HORWICH members took full advantage of home turf when they swept the board to win three major prizes at the BGA Higher Handicap competition on Saturday.

Kevin Barker and Eric Wilding finished first and second with equal nett score of 63, and club-mate Alan Whittle was just one shot behind in third. Last year’s winner George Johnson, of Great Lever, took the gross prize with an excellent round of 68.

Meanwhile, BGA League A dark horses Horwich stormed to the top of the table with a resounding 7-1 victory over Hindley Hall in week eight.

Joint second Harwood enjoyed a narrow 3.5-4.5 win at Deane. Out-of-sorts Bolton lost their fourth match in a row at Chorley, who stay joint second with a comfortable 6-2 win. But the league is still wide open with only seven points separating the top four clubs with five matches left.

In League B, struggling Dunscar chose to field a number of their top juniors, but it was to no avail as they were narrowly beaten at home 3.5-4.5 by title favourites Old Links. Regent Park, spurred on by their recent successes, took no prisoners when they crushed Great Lever 6.5-1.5 and now have a good chance of qualifying for the play-offs.

Despite a 5-3 victory over rivals Breightmet, Turton remain bottom, while Breightmet’s play-off hopes are still within grasp.

BGA HIGHER HANDICAP Results M Gallimore (Bt) 89-20-69; S Gill (Ho) 88-19-69; E Leece (RPk) 90-22-68; S Forster (Tu) 86-18-68; L Preston (Ho) 87-19-68; G Johnson (GtL) 83-15-68 (best gross); P Bowsher (GtL) 88-21-67; Les Blackshaw (Ho) 84-18-66; Steve Settle (Wh) 86-20-66; Joe Walters (Ho) 87-21-66; Alan Whittle (Ho) 81-17-64 (3rd); Eric Wilding (Ho) 87-24-63 (2nd); Kevin Barker (Ho) 79-16-63 (1st).

BGA LEAGUE RESULTS League A: Chorley 6 Bolton 2; Horwich 7 Hindley H 1; Deane 3.5 Harwood 4.5.

League B: Dunscar 3.5 Old Links 4.5; Regent Pk 6.5 Gt Lever 1.5; Turton 5 Breightmet 3.