The Axe Cliff seniors’ programme of friendly matches began in earnest with home fixtures against Long Sutton and Cricket St Thomas, writes Rob Grove.

The results were a close call with the Long Sutton game, in particular, being decided on which team coped best with the last two holes.

An honourable draw was probably a fair result at the end of the day.

There were wins for Rob Grove and Leighton Morgan and Chris Jowett and Peter Knighting.

Two pairs Gilbert Cox and Bill Polley and Gerry Turner and Jack Bannister each achieved a half.

If the return game is played in the same spirit then a good day is due.

The match against Cricket St Thomas went even better as Axe Cliff recorded their first victory of the year by 3½to 2½.

There were good wins by the captain of the day, Chris Walker and his partner John Hanna, Phil Wilkins and Pete Motson and Malcolm Reynolds and Gilbert Cox.

Alan Vincent and John Mant gained the ½ point.

In their first round Emerton Court match against Downes Crediton, the seniors achieved a commendable draw with 2½ matches each. It is all to play for in the return leg at the end of the month.

There were wins for Tony Strong and Stuart Mackie and Geoff Wake and Jowett. The half was achieved by Phil Wilkins and Rob Heard.

The whole club celebrated Easter Monday with a three-ball team stableford competition organised by the social committee.

With a host of prizes in the form of Easter eggs of varying sizes and descriptions, and members allowed to play off their full handicap in whichever combination of players they wished, it was going to prove a closely contested competition.

There were many prizes, in many categories, and a variety of scores with the outstanding 82 points by Glenda Board, Polley and Mike Cottam just being eclipsed by the 84 of Simon Wellington, Steve Bond and Jin Hong.

The ladies recently played their County Prize competition with Jo Domnall beating Barbara Cummings into first place and Janet Dack third.

The Bring and Win competition, in which everyone has a prize, saw Pauline Willis outstrip the rest of the field with Glenda Board beating Margaret Kenchington into second.

The men’s Easter Bowl was won by Dougy Board with a net 66. Second on countback was Anthony Hellier from Cottam. There were five twos, with Cottam and Board picking up two each and Jason Farrant the other.