Former Cornwall Golf Union County President and County Captain Paul Clahane (Trevose and pictured above with CGU President David Inch) is the new Cornwall County Seniors Champion after returning a 77 over the Carlyon Bay course yesterday in the Ocean BMW sponsored County Seniors Championship.

On a damp yet warm day with light breezes it was fog that threatened to put an end to proceedings for the excellent 108 man field with organisers concerned at safety for the competitors. The fog rolled in and out on several occasions but just when a suspension was imminent it cleared away permitting play.

For a long time it looked like host club member Duncan Powell was the contender after he shot a 78 but playing towards the end of the field the 68 year old Clahane with his 77 and Ray Clark (Falmouth) with another 78 both moved past him.

Clahane, a 7 handicapper and current President of the SWCGA, was delighted with the win. He said “It was just one of those days for me. I have been working hard at my game over the past 12 months and today it all came together and obviously I am very pleased.” His card was made up of 11 pars and one birdie at the par 5 10^th as he compiled halves of 39 and 38 for his 77.

In his acceptance speech Clahane paid tribute to the host club and also to CGU President David Inch whom he described as the most successful President in the history of the CGU after the English County Finals win of the previous year.

Clark was an unexpected runner up as he returned an excellent total of 78 off his 9 handicap. 8 pars and 2 birdies saw him complete halves of 37 and 41 with four consecutive bogies in the middle of his back preventing what would have been a famous victory.

Powell took 3^rd place by virtue of his back 9 of 43 and fellow Carlyon Bay senior Pat Coombe was fourth as he was one of four players to shoot 80. The others were 2014 Champion Simon Harper (St Austell), Rod Frost (St Enodoc)and David O’Mahony (Tehidy Park) all three of whom are regulars in the Cornwall Seniors team.

The Championship comprises a stableford element also and this was staged in four different age groups: 55-59 years, 60-64, 65-67 and 70 plus.

The 70 plus group was won by Arthur Panter (Merlin) who returned the best nett score of the day with 41 points. 2^nd place went to Colin Beadle (St Mellion 36 points). 3^rd and 4^th places went to Mike Hounsell and Robin Milan (both Carlyon Bay) with 33 and 32 points respectively.

The 65-69 group was won by Clahane (38 points) with Philip Bunker (Carlyon Bay) second on 37, Les McGirl (Carlyon Bay) third on 37 and William McLean (Falmouth) 4^th on 36 points.

The 60-64 age category winner was Clark (pictured above) with 39 points. Runner up was Paul Upperton (Budock Vean) with 36, 3^rd place went to Mike Allen (Carlyon Bay) on 35 and 4^th to Graham Hawken (Carlyon Bay) on 33 points.

The youngest group (55-59) winner was Powell (pictured above) with 36 points with the runner up being Tom Crocker (Carlyon Bay) on 35. 3^rd place was taken by Len Flower (Bowood Park) on 34 and 4^th by Mark Stevenson (Truro) also on 34.

The prizes were presented by CGU President David Inch and Carlyon Bay GC Captain Peter Woodley. Both congratulated all those who had taken part in what had been a long but successful day. Inch thanked Carlyon Bay for their excellent hospitality and also thanked Ocean BMW Falmouth for their ongoing support of the Union. He also made mention of some changes the CGU are introducing for 2016 with the Seniors Cup in County Week moving to the Monday and the introduction of a new team competition for the seniors which would lead to the title Cornwall Seniors Team Champions.

Full Stableford Scores