It was a blustery day at Ladbrook, the course in excellent condition, and good scores were hard to come by - in fact the CSS went up on the day.

Three trophies went to much appreciated golfers. Firstly the Carl Bretherton Salver went to George Tillbrook for his 81. The same score was good enough to give Past President Jim Sinclair the score to take his first Warwickshire title, the Cyril Jewsbury Shield for the best Gross score for a player aged 70 plus.

There was good news for the home club as well, in the form of the Best Nett going to Roger Davies for his 70 which to a chorus of his cheers from his fellow Ladbrook Members means Roger will lose 0.4 off his handicap.

The top three all had a story to tell. In third place, with gross 76 was another Ladbrook member David Middleton.

Middleton plays off 5, his lowest handicap doing a 'Mickleson' by hitting the ball left handed. He says he plays his best golf away from Ladbrook and he is master of everything golf wise as he once played off 8 right handed.

'I am playing my best golf of my life', said Middleton. Unfortunately it was three shots too many on this Championship day.

It was late in the day that the Runner-Up posted his score of 74. John Lawton is part of Warwickshire History. He beat his age back in March, by two shots with a 67. The front nine wasn't kind to Lawton with a 6 at the par four 3rd and turning plus three to par, the title seemed a distant goal. Lawton had other ideas though.

He came back in level par, missing three good birdie opportunities but getting up and down a couple of times, so the 74 was a score Lawton was pleased with -

'My best round of the year', he said afterwards.

'I've been trying too hard' said the eventual Champion Malcolm Shephard, 'I fancied my chances at Walmley - John Madden played really well. Last year at Harborne, Roger Sutherland takes the title - he was an assistant there for 15 years. At Nuneaton everyone said was my chance, but I just tried too hard all day.

Shephard has had a leg injury for the last two years. He aggravated it slipping in a bunker two weeks ago and hasn't played 36 holes since 2003 when he won the Handsworth Club Championship by five shots with a pair of 71s. This year he couldn't make the final 18 of the English Seniors.

'Today my leg was playing up', said Shephard, 'I just decided to just try and get it round.'

Getting it round in 73 wasn't Faldo like par golf with a couple of bogeys. There was a 7 on the par five 7th when Shephard found a bank with his second and nearly hit himself with the ball trying to recover. There was a six on the 1st, the result of being a bit too casual.

The birdies came at two difficult holes and up the 10th, a downwind par four when Shephard hit a sand wedge to six feet.

On the par three 5th, a hole which would cost Middleton, Shephard punched a six iron through the wind to the difficult green. And on the last, a par four where OOB threatens all along the right and immediately behind the green, Shephard hit a 9 iron to 15ft and rolled in the putt.

It was fourth time lucky and the smile said it all.

There was one other competitor to mention, the Warwickshire Union President John Stubbings. John has had a very busy year and been all across the country virtually every week of the Summer. Suffice to say he was 'disappointed' with not quite getting into the 80s!