On a stifling hot day that would have caused Beau Geste to pull a sickie, 33 members and 3 guests trooped their way to Villamartin. It is actually pronounced “Beeyamarteen” but this is of no importance to those ex-pats who believe saying “cheeso” and “toasto” is displaying a fine command of the local language.

As per usual, greens and fairways were in excellent condition hence no excuses for a poor score. Well, okay, some of the tees resembled dried out bogs but other than that it was no surprise that scoring was on the high side. Bronze category winner, Norman Padmore, recorded a mammoth 41 points to win round 5 of the President’s Trophy. Silver winner, Alan McDonald, who makes Foghorn Leghorn seem a melancholic introvert, scored a magnificent 38 points.

The Scot, euphemistically described as over-nourished, has shed kilos in recent weeks and hopefully the sight of a lopsided buggy trundling the fairways – or more usually, the rough – may be a thing of the past.

The day’s results, by category and in reverse order, were the following:

Bronze: 3rd Kyrre Skarsmoen (36), 2nd Ian Parkinson (37), 3rd Norman Padmore (41)

Silver Category: 3rd Mike Greatorex (35), Bjorn Petterson (36), Alan McDonald (38)

Gold Category: 3rd Robin Eastman (40 on CB), Tony Smale (40 on CB), 1st Eva Petterson (40)

Nearest the pins went to Darren Hancock, Norman Cahill, Eva Petterson and Micky Roscoe.

Best guest prize was Russ Bond with a great 36.

John Osborne was the overall winner of the President’s Trophy, amassing 114 over the best 3 rounds of 5. The Trophy and round winners’ t-shirts were sponsored by Moneycorp who also generously sponsored the nearest the pins and best guest prizes.

Brendan Toner won this week’s Abacus prize for the lowest number of points.

Our thanks to the staff at Villamartin for their contribution to the day. Thanks also to The Ale House in Villamartin Plaza for hosting our apres-golf presentation.

Keep up to date with all SMGS matters by logging on to our website www.smgs.org or simply give Tony Smale a call on 628227687. The next three games will be at La Finca, Roda and Vistabella.