St. Mellion Mixed Pairs

This years UK 54 hole event took us to the beautiful countryside of Cornwall and the wonderful St. Mellion International Resort. Our competition was held over both the Kernow and the Nicklaus courses, the latter being the first the great man ever designed in the UK.

The weather for all three days of our visit was quite extraordinary, little wind and hardly any cloud and temperatures in the low seventies setting up a wonderful August Bank Holiday of golfing fun!

Day 1 Kernow Course

The first days play was over the “Kernow” course, shorter and slightly easier than its sister. The scoring matched the magnificent weather with 8 couples scoring in the 40’s. Top of the list was Gary Thomas & Anne Anttonen from Prince’s with a fabulous 46pts. Hot on their heels just 2 shots behind was Sarb & Judy Matharu and with 43pts the ever-consistent pairing from Royal Nort Devon of Jeremy & Ruth Horn.

Day 2 Nicklaus Course

The 2nd round saw the group’s first crack at the “Nicklaus” course. This is a truly wonderful test of golf. The course demands supreme accuracy from the tee and with the rough up high around the green surrounds it was a demanding challenge for all of our group.  Chris & Paula Offer from the John o Gaunt club took the spoils on the day posting a wonderful 42pts. Only 1 shot back Warrick & Gill Dawson from Prestbury also had a great day in the sunshine shooting a very solid 41pts.

Another great group dinner was enjoyed in the evening, celebrating birthdays and some great banter and laughs. It was very tight at the top of the leaderboard and all to play for in the morning.

Day 3 Nicklaus Course

The final days play brought clear blue skies, little wind and the warmest day of the three. Our group set out now knowing how to tame the “Nicklaus.” It was a day not to be forgotten. The overnight leaders, Gary & Anne were in one of the first groups out and returned to the clubhouse where they signed for a very respectabble 39pts. This was now the benchmark for the rest of the group to chase. Chris & Paula who were lying third after round 2, posted 37pts to be just shy of the target.

This only left Sarb & Judy who could hunt the leaders down. And wow did they achieve this in style with the first ever 50pts recorded on a Fairways event. It was a remarkable scorecard with 3-4pt and no less than 8-3pt holes recorded. It must also be noted this was attained around one of the toughest layouts in the country! Truly worthy champions of The St. Mellion Mixed Pairs.

Special thanks to all the staff and pro-shop team at St. Mellion for making our visit so memorable!