ONE of the highlights of the Minehead and West Somerset golfing calendar has taken place with the first round of the prestigious Minehead Club Senior Championship..

A full entry of 48 members returned a number of excellent scores. The clear leader at the halfway point was Mike Bovingdon (Hcp 11) with a nett score of 65, while in second place on countback with a score of 67 was Paul Fullbrook (8), ahead of Martin Hole (9) and Andy Giles (16) who also scored 67.

Round Two took place two days later creating much anticipation with eight players scoring a nett 69 or better in the first round.

The competition appeared ideally suited to the lower handicap players, given their ability to hit straight and avoid the rough.

More benign conditions, however, proved to be of greater assistance to the higher handicap players where another close round saw Jamie Anderson (Hcp 21) achieve first position with a nett 67. In second place with a 68 was Andy Hodgson (18) while third place was taken by Richard O’Hare (18) on countback with a 69. Tony Pizii (17), Ian Gover (19) and Paddy Maclennan (5) also scored 69.

The winner of the Club Senior Championship is calculated on the combined best two nett score rounds. Following up his nett 65 in Round 1 with a 71 in Round 2, the worthy winner of this year’s Championship with a nett 136 was Mike Bovingdon. In second place with 139 was Doug Hayhoe with third place taken by Andy Hodgson, with a combined score of 140 on countback.