HOST club members turned their course knowledge to advantage by taking the first three places when Herefordshire County Men's Golf Championships were held at the Ravens Causeway, Wormsley.

Defending champion Jonathan Devereux took the coveted title again when he held off the challenge of his Herefordshire GC clubmates Elliot Shaw and Neil Greening.

A fine afternoon round of 69 sealed the title for Devereux after he had trailed his rivals by two shots from the morning 18 holes.

Both Shaw and Greening scored 72s in the morning, but then Shaw followed up with a 73 and Greening a 74 as the champion produced his best form for a two-round 143 - the same score with which he won at Burghill Valley last year.

The Herefordshire GC trio, not surprisingly, won the team championship.

The Eddie Evans Cup for the best nett 36 holes was closely contested with junior players taking the top places and the winner decided on a countback.

Host club member James Cooke pipped Burghill Valley's Elliot Buck after they both finished on nett 136s, while another Herefordshire GC player, Richard Negus, was third on 140.

RESULTS Scratch Cup (36 holes gross): 1 Jonathan Devereux (Herefordshire GC) 74 + 69 - 143, 2 Elliot Shaw (Here-fordshire GC) 72 + 73 - 145, 3 Neil Greening (Hereford-shire GC) 72 + 74 - 146.

Eddie Evans Cup (36 holes nett): 1 James Cooke (Herefordshire GC) 78-6-72 + 70-6-64 = 136, 2 Elliot Buck (Burghill Valley) 82-12-70 + 78-12-64 = 136, 3 Richard Negus (Hereford-shire GC) 83-10-73 + 77-10-67 = 140.

Best gross (18 holes) morning: Colin Gladwyn (Bel-mont) 75; afternoon: Kevin Gibbons (Herefordshire GC) 69.

Best nett (18 holes) morning: Ben Fisher (Burghill Valley) 78-9-69; afternoon: Robin Eckley (Herefordshire GC) 74-3-71.

Team championship: 1 Jonathan Devereux, Neil Greening and Elliot Shaw (Herefordshire GC) 434, 2 John McQuillam, Keith Irwin and James Cooke (Hereford-shire GC) 476.

The Herefordshire County Ladies' Championship will be played at South Here-fordshire GC on Saturday.