A DOWNPOUR played its part in Keith Newnham being crowned winner of Colchester Golf Club’s Braiswick Cup.

Newnham's final with ** Wright, the culmination of the summer's knockout matches, was decided on the 17th hole.

After never being far apart through 16 holes. the duo stood on the 17th tee all square.

Wright’s drive was long and down the middle, with Newnham some way behind.

Newnham put his ball on the back of the green but after Wright some way to the right, nature intervened and the heavens opened.

Newnham secured his par but Wright over judged his putt in the deluge of rain.

And with puddles forming on the green he ran his ball by the hole then missed the one back, to find himself one down.

Newnham played safe down the last with Wright chasing.

But a concession gave Newnham victory in an excellent and very tight final.

Mike Sutton and Brendan Booth contested the Victory Cup Final, which also had a turning point.

On the 14th hole, Booth inexplicably had a six, which allowed Sutton to square the match.

With a shot Sutton claimed the 15th followed quickly with a win on the 16th, before a half on the 17th secured him the cup.

Colchester GC's men secured a home victory over Clacton in the annual Matabele Bowl competition between the clubs.

With a final score of six matches to two, the extravagant cup sits comfortably in Colchester’s trophy cabinet once more.

Bridget Whitworth confirmed her recent good form with an excellent 34 from her 16 handicap, in the Bogey Final.

Whitworth’s win was after a countback with Judith Robertson (13), who returned the same score.

Third spot went to Gillian Whittle (31) with 33 points ahead of fourth-placed Ann Spurr (34), who returned 32.

Carla Holroyd (36) won the support Stableford - her 33 points was four points better than Julie Nieuwenhuis (34) and well clear of Nest James’ who had a 28.

Fourth place went to Liz Duthie (22), who returned 22.

Colchester GC's Vets continued their friendlies with a 5½ -2½ victory in their penultimate match against Burnham-on-Crouch.

Colchester GC lost on the fourth extra hole in the Youth Shield Scratch Competition county final against Chelmsford, at Colne Valley GC.

With three of the five matches going into extra holes it was a nail-biting final, with the result on a knife-edge until the very last shot of the day.

Both teams gave their all, with Chelmsford claiming a narrow victory.

Playing in handicap order, Cai James was out first against Arron Edwards-Hill.

James would normally have had four shots from Edwards-Hill but off scratch, it was no surprise that he went down 3&2.

But Dan Nicholls recovered from being one down on the 14th to win on the last hole one up and level the scores.

The next three matches were all halved on the 18th and under the competition rules each game must be finished, so they all went into extra holes.

Harry Hills lost out to a birdie on the first extra hole against Bella Jay but Colchester’s Max Maynard got the better of James Holt, who carved his ball out of bounds on the second extra hole.

Josh Coleman and opponent Nathan Parrish halved the first three extra holes.

But with tension mounting, Parrish slipped through on the fourth extra hole to take the game and the tie for Chelmsford.