THE club championship at Minehead and West Somerset Golf Club was played over two days last weekend in fine weather with a light breeze, the forecast rain not appearing until the last competitors had finished.

The Saturday round produced some surprising scores but left Keith Babb and Andy Atkins leading the field on 73. Steve Plenty was third on 74, with Denis Meadows (77), David Johnson (77), Steve Jones (78) and Bob Fossey (79) still in contention.

In the nett competition for the Tony Ridler Cup, Malcolm Miller led the field with a nett 60 (80-20), followed by Andy Atkins on 64 (73-9), Steve Jones 65 (78-13), Colin Morley 65 (80-15), Dave Singleton 66 (82-16), Roger Green 66 (81-15) and Malcolm McNeill 66 (86-20).

With the leading players going out last for the Sunday round, the scene was set for a thrilling finish.

David Johnson was the leader in the clubhouse with a par round of 71 giving him an aggregate score of 148.

It was not until the final group came in that his score was matched, with Keith Babb returning a 75 for an aggregate 148.

In the play-off over four holes (the first, second, 17th and 18th) and if necessary, sudden-death, the first two holes yielded pars, as both players hit the greens in regulation and two-putted.

But at the third extra hole, David's bogey gave Keith a one-stroke advantage to take to the 18th.

His tee-shot there caught the bushes on the edge of the beach, a provisional ball was hit out-of-bounds and a second provisional landed on the green.

Fortunately for Keith the original ball was found, but, as it was declared unplayable, he was obliged to return to the tee to play yet another tee-shot. This one found the green, and his two putts gave him a five.

Meanwhile, David's chip finished ten feet from the pin, leaving him a putt for victory, but he missed to the right of the hole and had to settle for a four to square the match.

They returned to the first hole where David's drive showed the tension he was under, but Keith's rolled up through the green and just off the back. Once again they parred the hole and had to be content with bogeys on the second.

But at the 17th Keith's birdie finally won the hole and the championship — the eighth time he has won the trophy, which he first won at the age of 16. He has now been champion in four decades.

Steve Plenty and Andy Atkins finished third and fourth in the championship on 155.

For David there was the consolation of the runner-up slot in the nett competition as well as the gross, as his 64 nett gave him a nett total of 134,

Malcolm Miller produced another score of 61 nett to give him the Tony Ridler Cup by 13 clear strokes. Tom McGann's net 64 (72-8) made up for his disappointing round of the day before, and Dave Singleton (68) and Colin Morley (69) also finished with nett 134.

Minehead Seniors lost away to Vivary Seniors by 4-2, with wins for Gerry Routley and John Fischer and Mark Perkins and Jef Brooks, but the Ladies were more successful against the same team, halving an exciting match with one win each and five halves.

The team was Iris James and Pat Andrew, Wendy Barker and Jean Townsend, Christine Harper and Shirley Ashworth, June Everitt and Sally Milton, Jean Rendall and Eileen Cockerham and Ros McGuire and Phyl Parkin.

The Ladies couldn't repeat this performance against Vivary Ladies and went down 4-3.

The Seniors' Barrett Cup was won by Nigel Strong with 43 points from Harry Montieth on 42 and Ian Purcell and Jef Brooks on 41.