Dartmouth Golf Club The Wednesday circus was slightly depleted last week as it was the seniors' away day at Dainton writes John Garner. It was nice to see Mike Shalders back, 12 days ago he fell off a ladder while doing some D.I.Y. and broke several ribs. He spent more time looking for balls than playing golf, but at least he's mobile again and well on the road to recovery. Rod Hawke won the front nine with 20 points, but it was Paul Durrant's day as he won the back nine with 22 points, won the event overall with 38 and was the only one to have a two, happy days Paul! Again the numbers were down for the circus on Saturday, this time because the last match of the Dartmoor League was to be played against Thurlestone with all to be played for. Dartmouth had to win the match by two points to gain promotion while Thurlestone only needed one point to go up. Beautiful sunshine greeted the players on the first tee and you could tell the atmosphere was tense. The first pairing of Dave Brooking and Roger Mawson won their game, but Clive Westwood and Dave Fahy lost theirs. Mike Whitelaw and Mark Beal won their game while Kevin Eighteen and Mario Aresti lost theirs, meaning it was all down to the last match of the last game on the last day. Captain Ian Metchette and his partner Jack Kirby were one down on the 10th, but Metchette birdied the 11th and Kirby parred the 12th to go one up. It remained tight to the 15th, where Ian and Jack won that and the 16th to win their game three and two. This meant that both teams finished with 22 points so a play-off has to be organised. While all that excitement was going on, Bob Wotton was quietly going about his business winning the circus with Rob Knight on 36. Arthur Carr had a rare moment of success and shared the front nine with Mike Griffiths with 20 points. On Sunday Dartmouth had a mixed friendly against Elfordleigh. This was a return fixture and the first time DGCC had played a mixed match at Elfordleigh.  Both clubs had  problems fielding full teams and it ended up with only four pairs on both sides. The course was in excellent condition with some stunning views over the valleys and the match was played in ideal warm autumn conditions, with just a slight breeze.  All the matches were played in good spirits, with Dartmouth winning two games and halving two, making the overall result on the day a win to Dartmouth by three games to one.  The final combined result for both home and away matches during the season, gave Dartmouth an overall win by 6.5 games to 3.5. Prior to our meal, both teams enjoyed drinks and a relaxing chat on the patio in the evening sunshine, which was made all the more enjoyable by the generosity of Dave Scanlan.  David  had a hole-in-one earlier in the week and asked both teams to join him in a celebratory drink. Three bottles of chilled Champagne were consumed with relish.  Many thanks Dave that was a great gesture which was enjoyed by all. Both teams then enjoyed an interesting meal followed by coffee, with the usual comments and thanks being made by both sides. This new fixture is now in the diary and will be looked forward to next year.