A crucial par four on the last hole gave Martin Hodson victory in the Hanover Georgian monthly Stableford.

The three points earned left Hodson (15) with 45 points and a countback win over Keith Neild (21). In a high-scoring competition, Steve Jacobs (16) took third place on 44.

The Regency course medals were also decided on countback. Division One went to Mark Dartnell (13) from Danny Worrow (12) after both finished on four under par 57. Anthony Rogers took top honours in Division Two with 55 - Max Barnes being runner-up.

The Regency midweek medal was taken by Graham Lowe with net 55 with George Sodeau one stroke back.

The ladies' medal was claimed by Judy Needham on net 57. Valerie Allen won the Stableford on 40 points.

Southend's Ravens-wood Trophy, a pairs better ball off seven-eighths handicap, was won by Kevin Ellis and Lee Winsor (44 points).

Club captain Stan Ferguson and Joe Garnett were runners-up on 42 with Ron Edwards and Roy Thomas third on 39.

Sand advice for Holly

The sands of time - are running out for Holly White as she attempts to find her way out of a bunker. Holly, 12, from Leigh, was one of those who attended the golf open day for girls aged 11 and over at Thorpe Hall with pro Gary McCarthy (also pictured).

Picture: STEPHEN LLOYD

Big two bow out of Thornton Cup

The big two of the local golf scene, Boyce Hill and Thorpe Hall, are out of the senior Essex team competition for the Thornton Cup.

Both suffered 8-7 away defeats in the third round, with Boyce being beaten at Braintree and Thorpe suffering their demise at Clacton.

With Three Rivers going down 10-5 at Wanstead, there's very little interest locally in the quarter-finals, which go ahead on July 2.

These are, with venues in brackets: Chelmsford v Warley Park (Wanstead); Clacton v Upminster (Chelmsford); Orsett v Romford (Braintree); Wanstead v Braintree (Upminster).

There was a good performance from the Essex Boys under-16 team when they took on Norfolk at Essex Golf and Country Club and pulled off an 11.5-3.5 success.

Ballards Gore's Mark Hooper combined with Lloyd Kennedy (Chelmsford) to lose 1 down in the foursomes, but recovered for a 2 and 1 singles success.

Philip Rose (The Burstead) had a 4 up foursomes win with Tony Martin (Upminster) and then finished all square with his opponent in the singles.

In the boys' South East Region national qualifying competition at Brokenhurst Manor, Kent, Surrey were the successful county, scoring 571 from eight rounds of golf.

Essex were third behind Hants, achieving their best total since their national championship winning year of 1997. Boyce Hill's Paul Ring had the second best Essex total with rounds of 70 and 72.

A group of Essex Boys visited the English Open at the Forest of Arden as part of their training and met former Ryder Cup skipper Seve Ballesteros, who was practising despite missing the cut.

Bob's eagle lands final place

No fewer than three competitions were held on a busy weekend at Belfairs.

The club strokeplay championship, for nought to 14 handicaps, acted as a club championship qualifier over 36 holes.

The winner was Bob Clark, who added to a morning 78 with an afternoon 76 for a 154 total. His second round included an eagle two on the 384-yard par four 11th.

Second on 156 was Russell Lee, with Andrew Meddle third on 157. The other qualifiers were Harry Burke, Kevin Buck, Luke Alden and vice-captain Alan Berry.Last year's champ Peter Broad automatically went through.

The junior championship qualifier for 15-20 handicaps went to Dave Smith on 84 from Brian Harvey (90). Also going through were Barry Meddle, Ray Beadell, Bernie Walker, Bob Whale, Phil Hance and G Raymond.

Mugs' Cup qualifiers - for handicaps 21 and above - were led by Bill O'Connor.

Craig Deal, Tony Fagg, Tony Coker, resident bar steward Brian "Helicopter" Hellicar and Graham Carter were the others to go through.

Basildon pair win Irish trip

Two golfers from the Basildon Club are off to Ireland in October.

Anthony Moul and David De La Haye won the club's qualifying event for the Millennium International Pairs Golf Classic 2000 with a combined score of 47 Stableford points.

That means they are off to Ireland to play in the semi-finals of the international event, with some magnificent prizes on offer.

Golf clubs throughout the country are taking part and have been invited to hold their own Stableford better ball pairs event, with the winners guaranteed an expenses-paid trip to the Emerald Isle.

This includes ferry crossing with car on StenaLine, a night's B&B, a welcome reception with Irish hospitality and a day's competition golf on a championship course - all for an entry fee of £5 per person.

More than £2m in green fees are being provided by 19 Golfing Ireland courses, with every competitor receiving a voucher for a complimentary round.

The huge semi-final will see the tournament take in eight Irish courses and will take place on October 25. The top five pairs from each will make it through to the grand final two days later.

This will be held at the Slieve Russell Golf and Country Club, where three further nights accommodation, gala dinner and practice round are provided for the remaining finalists.

The overall winning club will be presented with a trophy, made by Waterford Crystal and costing £20,000.

There's still time for clubs to enter - contact the event hotline on 02392 571668.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.