In a summer of hot sun and bouncy courses, Somerset Golf Captains arrived at Oake Manor Golf Club for Captains’ Invitation Day (via a circuitous route due to road closures). Early rain quickly gave way before the first tee time to showery and humid conditions with a stiff breeze blowing from the west.
38 Captains and their guests had signed up for a 4BBB event with hidden pairs being drawn by the Treasurer (after they had all teed off) to form teams of four. Five Professionals were on the list of guests representing 19 different clubs from Celtic Manor in Wales to Teignmouth in Devon.
We were hugely grateful to Geoff Rooke from Cannington who acted as the starter for the whole field and ensured that the first tee flowed perfectly. Secretary Clive Stilwell checked the teams in, and Treasurer Paul Chesney raised some more funds by selling the ever-popular SGC branded clothing. Luckily there were no takers for the waterproof tops as the weather improved considerably after the wet start to the day!
John Perkins, our 2025 Captain of Captains, and his guest Pat Jones, from Minehead and West Somerset hit the first tee shots with playing partners Richard Goodman (current Oake Manor Club Captain) and his guest Club Vice Captain Jon Ball making up the group.
The course was in very good condition given the lack of rain over the previous weeks and the greens were lush and receptive but like most courses were a little on the slow side to protect them from burning up. As expected, the scores reflected the favourable conditions.
Web Manager Ian Gover helped Clive to work out the scores, results and prizes, which was thankfully made easier by the generosity of Somerset Golf Union who have given SGC access to their Intelligent Golf system. This also allows us to push the scores to WHS in the event that a pair meet the criteria set by England Golf for 4 ball events.
Having partners drawn meant that the likely winning scores were unclear until near the end and at one stage there were two teams tied in the lead on 81 points with only a countback on the combined back 6 separating them. Roy Baker, Head Professional at Worlebury Golf Club, put the cat amongst the pigeons by reportedly holing out with his tee shot on the Par 4 9th hole (could that be 5 points?) but it later transpired that a previous Captain of Captains had messaged us with the wrong hole – it was the tricky Par 3 10th!
Oake Manor Captain Richard Goodman welcomed everyone to the club at the prizegiving and Captain of Captains John Perkins presented the prizes. Richard also presented Roy Baker with a bottle of wine and a small memento for his hole in one.
In the “team of four” competition, the results were:
1st place – Bill Campbell (Cannington) and guest Nigel Baker (Long Sutton) and Mike Rossiter (Enmore Park) and guest Dave Dixon (Former Tour Professional) 82 points. Bill and Mike each received a tankard to hold for the year, donated by Mike Usher-Clark.
2nd Place – Steve Parker and guest Kevin Lennox (both Clevedon) and Erica Klim and guest Mike Metcalfe (both Wells) 81 points (back 6 countback)
3rd Place – Chris Reed and guest Steve Osborne (both Wheathill) and Mike McKay and Katriona Foote (both Wells) 81 points
4th Place – Dave Willis and guest Rod Vowles (both Cannington) and John Beer and Pam Akers (both Oake Manor) 80 points
The consolation 4 ball better ball pairs competition was won by David Bate and his guest Professional Luke Collins (both Mendip Spring) with 44 points and the runners-up were Denis Compton and his guest Paul Fullbrook (both Minehead and West Somerset) with 41 points.
Finally, the skills prizes were won by Chris Reed on the Par 3 14th for Captains only and Peter Hancock (Clevedon) for the guests only on the Par 3 16th. Luke Collins won the Professionals’ prize for nearest the pin in two on the 18th.
President Iain Robertson closed proceedings by thanking Oake Manor for their excellent hospitality and the SGC organizing team for their hard work and wished all the Captains and their Guests a safe journey home.
STOP PRESS – OAKE MANOR HAS BEEN BOOKED FOR 14th JULY FOR THE 2026 INVITATION DAY
The full results for the hidden pairs can be found here
