HAVING not had a Thursday run out in 2026, surprisingly only 29 of St Mellion Golf Club’s seniors took the opportunity to play a full 18 on Thursday, February 12.

Yes, the course was damp/wet in places and with a few temporaries to challenge the golfer, but with the weather predominately dry and certainly not cold, the Fossils enjoyed their day.

The early starters did suffer from a number of showers, but with the Kernow course playing so well after all of the litany of bad weather, there were a number of outstanding performances. Playing a two from three competition, only one team needed the assistance of the week’s ghost, Andy Bryan.

First out, Allan Joel and Malcolm Smith came back to the clubhouse pleased with their efforts but had to wait until the ghost deposited his card to find out their total. It turned out to be a staggering 91 points putting them way out in front of the rest of the field.

Dave Shawcross, on his last comp before a long absent, Lawrence Rowley and Allan Evans were in ebullient form with a superb 86 which looked to be unassailable until the ghost’s intervention. Albert Gunning, Colin Baker and Tony Prout, also out early. posted a very impressive 81 which was sufficient to secure third place but only on countback from Stan Serwata, Pete Campion and the aforementioned ghost.

Results: 1 Allan Joel, Malcolm Smith and Ghost – 91; 2 David Shawcross, Allan Evans and Lawrence Rowley – 86; 3 Albert Gunning, Colin Baker and Tony Prout – 81; 4 Andy Bryan, Stan Serwata and Peter Campion – 81.

The next Thursday – February 19 – saw a surprise for the early starters with blue skies overhead.

However, they soon turned grey across the course and enabled the late starters to feel gentle drizzle on their faces. It did not spoil the fun on the week’s rollercoaster as yet again a low turnout of just 39 meant the employment of the ghost.

David Furse played the role this time and in doing so continued with his impressive play/scoring. So good was he that he scored 40 points by himself!

Understandingly, temporary greens had to be used on a few holes, but the majority of main greens remained in use and played well if just a little variable in speed.

A few fairways were a challenge but after the winter that still continues, they played pretty well. Considering all of the conditions, exceptional scoring featured on the leaderboard.

No less than nine teams compiled scores of 80 or more, with 78 being the lowest total, so there was much interest within the many Fossils in the clubhouse as captain Paul Osborne announced the results and highlighted his shot/score of the day from James Simpson who scored five points on the index two, par four 13th.

In third place were Kev Robinson, Alec Brannan and Colin McDonald with 83 points and following countback, Mike Page, Richard Firth plus the ghost secured second overall with 86 which resulted in John Raphael, Keith Field and the ghost placed first.

The winning trio scored an eye-watering 50 points on the back nine with 11 points scored on the par four 15th. Raphael and Field both scored eagle twos and the ghost, a birdie, with none of the players receiving a shot.