Isle of Purbeck

The tricky Isle of Purbeck is a test for any golfer and our party of eleven found it just so in this eclectic Stableford. There was not a lot in it after the morning round with Mark Staples, Al Nawrocki and Steve Watson the top three on 32, 31 and 30 respectively. In the afternoon Mark improved on all his bad holes from his morning round for an afternoon 33. The next best second round score was Gary Pitt's 30 points. This left Mark Staples the comfortable winner on 46 and 1/2 with three players on 40. The countback saw Steve Watson take the runner-up prize on the back nine thanks largely to two birdies on the last hole. This gave Mark his third win in this event, his first being the inaugural event on the same course.

Canford Magna

Canford Magna can boast a 45-hole complex and as a warm-up we played a 3-club scratch challenge on the par-3 9-hole course. A few notable scores blemished many a card with only two players avoiding a 5 or worse. Richard Walsh just missed out with his 32 to Steve Watson who shot 31 for victory.

Unusually for a Society, they were allowed to play off the white tees and followed a medal competition round. Water hazards were a plenty. Gary Pitt repeated his 1997 performance with his second medal win. He played a superb round of golf going round in +6 and a net -4 for the 10-handicapper and a six shot victory. His round included two birdies and a back nine of +2 with dropped shots at the last two holes. Richard Walsh had another steady round and his net 73 gave him the runner-up spot for the second successive year.