TOMMY Hayes and Richard Higgs claimed the inaugural Baylis Pairs Cup final at Worcester’s Ravenmeadow and Perdiswell Park.

They won 3&1 against Ade Day and John Griffiths on a blustery but dry morning. 

Hayes and Higgs finished second in their group after beating Julian Bateman and Richard Palfrey 3&2, Steve Wiggin and Mick Boylan one-up, Steve Bellinger and Dave Whyte 4&2 and Geoff Jones and Dave Hancocks 4&2.

They lost 3&1 to Mark Purser and Jamie Newton and halved with Steve Williams and Chris Williams.

Hayes and Higgs beat the Williams brothers in the quarter-finals on the 19th hole before seeing off Ed Nicklin and Joe Jackson 4&3 in the semis.

Day and Griffiths also finished second in their group with nine points before taking out Scott Thomas and Mike Sanders 5&3 in the quarter-finals and Barrie Hope and Stephen Baylis one-up in the semis.

Club captain Baylis presented the trophy for the first time.

Tony Smith tore into the Worcester course in the prestigious Founder’s Cup to return 55 nett with seven pars and only two double bogies on the fourth and 18th holes.

Smith incurred a hefty handicap reduction following his five-shot win down to 22 from 27.

Tom Jenkins thought he had won the cup when he posted 60 but  there was nothing he could do but concede graciously to a magnificent round by the high handicapper.

Jenkins had an eagle on the 18th, birdies on nine and 14, ten pars and five bogies in his round as his handicap went down to eight from 10.

Julian Bateman scored 61 but had to rely on countback to award him third place after he finished tied with Roy Turner.

His handicap was cut from 12 to 11 while Turner's went from 19 to 17.

Of the 43 players, 17 managed to defy the toughening, prevailing conditions to record scores of nett par or better for the course.

Just thirty-one players basked in sunshine to contest the medal which turned out to be a close-run thing.

Tony Walker (17 handicap) returned 66 nett to win with a birdie on the 18th and seven pars offset by three double bogies and a triple.

Neil Harding (25) saw his 67 get him second place with just two pars and six double bogies.  Countback decided the final two places with George Postans (20) edging ahead of Clive Brown (20) after both scored 68.

Although the field was small for the ladies' Autumn Crystal, 30-handicapper Michelle George coped best with the windy conditions to win with a steady 73 nett. 

George struggled on the more undulating first nine holes and especially the par-five sixth but still held onto a slight lead at the turn. 

On the more exposed, wind-affected back nine, George controlled her ball better and, despite a couple of double bogies and a disappointing triple, a few decent pars put her well in the driving seat. 

In second place with 85 was last year’s winner Val Williams (36) who found the conditions tough.