BELMONT have reached the fifth round of The Mail on Sunday team competition after a 3-1 win over Builth Wells.

Pete James, Sean Pocket and Steve Hughes won and Richard Lloyd secured a half for Belmont who next travel to Oxfordshire to play Burford in the national knockout.

Belmont are also well placed in the Shropshire & Herefordshire Scratch League after fine wins, home and away, over Ludlow A and halving with Burghill Valley away in their latest match when Ryan Jones and Steve Hughes gained wins.

Four-handicapper Graham Priday and his guest Darren Richards, a scratch player from Ludlow, won the Kington Men's Invitation Day with a superb 49 points from the better-ball pairs stableford format.

Richards achieved nine gross birdies and Priday, one, as they scorched around the Bradnor Hill course on a perfect day when 132 players represented 27 different clubs.

Results: 1 Graham Priday and Darren Richards (Ludlow) 49 pts, 2 Rob Metcalfe and Paul Fisher (Herefordshire GC) 46, 3 Keith Williams and Mark Evans (Hansworth) 45, 4 John Hoyle and John Astbury (Hansworth) 44, 5 Dave Bradley and Derek Keeble (Summerhill) 44, 6 Kevin Corfield and Stuart Alcock (Bromsgrove) 44.

Kington Seniors took their run of inter-club victories to seven when they won 4-1 at Cradoc.

The Ladies' Invitation Day was played on a strokeplay better-ball format and featured players from eight local clubs.

Results: 1 Gill Lloyd and Janet Bowen (Summerhill) nett 65, 2 Kate Block and Kate Hamilton (Sapey) 66, 3 Angela Wilkes and Ann Crocker (Ross) 69; nearest the pin: Angela Wilkes; longest drive: Janet Brown.

Anita Dart and Philippa Frost progressed to the fourth round of the Daily Mail competition with a two-up victory at Bala.

Leominster's 10% Cup produced a tight finish which required a countback to separate winner Mike Rusling from Steve Grealy, with Tim Suff a close third.

Results: 1 Mike Rusling 92-27-65, 2 Steve Grealy 82-17-65, 3 Tim Suff 77-11-66; best gross: Julian Morris 75.

Phillip Edwards, whose daughter Katie is assistant professional at Ross-on-Wye, won the Collins Flag.

He turned in 83-19-64 from 18 holes, which left him seven shots. After completing the 19th in five, he had two shots down the second fairway and, after a poor drive, placed an iron into the winning position.

Jamie Wilde was second after finishing in the hole on the 19th.

The Seniors gained a 4-2 win at Droitwich but their other team did not fare so well.

The seniors' B team lost 3-2 at Herefordshire GC, while the C team went down heavily 5-1 at South Herefordshire.

The Seniors won their 26-a-side club game against the Ladies 8-5.

The Ladies' J Salver competition was won by Helen Palmer and Alison Harvey with 35 points, just one ahead of Wilma Macnamara and Erica Atkins. Maureen Turner and Pat Beaman were third on 32.

The County Greensomes was played on the same day.

Results: Wilma Macnamara and Erica Atkins 34 pts, 2 Jenny Eckersley and Dorothy Green 29.

Monthly LGU and club medal, silver division: 1 Denise Laird 89-19-70, 2 Dinah Johnstone 85-14-71; bronze: 1 Maureen Turner 94-22-72, 2 Margaret Farr 103-30-73.

Ross ladies' teams played against Cotswold Hills with mixed results in the Alliance League. The A team lost 6-2, while the B team won 6-3.

A countback was needed before Fred Soobhany was declared the winner of Burghill Valley Seniors' Hall of Fame stableford.

Both he and John Hubert finished on 39 points, while Les Herbert was third on 38. Soobhany and Hubert go forward to the next round at regional level.

The Ladies' Punchbowl Pairs, decided on aggregate stableford scores, was won by a clear margin of six points by Judi Clark and Linda Bayliss who totalled 68.

A countback decided second place for Becky Lloyd and Eleanor Harrison over Tina Lifely and Jackie Price after both pairs finished with 62 points.

There was yet another countback when the mixed section held an international pairs better-ball foursomes with Chris and Brian Barnard emerging as the winners.

Results: 1 Chris and Brian Barnard 45 pts, 2 Lynda and Brian Vaughan 45, 3 Pauline and Graham Smith 43.

Sapey Ladies staged their LGU medal.

Results, division one: 1 Lynn McCoy nett 72; division two: 2 Margaret Leake 76, 2 Vivian Ellis 76.

Twenty-six members of the Three Counties Society enjoyed a day at Llandrindod Wells.

Results, morning nine: 1 Mike Carr 23 pts, 2 Phil Collins 20, 3 Mark Savidge 20; afternoon 18: 1 William Maine 39, 2 Michael Owens 39, 3 Gwynne Morgan 37; longest drive: Nigel Winney; nearest the pin: Mark Savidge.

Shropshire & Herefordshire's County Seniors played their first match of the season at Oswestry and lost a close-fought competition 10-8 to visiting Lancashire.

The combined counties won the morning greensomes 4-2, but wilted in the freshening winds of the afternoon fourballs as Lancashire coped better for a 6-4 win.

Their overall win was their first over Shropshire & Herefordshire in four years of competition.