THE Club Finals Day at Wenvoe Castle is without doubt the most important day in the club diary and also one of the busiest with eight finals to be played including the Men’s Club Championship and Ladies Championship both over 36 holes.

The finals are the climax of match play competitions which commenced in April and players will have won several games just to reach the final and in doing so have the opportunity to have their names in pride of place on the honours boards which date back over 80 years to the club’s formation in 1936.

Matt Mullooly was no stranger to the honours board having won the Men’s Club Championship for the past three years and was defending his title against a quality opponent in Dave Barrell, previous Club Champion and current Glamorgan County Champion.

The match proved to be as expected with a high quality and exceptional skill from both players and throughout neither player build a lead of more than a couple of holes. The match saw a barrage of birdies and an eagle and after the first 18 holes Dave Barrell deservedly held a narrow lead.

In previous years Matt had shown a steely determination to grind out a result and by the penultimate hole held a one-hole lead. The last two holes showed some superb recovery skills by Dave to win the 17th and then chipped very close to gain a half on the last. All square at the last hole meant sudden death up the long par 5 first hole.

The match being followed by an ever-increasing band of spectators saw both layers find the trees with their drives. Both managed to get to the edge of the green in three but Matt clinched the title with a par after Dave had missed a tricky downhill putt.

Club captain Lesley Sherrard refereed the match and presented the trophy to Matt highlighting the quality and skill by both players in a match played in a truly sporting manner.

Matt was clearly delighted to have won the Championship for the fourth year in succession and praised his opponent for his contribution to an exceptional and close match which could have gone either way.

The Ladies Championship was between Lucy Sellick and Barbara Beedham a previous winner in 2014. Lucy settled down quickly and in the early stages built up a commanding lead to reach the halfway stage in front by 5 holes.

There was still a further 18 holes for Barbara to make inroads into the deficit, but Lucy gave little away playing very steadily to maintain the gap.

Eventually Barbara ran out of holes and the match finished on the 13th hole with Lucy the deserved winner by 6 and 5.

Past Lady Captain Lynda Hudd refereed the match and complimented both players on an excellent match and as usual played in a real sporting manner.

The remaining six finals were all played over 18 holes and produced some very close finishes with five going to the finishing holes and of these two went on to sudden death.

The Men’s Robert Rickards Championship proved to be one of the closest contests between experienced team players Dennis Davies and Kevin Knowles.

A match of high quality which could have gone either way and over the closing holes Dennis kept in the match through some exceptional putting and the game finished all square after 18 holes.

The match went to sudden death on the first hole where Kevin managed to shrug off his determined opponent and clinched the trophy on the par 5 first hole.

Disappointingly the final of the H Regan Trophy could not be played following the withdrawal of one of the players but Paul Wheatley and Meirion Rees had played well to reach the final after several successful rounds and were declared the winners.

The Dragon Trophy is for player with handicaps of 10 or over and after a qualifying competition to determine the best 8 scores the players went on to the knockout stages to reach the final.

Chris Tatt was the top qualifier and played well to get through to the final to play Tim Dimond who would have to be on good form to concede 10 strokes.

Perhaps proving the handicapping system to be about right the match went to the final hole where Tim held on to a one-hole lead to win the Dragon Trophy.

The Ladies held three finals on the day with Dee Lloyd and Jane Lott the first to tee off in the Mary Fellows Bowl.

Another match where handicaps would be an important factor with the experienced and consistent Jane Lott conceding 10 strokes to her opponent and once again contributed to a close encounter.

The match went to the penultimate hole where Dee was absolutely thrilled to close out the tight match and win 2 and 1.

Two experienced players Wendy Motton and Jane Barrell contested the Ladies Bronze Championship. Wendy played well to build up a commanding lead and despite her best efforts Jane gradually ran out of holes over the back nine.

The match eventually finished on the par 3 15th hole where Wendy deservedly won the Championship Trophy by 5 and 3.

Debbie Williams and Nicola Manning were very closely matched in the final of the Blod Lewis Cup. Neither player managed to build up a lead and not surprisingly it went to the final hole where Debbie was clearly delighted to clinch the trophy winning by two holes.

The last of the 18-hole finals was the Dr & Mrs A M Jones Trophy, a mixed pairs competition involving Andy Evans and Sandra Hathway against Mickey Lee and Lady Captain Lynda Lee.

This keenly contested match proved to last the longest of all the 18-hole matches and went to sudden death where Andy and Sandra finally managed to secure this coveted trophy.

The players all appreciated the excellent weather on the day and, the efforts of the green staff to present the course in such magnificent condition on the day. It was particularly rewarding to see all the finals completed as planned and the Club Captain Lesley Sherrard thanked all the members who took part in the various competitions throughout the summer months.