Golf: Sunshine shock for holder Brogan

Brogan, who plays off four, had home advantage in his first round match with Simon Vidgeon (5) from Burnham on Crouch, but lost at the 19th.

Other results (home players first): Keith Ballinger (12) Three Rivers beat Mike Davill (15) Rochford Hundred at the 19th; Perry Lodge (10) Castle Point lost to Stuart Gogay (8) Risebridge 5 and 3; Jack Taylor (6) Rochford beat Tony Miller (10) South Essex at the 20th; Danny Greaves (13) Hanover lost to M Hodnett (18) Basildon 1 down; Brian Parker (14) Basildon beat Keith Kleinman (17) Ealing 5 and 4; Phil Chick (12) Langdon Hills beat Richard Sheppard (15) Ballards Gore 2 up; Ryan Georakis (8) Three Rivers lost to Kim Shead (10) Ballards Gore 3 and 2; John Malbon (24) The Burstead lost to Jim Barker (24) Three Rivers 6 and 4; Simon Stone (18) Three Rivers beat Brian Evans (17) Ballards Gore 3 and 2; David Hull (13) Hanover beat Barry Harrington (12) Ballards Gore 5 and 4.

Second round draw, with matches to be played by June 4, is as follows:

Gogsay v Ballinger; Vidgeon v Taylor; Hodnett v Chick; Shead v Parker; Barker v Hull; Barrie Copeland (12) Ballards Gore v Stone; David Smith (21) Boyce Hill v Lewis Monkton (10) Ballards Gore; Roy Nesbitt (10) Rochford Hundred v Steven McGoun (15) Essex. Duo join champions in Thornton triumph

Thorpe Hall, Rochford and Boyce Hill and are through to the last 16 of the senior Essex team competition for the Thornton Cup.

Holders Thorpe are the only one of the threesome at home in the third round on June 27 - they host Abridge.

Boyce Hill crushed Three Rivers 12.5-2.5 at home and now visit Muswell Hill, while Rochford pulled off a remarkable 8-7 success over a visiting Maylands outfit. They now go to Clacton.

Thorpe were without top star Richard McEvoy, who was away gaining a top 10 finish in the English Amateur Stroke-play Championship for the Brabazon trophy.

They looked in trouble when they trailed in nearly all the foursomes in their clash at Chelmsford, but bounced back to lead 3-2 at lunchtime.

All three wins were achieved by 1 up scorelines with the pairings of Richie Jeffs and Simon Goy, Matt Wall and Paul Jefford plus David Peters and Jon Neal being successful.

Fortunately, things took an even brighter turn in the singles, where only one match was lost. Three were halved with the match result sealed, which came about when Neal won 4 and 3.

Biggest successes came from Wall (6 and 4) and Jeffs (6 and 5). Both Andrews and Peters were taken to the 18th before winning at the 19th and 1 up respectively.

Scores (Thorpe Hall first): Foursomes - Richie Jeffs and Simon Goy beat Gary Bridge and Ian Templeton 1 up; Jon Andrews and Paul King lost to Keith Davies and Sean Dolton 4 and 3; Steven Shields and Frazer Watson lost to Alun and Paul Connell 1 down; Matt Wall and Paul Jefford beat Simon Gibbons and Bruce Hilsdon 1 up; David Peters and Jon Neale beat Dave Knights and Lee Shrimpton 1 up.

Singles - Andrews beat Paul Connell at the 19th; Wall beat Alun Connell 6 and 4; Peters beat Templeton 1 up; Jeffs beat Gibbons 6 and 5; King lost to Davies 2 and 1; Shields halved with Hilsdon; Jefford halved with Dolton; Goy beat Knights 3 and 2; Neal beat Bridge 4 and 3; Watson halved with Shrimpton.

Rochford battled through after looking dead and buried at 4-1 down after the foursomes.

This left the home outfit needing to win seven of the 10 singles for victory.

Team captain Neil Brockes decided on an all-or-nothing approach by sending his top players out early on, but in the end it all came down to youngsters Simon Williams and Stuart Alliston at the rear of the field.

They both held their nerve under tremendous pressure, especially Alliston whose match against G Sales was locked all square after 18 holes.

Knowing everything depended on him, Alliston split the fairway up the first extra hole while the Maylands' man pulled his tee shot into deep rough.

Sales was only able to move his ball a few yards while Alliston made the middle of the green and two putts were enough to clinch a memorable team performance.

There were plenty of other close encounters and skipper Brockes said afterwards: "I reckon I've got a couple of stomach ulcers after all that, but full marks to the way my team fought back after the morning disasters."

Results (Thorpe Hall first): Foursomes - Danny Warwick and Nick Dutnall lost 3 and 2 to S Parrish and S Connor; Tony Hadley and Talat Buta lost 1 down to I Smith and M Weston; Simon Williams and Stuart Alliston beat M Harris and J Broughton 2 up; Dave Turner and Phil Crossingham lost 3 and 1 to T Tikki and G Sales; Neil Cochran and Andy Dawbarn lost 4 and 3 to I Moore and P Homewood.

Singles - Warwick beat Parrish on the 19th; Dutnall beat Smith 4 and 2; Hadley lost 2 and 1 to Weston; Dawbarn beat Connor 2 and 1; Cochran beat Moore 6 and 4; Turner lost 2 down to Homewood; Buta beat Boughton 3 and 1; Crossingham lost 2 and 1 to Harris; Alliston beat Sales on the 19th; Williams beat Tikki 2 up.

Castle Point's challenge ended when they lost 10-5 away to Essex Golf and Country Club at their Earls Colne Course. In the morning foursomes, Castle Point looked as if they were going to lose all five matches until Matt Loveday and John Sharp won on the 20th.

This left Castle Point 4-1 down going into the afternoon singles. They fought well and were at one stage up in seven of the ten. Essex finally won five and halved two others, Castle Point triumphing in three. Players mourn popular Billy

The world of local golf this week said its farewells to one of its greatest characters, 85-year-old Billy Bines.

Billy died last week, some 76 years after he first became associated with Rochford Hundred Golf Club, where he served as a caddy at the age of nine.

Billy became a superb amateur golfer, at one time playing off one, and apart from huge successes at home and on the County scene was a well-known figure at national level.

Here he played in a number of top pro-ams alongside famous names as Bruce Forsyth and Jimmy Tarbuck.

In later years, scores of Billy's succeses came as a veteran and he has his name on the honours board at Rochford no fewer than 49 times in all - more than double any other member.

Billy's days in golf were sadly interrupted for a lengthy spell during the Second World War and he was held as a Prisoner of War for four-and-a-half years, helping to build the Burma Railway Track, finishing just miles short of the infamous River Kwai bridge.

Billy weighed just 6.5 stone on his return to England and was soon encouraged by Bob Steele, the Rochford pro, to get back into the swing of things.

Despite his own phenomenal career, Billy always found time to give help to youngsters, and at Rochford he helped David Wood on the top amateur trail which led to the son of local headmaster Keith Wood representing Wales.

David is now a club pro and the family have remained close friends with Billy. In fact, Keith Wood and Billy's nephew, Ken Sendall, were with him at the time of his death.

One of Billy's great delights in later life was that, on many occasions, he was able to shoot his age or better out on the course.

There was a tremendous turnout of golfing friends when Billy was cremated in Southend with mourners then returning to Rochford's clubhouse to recall their own personal memories of a wonderful character.

Said Ken Sendall: "Billy had such a wonderful array of prizes that you could spend half a day looking and still be a long way from seeing them all. He was a wonderful character who knew so many golfing people."

Golfing ace - Billy Bines celebrates one of the many holes-in-one he enjoyed during his golfing career Record for Vase winners

Eighty-four pairs took part in the annual Evening Echo Golf Vase at Rochford Hundred last Thursday with victory going to Basildon duo Tim Meehan and Jim Crowley with a record 50 Stableford points.

Second place went to Les Robertson and Martin Willis from Three Rivers on 47 with Roy Nesbitt (Rochford) and Franco Galantini (Ballards Gore) third with 45. A superb back nine of 26 points earned John Gale and Andrew Loveday of Castle Point fourth spot on countback ahead of several others on 44.

Prizes were presented by Rochford Captain Richard Campbell-Carr and the full list of scores is:

J Flack and E. Howe 35; I Brogan and B Brogan 38; L Eaton and G Carey 38; P Unstead and D Sayers 39; P Chick and A Reading 41; D Child and N Sutton 36; G Turner and D Turner 35; T Dixon and A Lawler 43; R Dye and D Carlton 42; A Dartnell and L Shurety 31; C Lamey and B Buttle 43; S Michaelson and D Hawkes 37; M Rugg and D Clifford 37; G Timms and R Bennett 36; W Boys and R Jones 40; P Lodge and I Stewart 44; M Fisher and B Hull 40; A Ledger and C Ledger 44; L Holdsworth and J Hibbitt 34; R Weidner and L Daden 43; R Henderson and A Merrington 29; T Meehan and J Crowley 50; T Hance and P Hance 37; P Williams and S Brinkley 33; J Weaver and T Brown 42; M Collins and M Wellham 38; B Matthews and D Forrester 36; S Elliott and P Elliott 44; J Holman and M Robinson 38; E Keeble and J Needs 39; R Bonora and P Musters 42; P Schofield and D. Linscott 42; R Buta and J Taylor 42; D Holdsworth and R Lough 41; A Lamas and A Souto 32; G Wakefield and S Murphy 43; B Maloney and C Stanley 37; M Barr and K Lee 35; J Wilson and J Harrison 37; J Hindle and J Bryan 35; D Humbles and W Humbles 44; G Eastman and S Rooney 43; R Bendall and R Brinton 36; P Leslie and L Ruiz 37; R Southwood and P Francis 37. D Bell and B Haigh 34; T Brown and G Cripps 34; T Tyjas and I Tyjas 37; W Tigwell and D Matthews 37; R Nesbitt and F Galantini 45; D Pettet and C Hodges 39; C Styles and P Seager 40; R Murray and F Hill 39; T Dennis and L Shepherd 29; D Sargeant and L Robertson 23; T Porter and J Bishop 37; N Dutnall and P Goldsmith 35; L Monkton and B Harrington 33; R Fields and D Doe 37; L Robertson and M Willis 47; B Paton and P Rapley 39; L Alliston and S Alliston 41; G Jackson and J Hardy 40; T Buta and P Hooper 42; M Read and T Walker 38; R Short and L Short 39; M Davill and P McCarthy 41; L Alden and G Mattey 34; M Davis and S Davis 38; R Heath and J Pepper 40; S Retour and A Johnson 38; D Hainsby and J Purser 32; J Turley and R Halliwell 36; J Gale and A Loveday 44; F Caskey and M Clarke 40; J Barker and B Locke 38; R Hooker and H Brooks 40; J Nagle and A Nagle 42; A Hall and T Kennedy 34; D. Rodway and S Mayhew 38; S McGoun and G Taylor 39; H Southwood and M Fisher 42; D Turner and R Campbell-Carr 38.

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