THE Worcestershire’s men have lifted the prestigious Droitwich Shield.

Two Worcestershire scratch competition finals were hosted by the Malvern Wells club.

Having beaten Worcester Golf and Country Club in the semi-finals, the hosts’ ‘A’ squad of six players beat Moseley ‘A’ 2-1 in the County Scratch Foursomes Knockout for the shield.

Team captain Peter Lupino and Dave Marshall recorded a sound 2&1 victory over Moseley’s Paul Garey and Dan Downs.

Tom Howells and Jamie Dunster came up short but club stalwart Phil Shurmer and county player Steven Lane battled hard against Moseley’s own county regulars in captain Chris Heeley and Richard Sadler.

The Worcestershire two secured the win thanks to a fine birdie three on the 18th green by Shurmer.

Moseley were also represented in the over 55s final of the county scratch foursomes and beat Fulford Heath 2-1 to lift the Kidderminster Cup.

The games were tight with the first two matches halved before Moseley captain Keith Holmes and Noel Green secured victory with the last putt on the 18th green.

Players and county officials appreciated the efforts of new The Worcestershire head greenkeeper Steve Lloyd and his team.

They also thanked competition organiser Dave McDermott and rules officials Tony Edwards, who refereed the Droitwich Shield final, and Di Wilde, who covered the Kidderminster Cup.

Meanwhile, the start of a new playing season saw The Worcestershire secure a 3½-2½ victory in the opening match of the ‘A’ Team League at Droitwich.

The annual league, also involving Kidderminster, Sapey, Evesham and Worcester Golf and Country Club, is played on a home and away basis. Games are for six pairs in better-ball matches for those with handicaps of 12 and below.

Howells (handicap 2) and Brian Kendal (12) won by 3&2, Andy Fleming (11) and Andy McCabe (5) by 3&2 and Mark Read (4) and Josh Marshall (9) by one-up on the 18th.

There was a halved match for debutant Bill Thomas (11) and Phil Birch (5).

Last season’s top pairing Dave Marshall (scratch) and Steve Carter (12) just came up short, losing on the 17th.

Lane (+2) and Paul Wakely (11) eventually lost 2&1 after a tough battle.

In the ladies’ competition for the Russell Bogey, long-standing member Joan Haworth scored +2 against the card to lift the trophy, closely followed by Jan Kirkland in second and the third-placed Di Meakin on +1.

Joan Herbert, Wilde and Jen Bishop were the best of the rest on -1.

The nine-hole stableford competition was won by Pauline Taylor with 19 points from Kate Cross on 17.

The first of the veterans’ mid-week competitions saw a resounding win for Division Two’s Ken Willett (handicap 21) with 38 stableford points ahead of Frank Turner (20) on 36.

Gary Eames (13) won Division One with 31 from James Ferguson (16) on 30.