RND LogoRound 1 of the Parker Trophy saw RND face Tiverton at Tavistock on Sunday 5th May. A sunny yet breezy day saw us face a young, talented Tiverton side, who brought caddies and spectators along with their players in the club minibus.

Pair 1 of Ollie Tanton and Dave Ashley struggled early on, with Ollie the first to admit he had a rare off day with his ball striking. The quality of our two county players shone through though, and going into the 18th with a 1 hole advantage, Ollie hit a good drive and Dave wedged the ball to 12 feet, which was good enough to win the match 2 up.

In match 2 Neil James and Ben Keen lost the first hole after hitting their opening tee shot out of bounds, but they were level after 5 holes, and then never looked back as they went on a great run to ease to a 6 & 4 victory.

Match 3 followed a very similar pattern. After losing the first hole with a bogey, Chris Brown and Chris Sturman put together an excellent round of golf, and were under par from then on, as they matched Neil and Ben in wrapping up their match by a 6 & 4 margin.

This was a good win against an up and coming Tiverton side, who we face again on the 2nd June at Crediton in the Palairet. We now go on to face Exeter in the Parker Trophy 2nd round, who we lost to in a close contest in last year’s semi final, with date and venue to be confirmed.

Thanks must go to our club president Dick Ford, and family, who came to support the team.