WORCESTERSHIRE Golf Club members were so keen to enter Barry Schofield's inaugural competition, that the newly-appointed club captain wisely decided to hold two shotgun starts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

This wise decision enabled 144 members to compete in this fourball better-ball Stableford competition, where the best two scores would count on each hole.

Having attended a most enjoyable captain's dinner the previous evening, it was surprising to find that all 72 players were on their allocated tees for the early morning shotgun start. In bright early morning sunshine, the standard of play throughout the morning competition was very high.

The stars of the round were the team of Andy Harris, Steve Hickman, Stuart Duncan and Jerry Hibbert. They scored 86 points to win the morning competition by two clear points.

In second place, with a score of 84 points, was the team led by experienced golfer Robin Willis accompanied by Mike Frechette, Roger Spilsbury and Clive Taylor. In third place with a score of 83 points was the team of Mark Groves, Tim Gordon, Steve Kerry and Mike Read.

With the winter sun continuing to shine throughout the afternoon, the scoring in the afternoon competition was of an even higher order. The afternoon winners, who returned the best score of the day, a massive 88 points, were Stephen Lane, David Jones, Neville Clarke and Colin Lane.

In second place, with 86 points, the winning score in the morning competition was the formidable team of Paul Yorke, Dave Farrell, Dave Harding and Julian Bouchet. In third place was Jamie Dunster, Nigel Allam, Colin Goodrum and John Wynn, who returned to the clubhouse with a score of 85 points.

In the club's Texas Scramble competition, the team of John Rooney, Carl Bayliss, Dave Farrell and Dave Harding returned the very creditable score of 58.4 to be placed third. In second place was the team of Ed Hill, Mike Day, Neil Pitman and Mike Bothma, returning a score of 57.6. No team could compete with the team of Pete Basten, Mark Harris, Paul Jones and Mark Davies, who played exceptional golf to take first place with the very low score of 54.7.

In a cold wind and somewhat blustery conditions, 28 pairs entered the mixed better-ball medal competition.

Colin and Vicky Lane, the father and daughter combination who have played excellent golf throughout the winter, must have thought they had a good chance of winning when they returned a six under par score of 65 but they had to be content with second place. Returning a nine under par score of 62 were the combination of Hazel Cartledge and Vick Hammond who played exceptional golf throughout their 18 hole round to win by three clear strokes.

In the Junior Medal Competition, played over 18 holes, the first four players all returned below par scores. The winner was James Kear who returned a seven under par 64, second was Dan Long with 67, third was Matt Hodgekiss with 68 and fourth was Steven Coffey with 70.

In the Mini Medal, played over seven holes, Cameron Heaton was third, Dominic Bannister was second and the winner was Jordan Hick. Jordan's best shot occurred at the 148-yard par three, third hole, where the nine-year-old landed his tee shot on the green close to the pin.