The Lakes course at Greetham Valley hosted the Sparks Salver Trophy and, with the greens recovering well from their annual maintenance, scoring was high.

The eventual winner was David Thompson (handicap 8) with an excellent return of 42 points. David had two birdies on the front nine to go with his four pars for a one-over gross standing as he reached the turn.

Coming home, he reeled off a further seven pars and only dropped two shots over the last nine holes.

Close behind was Steve Roche (16) who has been having a very good golfing summer as he also totalled 42 points, but Steve was undone by a visit to the water on the final hole which eventually cost him a double bogey.

That apart, a round of eight pars and a birdie was satisfying. Third spot was taken by Neil Crees (8) who had a very steady round apart from early problems on the second hole, but, once that was ironed out, Neil was a model of consistency as he carded 40 points thanks to two birdies and eight pars.

Sheila Douty was the best placed lady with her score of 38 points. She hit two tremendous shots to score an eagle on the 8th hole but was defeated by the water on the 14th where she was forced to register a no-score - but a total of nine pars meant on overall pleasing round.

Pete Bagshaw was thrilled (as were members in the clubhouse who benefited from the traditional free tipple) when he scored a hole-in-one on the 12th thanks to his 4-wood which pitched just short of the green and trickled into the hole.

During the week, the Mid-Week Stableford Qualifier was contested on the Lakes course and there was a clear winner in Billy Beech (9) who piled up the points to total 43, thanks to two birdies and only five bogeys.

Billy was particularly strong on the back half, which he completed in only one-over gross and played the final five holes in one under par. Nick Briars (10) had an eventful round with two birdies to start with, only to run into multiple problems on the 3rd before getting back on track with five pars in the next six holes.

On the return half, Nick had a further five pars but allowed a couple of doubles to creep on to his card to give an overall total of 40 points. Kevin Daff (14) came third with 38 points thanks to eight pars, but a failure on the 14th eventually relegated him into bronze position.

In the Ladies Mid-Week Qualifier on the Valley course, Bev Dolman (11) came out top with a score of 44 points thanks to 11 pars and two birdies in a very consistent round.

Bev only had any trouble on one hole, the sixth, where she took a double bogey, but that apart, she was a model of steady play, particularly on the back nine which she completed in gross par.

Margaret Littlemore (20) was runner-up with her score of 39 pts in spite of also registering two failures in her round: Margaret played the 15th brilliantly to score a birdie but the final hole caused her a few problems.

Third spot went to Janet Dandeker (23) with her score of 36 pts. Janet was especially strong on the return section of the course, which she completed under par, including a per-par finish.

Saturday saw the Gent's Friendly Team's longest unbeaten home run further extended following the dismissal of a talented Belton Park side, who lost 5-1.

The match was played in unsettled conditions on the Valley course and a week after annual maintenance had been carried out on the course.

While the greens were marginally slower than usual, the home side quickly adapted but unfortunately the same could not be said for the Belton Park side, who found it difficult to adjust.

The pairings of Packa Risi and Micky Fish dovetailed perfectly throughout the match winning 5 and 4, whilst 'on form' Peter Wood, paired with Gabriel Amies-Mccormick, won 4 and 3; Chris Hatch and Ian Cunningham came in by 3 and 2, Malcolm Boyd and Sam Bull eased home 3 and 1 and finally, Max Maksymiw and returning 'Scratch Player' Darren Child won by 1.

The Belton Park captain, Ian Carroll was extremely complimentary of the course, the hospitality shown by the club staff and importantly the spirit in which the match was played.

The wins for Peter Wood and Chris Hatch have seen the 'player of the year' contest in the hands of four players, all of whom are in with a chance to take this prestigious award.

As a result of the late August Bank Holiday, the Seniors section played their medal competition on Tuesday and quite a few members had clearly taken advantage of the extra day's rest as there were a number of excellent performances.

In third place, John Rounds (28) played a steady round for a nett score of 70, the highlight of which was a par on the challenging sixth hole to reach the turn with a very creditable 11 over gross.

The back half was played equally calmly until John reached the 17th which caused no end of problems as he took a nine to severely mar his card.

In runner-up position, Mike Guy (21) made a welcome return to the winner's rostrum with a nett score of 68, thanks to a total of six pars and Mike, even though he struggled on the second, was pleased to limit himself to only three other double bogeys, one of which was on the 18th where water was involved.

The overall winner was Keith Stevenson (11), who turned in a nett 67 thanks to an excellent round with eight pars and two birdies. Keith was particularly strong on the front nine which he completed in only two over gross and although he finished with four bogeys, this was sufficient for him to head the leader-board overall.

In the 9-hole qualifier, Jack Vernal was again adjudged the winner with a total of 14 points but he was hard pushed by both John Clinton and Rod Wells who had the same scores but it was Jack's birdie on the 9th which gave him the countback victory.

On Monday the Seniors played a Better-Ball competition (off 90% handicaps) on the Valley Course and there was a plethora of fantastic scores as the course rewarded most players for good control with almost all teams bettering the scratch score.

The overall winners were the regular pairing of Graham Smith and George Brand with a score of 48 points, closely followed by Steve Chisholm and Alan Sorlie on 47 and Peter Wood and Keith Godwin coming in third, also with 47.

Jim Clarke was delighted to score his first hole-in-one at Greetham on the 13th but even that was insufficient to lift his team into a winning position.