Denis drives-in golf club's 125th anniversary year

DENIS Compton has been elected to captain the Minehead and West Somerset Golf Club for the 2007-08 season, which is the club’s 125th anniversary year.
Denis, who joined the club in 1978 as a junior, said he was delighted and honoured to be asked to be captain for the anniversary year.
He was looking forward to a full year which would include raising money for his chosen charity the Musgrove Leukaemic Group Somerset.
The Martell Cup, the last competition of outgoing captain Roly Thresher’s year, was played on the day of the annual meeting, and the winner was Gareth Latham.
A bogey competition, the challenge was to beat the par on each hole, and on a blustery day any plus score against par was a good round.
Result: 1 Gareth Latham +2 (level on the back 9), 2 Bruce Baker +2 (-2 on the back 9), 3 Gordon Whalley +1, 4 Tony Bowden 0, 5 Warren Knight –1, 6 Denis Compton –1, 7 Trevor John –1, 8 Andy Atkins –1.
The day after the annual meeting saw the captain’s drive-in, and new Captain Denis Compton braved the blustery conditions to hit three balls down the first.
To mark the occasion of the 125th anniversary year, Denis chose to drive from the old first tee at the side of the clubhouse.
Watched by his dinner guests, he used three different clubs to record distances of 134, 182, and 220 yards, which pleased the three members who won prizes for correctly forecasting the distances.
The Brown Cup competition had been called off earlier that morning because putting was made impossible by strong winds blowing the golf balls off the greens.
The competition was re-arranged for Monday, April 8.

• Our photographs show: TOP –Denis Compton (right) receives his captain’s tie and blazer from retiring captain Roly Thresher. MIDDLE – Martell Cup winner Gareth Latham with the trophy. BOTTOM – New captain Denis Compton driving-in in blustery weather to mark the club’s 125th anniversary. Photos submitted.