DAWN broke on Thursday, June 26 with the overnight rain still falling and as the players set out to contest the Scratch Cup and Handicap Trophy.

In fact, the rain only relented totally after 10am with all the competitors out on the course.

Although the rain seemed to have little impact on the hard fairways, it was a different matter on the greens where many players could not master the variations in speed which led to faltering scores for many.

The competition was played off the white tees, with the 14th and especially the 17th proving to be formidable challenges for so many of the players.

Notwithstanding the course difficulties, there were some excellent scoring.

The Scratch Cup was won by Allan Evans with a fantastic score of 76, but playing with a handicap of five, he could not complete the double. His regular playing partner, Brian Pound, came in second with 83 and with the better back nine, just took the spot from Guy Pennington on countback. Pennington, did extract revenge by winning the Handicap Trophy, and with which, he continued his purple patch.

David Furse and Colin Marshall both returned 84 with Furse winning on countback at the top of the Scratch Cup leaderboard..

In the Handicap Trophy, long-time leader in the clubhouse, Peter Lee with 37 points suddenly saw not only his lead beaten, but was then further relegated to third by players in the last two groupings.

Pennington, in the penultimate group, came home with a truly impressive score of 39 and in the final group, John Raphael with a spectacular 38. Jim McDonald came home in 36 to complete the podium and to complete the list of those players who had upwards of 36.

Allan Evans, Brian Pound, Lawrence Drew and Andrew Thomas completed the leaderboard, all on 35 and were separated by countback.

Tuesday, June 24 saw the Fossils enter an intense period of inter-club matches with a trip to Dartmouth where they were led by vice-captain Paul Osborne,

Although the Fossils held the Tamar Cup for which the teams compete, the hosts were keen to remind theirs guests of 14 years that the Trophy remained safely in Dartmouth hands and that they were keen to re-establish custody.

Home advantage usually plays a part in match results and probably more so at Dartmouth than other on the Fossils’ rota, but not in 2025.

Match after match went the way of the visitors and eventually the team were able to return back across the Tamar in jubilant mood, having secured a 5.5 to 2.5 success, which included a magnificent 6&4 victory for Stan Serwata and Phil Cuming.

Nearest the Pin winners were St Mellion’s Ian Edwards and the hosts’ Alistair Forbes, while the third hole at Dartmouth being the choice for Nearest the Pin must be one of the most formidable locations for such a challenge that the Fossils meet.

Team scores: Paul Osborne and Andy Bryan won 2-up; Colin Marshall and Dave Pover won 5&3; Allan Evans and Jim MacDonald lost 2&1; Ian Edwards and Guy Pennington lost 3&2; Brian Pound and John Clements won 3&2; Stan Serwata and Phil Cuming won 6&4; Nigel Coulson-Stevens and John Raphael won 2&1; Peter Lee and Norman Wreford halved.