On their home course at Grouville, the Royal defeated Guernsey Juniors by five-and-a-half points to one-and-a-half to qualify for the Hampshire quarter-finals – to be played at home on a date to be arranged before the end of August against Hartney Wintney or South Winchester.
Royal Jersey secretary Darren Attwood said: ‘We’re delighted to have reached the quarter-finals again, it was a good win but the final scoreline does not fairly reflect the closeness of the match.
‘We had the first two points in the bag early with Christy McLaughlin and Alex Guelpa both recording big wins and they were excellent results too as both gave away eight shots on the three-quarters of handicap format.
‘We were down in the next three matches around the 13th and 14th holes; this is where most of the shots are conceded so it was good to turn two of their matches around from there.
‘Stephen Rafferty was two-down with two to play and despite getting level he was eventually beaten on the second extra hole.
‘Robbie Messervy was one-down at 14 but he won his match after winning the next three holes.
Richard Williamson, who was conceding five shots, won 16 and 17 to get ahead before sharing the last to win one-up.
‘James Birch, who conceded seven shots, finished all square while Matthew Vincent was steady throughout and despite giving five shots he got through to win 2 and 1.’ The Royal, Hampshire champions in 2005 and in 1983, had nothing but praise for their opponents yesterday.
Attwood added: ‘Guernsey’s Juniors gave us a run for our money in many of the games and I believe they have a couple of guys with real potential to go on and become very good players.
‘Guernsey Juniors are a Club within themselves, they are affiliated to the English Golf Union and Hampshire which is why they are eligible to play in this competition.
‘It’s a great experience for them playing at this level and doing so will can only help enhance their individual performances.’
