So the eclectic system meant the overnight leader shirt went to the Man of the Moment and unknown quantity Willy "Shades" Clarke, who looked very cool the entire round but insisted he was suffering from hay fever. Later that night this developed into a nasty case of somatosensory apnoeic dysfunction (very bad snoring - Ed.)

Eventually we upped sticks to descend on Powfoot, a glorious links course in immaculate condition and providing just the right setting for the final round of this fascinating tournament. Powfoot, as many will know was host to the 1998 British Senior Ladies Open and the 2002 BP Scottish Girls Amateur Matchplay. An obvious choice for the standard of golf usually displayed by the Dudley Open challengers. It's a bump and run course, and with the wind blowing off the Irish Sea and the Solway Firth, the golfing prowess of even the best of the Dudley boys was severely tested. The first three on the tee managed to duff their drives, setting the tone, it would seem, for everyone else to follow.

The going was rather slow, especially when the rain set in halfway through. Fortunately it only lasted an hour and eventually all but one Diddy managed to put together a score, although the bad weather spell meant they were generally well down on the previous day, with veteran campaigners Wilson and Smith still steady at 29 points, and High doing too little too late with 26 level with Clarke. But Sparks again showed his new dazzling new form, coming in with an impressive 34 points to put the icing on the cake of a very successful tournament.