel League title will be

Tom Fox (China Fleet), Joe Cruse (St Enodoc),  Conor Wilson, Chris Fleming, Chris Johnston (Perranporth),  Richard Jasper (Launceston)  Harry Hall (West Cornwall) Rob MacGregor (Tehidy Park) Adam Curtis (Bude & N Cornwall) and Jon Hancock (Newquay).

West Cornwall’s Harry Hall registered a good performance with rounds of 74, 76, 71 and 74 to finish tied 5^th in the England Golf Boys U18 Open Amateur Strokeplay Carris Trophy at Moor Park GC last week. He finished 7 shots behind the winner Haydn McCullen. Hall’s performance was rewarded in being picked to represent England in the Boys Home Internationals taking place at Western Gailes, Scotland between 5^th and 7^th August.

Trevose GC’s Mike Reynard put in a sterling effort to qualify for the Seniors Open Championship won yesterday by Bernhard Langer. Reynard who qualified with a 73 at Pyle and Kenfig then played two rounds of the Seniors Open at Royal Porthcawl and in the company of some of the world’s top Senior players. Reynard shot a 75 on day one to leave himself in the middle of the pack and in the early stages of round two seemed to be heading for the final two days. However a second 75 saw him finish on +8 missing the cut by the one shot.

On the main European Tour Truro based Rhys Enoch finished tied 44^th in the M2M Russian Open at Tseleevo GC after rounds of 70 73 74 and 72 to earn his biggest cheque of the season so far.

The Cornwall U18 Girls team took on the Cornwall U14 Boys at Bowood Park GC over the weekend and the girls came out on top with a 6.5 - 5.5 win.

This week sees the English Amateur Championship take place at Saunton GC with a massive field of 288 players starting today and seeking to qualify for the matchplay stages. Cornish interest lies with Harry Hall, Conor Wilson, Adam Curtis and Josh Walsh.

Stage One: Stroke Play. Two rounds of 18 holes stroke play over two days (Monday and Tuesday), one round on each of two courses (Saunton West and Saunton East).

Stage Two: Match Play.  The players with the 64 lowest scores after the stroke play will compete in the match play stages. In the case of ties for 64th place, stroke play countback will apply to the round played on the East course. The players will be seeded according to their stroke play finishing place. All matchplay will take place on the East course.