DAVE Balmer and Simon Eades shot an incredible 45 points to land the Captain’s Classic at Cleobury Mortimer GC.

Balmer held the pairing together early on when Eades had a dose of the dreaded shanks. However after the first five holes he dropped just three more shots!

The Captain’s Classic was a pairs betterball score played off three-quarter handicap, and the stakes were raised by club captain John Gaskell hand-picking professional Amy Millward and net club champion Phil Lau to represent him. Any pair who beat the captain’s duo won a bottle of wine each.

Millward and Lau had some bad luck on the front nine and turned onto the back nine with 17 points. However they rallied to finish with a respectable 36 points.

Andy Young and Rob Pinner shot 44 points to finish second, which was agonising as a putt just stayed out on the last hole when it would have won them the trophy on countback.

*A FIELD of 112 golfers from across the West Midlands contested the John Lacey Memorial Texas Scramble at Cleobury Mortimer. Lacey was a founder member and past captain of the club and a key advisor in the early foundation of the club. This competition is now held annually in his memory.

The winners were the students of Cleobury Mortimer GC, with Charlie Edwards, Harry King, Alex Barnes and captain Josh Rowbotham finishing with a host of birdies to score 55.4 points, enough to beat local sporting icon Craig Shorter and his team comprising Robbie Burnand, Ad Warren and Nick Clarke into second place.