LOCAL players failed to make the top places in the Shropshire and Hereford-shire Chronicle Cup final at Herefordshire Golf Club as competitors battled against the hot and humid conditions on a course which provided an excellent test of golf.

Home club members Henry Davies and Tony Dalley took first and second places on the back nine with scores of 39-6-32 and 38-5-33 respectively, and Leomin-ster's Shane Jones was runner-up on the front nine with 41-8-33.

Hereford Municipal were looking good for the team prize at one stage with an aggregate of 216, but they were overtaken by the later starters, with Llanymynech claiming the Team Shield with 209, helped greatly by the individual winner Glyn Edwards' impressive 83-18-65.

Results, Chronicle Cup: 1 Glyn Edwards (Llanymy-nech) 83-18-65, 2 P Higgins (Cadmore Lodge) 91-24-67, 3 S Ward (Shropshire) 87-20-67, 4 D Roberts (Hill Valley) 84-15-69, 5 A Carrington (Cadmore Lodge) 83-13-70, 6 R Broome (Severn Meadows ) 83-13-70; front nine: 1 M Pearce 40-9-31 (Shropshire), 2 Shane Jones (Leominster) 41-8-33; back nine: 1 Henry Davies (Herefordshire) 39-6-32, 2 Tony Dalley (Herefordshire) 38-5-33; Team Shield: 1 Llanymy-nech 209, 2 Hill Valley 213.

n Darren Richards reaped the benefits of competing in top-class amateur events in England and Wales when his finely-honed game saw him equal the course record at Burghill Valley with a sizzling 66.

The Kington-based Richards, who also plays at Burghill, did not have it all his own way as his travelling companion at many of the prestigious events, Dan Jarman, pushed him all the way to finish a shot adrift on 67.

Understandably, the pair won the gross and nett prizes respectively in the August medal, with Richards now playing off a plus-one handicap.

Results, division one, gross: 1 Darren Richards 66, 2 Dan Jarman 67, 3 Eliot Shaw 71; nett: 1 Dan Jarman 67-2-65, 2 Darren Richards 66-0-66, 3 Barry Park 78-1-68; division two, gross: 1 Andy Hicks 85, 2 Geoff Oseman 86, 3 Brian Joy 86; nett: 1 Simon Addis 90-21-69, 2 John Eaton 69, 3 Alan Hicks 69.

Junior vice-captain James Davies and the consistent Andy Lambert shared the Stan Pullin Trophy, awarded for the best aggregate of three scores in the four summer medals, when they both finished on 214.

n Rob Arrowsmith won the Ben Novus Trophy at Leominster with an excellent 75-10-65, two shots clear of Kevin Gibbons on 71-4-67, with Steve Brimfield, 78-11-67, being relegated to third place on a card countback.

Gibbons took the gross prize with his 71.

Robert Stokes won the Newlands Trophy, run in conjunction with the Ben Novus Trophy for longer handicaps, when he posted 92-21-71, a shot clear of runner-up Roy Williams on 94-22-72, with Rob Holloway third with 96-23-73.

n Graham Wood held off the challenge of Gareth Williams on a card countback to win Kington's Golden Jubilee Cup after both had posted excellent nett 63s.

Results, overall winner: Graham Wood 75-12-63; division one (0-9): 1 Doug Taylor 76-7-70, 2 Alan Williams 73-3-70; division two (10-15): 1 Vic Baggott 77-12-65, 2 Ben Hughes 79-13-66; division three (16-28): 1 Gareth Williams 80-17-63, 2 Steve Dart 83-16-67.

Club captain Derek Brookes and Bill Button were clear winners of their respective divisions in the latest seniors' summer league competition with each enjoying a five-point margin over their colleagues.

Results, division one: 1 Bill Button 42 stableford points, 2 John Williams 37, 3 Ron Davies-Jones 37; division two: 1 Derek Brookes 43, 2 Arthur Thompson 38, 3 Tony Humphries 37.

n There was a tight finish to both the Ingliss Salver and Everdell Cup at Herefordshire GC with Will Owens and Nick Storrer each triumphing by a single point.

Ingliss Salver (0-14): 1 Will Owens 41 stableford points, 2 Brian Welling 40, 3 Peter Hebbes 40; Everdell Cup: 1 Nick Storrer 42, 2 Ian Eckersall 41, 3 Justin Allison 39.

The seniors improved on last season's result but failed to halt a losing run against visiting Worc-estershire GC that stretches back to the year 2000 when they went down 4-3 at Worm-sley.

n Members' enthusiasm to invite guests for their annual Invitation Day at Ross-on-Wye was such that it was played over two days.

Results, day one: 1 John Hebden and John Williams (Evesham) 42 stableford points, 2 David Kirk and Mike Baglow 42, 3 Mark Maslen and Ian Cox (Kington) 41, 4 John Rawlings and Simon Stone 41.

Day two: 1 Graham Stonadge and David Williams (Hill Valley) 46, 2 Tony Howells and James Ormond 45, 3 Duncan Sayce and Russell Pritchard 44, 4 John Goodwin and R Brown 44.

The seniors completed a notable double over visitors Lilley Brook with a 5-3 victory to follow up their surprise 6-2 away victory.

Skipper Tom Moore and David Rees lost a close opening game one down, but wins for Arthur Lester and Peter Carton-Kelly, Bob Beavis and Gwyn Hawker, Peter Spacey and Nigel Vandyke, Pat Curtis and Terry Savage, and John Tecke and Mike Ludlow saw Ross complete the double.

n Old sparring partners Martin Dent and Steve Hughes battled it out for Belmont's Past Captain's Cup with Dent just getting the better of Hughes on a card countback after both had posted 37 stableford points.

Phil Skyrme was third with 36 and Neil Bell fourth with 35.

Seniors' August medal, division one (0-16): 1 Eric Mayers 79-10-69, 2 Ian Caves 80-8-72; division two (17-28): 1 Jim Meadows 88-20-68, 2 Fred Brace 92-18-74.

n Brightwells Charity Golf Day at Burghill Valley raised £2,200 to be shared between the Children's Liver Foundation and Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust.

Britannia Interiors, captained by Andrew Hince, took the team prize with 96 stableford points, beating Where's The Pimms Tent on a card countback, and Elite won the Yellow Ball competition with 82 points.

The individual winner was Stuart Addis 42 points, while Andy Gealy won the longest drive with 292 yards, and Derek Thomas was nearest the pin, a mere 32 inches away.

n Sinclair Optical services, a member of the Ross-on-Wye based Porter Group, also held a successful charity day at The Rolls of Monmouth, raising £1,500 for the Fight for Sight charity appeal.

Bev Williams was the overall winner and, although nobody won the Mercedes SLK Convert-ible on offer for a hole in one, they gave Williams the use of the car for a weekend of his choice.

The ladies' prize was won by Gillian Monk, and the open competition by Roger Owen Jones.

Optometrists Mike Poole, David Sandell and Darren Lowe won the team prize, and Clive Stone, a trustee of the nominated charity, won the Wayne Davies Memorial Challenge Cup for nearest the pin on the par-three 18th hole.