JERSEY’s highest quality golf tournament returns this weekend.
La Moye Golf Club hosts the Island’s most talented male and female golfers in a Strokeplay Championship sponsored by Rosscot Chartered Accountants.
The men’s competition began yesterday afternoon, with a selection of Jersey’s finest ball-strikers taking to the course to win their spot on Saturday.
Thursday and Friday are marked as qualifying rounds, with the top 16 performers earning themselves a shot at glory with the qualifiers playing 36 pressure-filled holes at the scenic La Moye Golf Club.
Of the 57 entrants in the male category, the top 16 gross scores qualify for the final round on Saturday.
James Newton, Jersey Golf’s Competition chair and men’s vice captain, is competing in the highly anticipated event. He is impressed by the quality of golf that will be on show: “It’s a crazy good standard, there is a handicap limit of 12.4 but the cut for this year’s draw was 9.4. The numbers have increased from 45 in 2023 and 42 in 2024.”
The increase in quality and competition promises for a fantastic golfing spectacle.
Newton continued to note that the men’s competition will be hotly contested: “There’s a lot of good players. We’ve got eight previous winners, which makes it super competitive.
“It should be one of the most competitive events that we’ve held in recent times.”
With the players enduring a massive 72 holes in three days, their concentration levels must remain high.
Newton said that the quality of golf usually remained constant, as long as conditions permitted. Golf can be massively affected by weather conditions, and the forecast is ideal for the weekend.
However, that has not been the case in previous outings.
Newton noted: “Some of the past scores have been a little higher than you’d expect, but those conditions were quite difficult.
“Given the forecast that we have for the next few days, I’d expect the scoring to be really quite low.”
Kyle Turmel, Richard Clarke and Luke Sullivan made up the early group, teeing off at 1.50pm yesterday to mark the beginning of this terrific three-day event.
The defending champion, Josh Ozard of Royal Jersey Golf Club, is highlighted as “one-to-watch” for the tournament, leading the men’s order of merit with a handicap of -1.1.
Newton continued: “The amount of entries we’ve had for the elite competitions, where it’s effectively gross scores, the best score is going to win, irrespective of handicaps.”
With handicaps irrelevant in a strokeplay championship, Ozard will prove tough to beat.
However, with 57 single handicappers, the scorecards will no doubt show some top-class scoring.
The likes of Charlie Kiberd, Simon and Oliver Allchin, with a home-field advantage, will look to apply pressure to last year’s champ. The Allchin pair are in red-hot form after their recent foursomes triumph at La Moye.
The women’s championship is played in a slightly different format: the 14 players will simply play 36 holes at La Moye on Saturday.
Anabelle Lucas-Villar is hoping to win her third championship in four years, after taking home two of the previous three.
Lucas-Villar will go into Saturday following a fantastic 2024 winning the two major tournaments, including last year’s strokeplay and island championships.
However, challenges await Lucas-Villar. Melissa McMahon, of Royal Jersey Golf Club, will be entering Saturday with the lowest handicap at -0.8 and could be hot on the heels of the tournament favourite.
La Moye’s Lily Buckley will be keen to boast her knowledge of the course’s twists and turns remaining duly confident.
With the ladies’ competition starting at 9.05am on Saturday it will be an action-packed all-day affair.
Newton is confident it will be an exciting contest: “Anabelle and Melissa from the Royal and Lily playing on her home course, that should make it really quite tight and interesting.”
This weekend’s tournament is made possible by Rosscot Chartered Accountants.
Newton expressed his thanks for their support: “They’ve sponsored the event for a number of years now. Their support is really what helps put these events on and obviously, the same for La Moye allowing us to host it.”
Thursday’s results are as follows:
| Position | Name | Gross Score | Golf Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Charlie Kiberd (0) | 71 | La Moye Golf Club |
| 2nd | Sam Quail (0) | 72 | Royal Jersey Golf Club |
| 3rd | Jacob Townsend (5) | 72 | Royal Jersey Golf Club |
| 4th | Harrison Carlyon (2) | 73 | Royal Jersey Golf Club |
| 5th | Mark Tostevin (4) | 73 | La Moye Golf Club |
| 6th | James Draisey (0) | 73 | Royal Jersey Golf Club |
| 7th | Alex Guelpa (1) | 74 | Royal Jersey Golf Club |
| 8th | Matthew Parkman (1) | 75 | Royal Jersey Golf Club |
| 9th | Andrew Clarke (4) | 76 | La Moye Golf Club |
| 10th | Matt Atkinson-Wood (5) | 77 | La Moye Golf Club |
Charlie Kiberd earns an early advantage with a fantastic gross 71, but the contest remains tight at the top with Sam Quail and Jacob Townsend trailing close by.
A nett 67 from Townsend is an immense return from the Royal member.
Today’s qualifying promises for another exciting affair with plenty of golfers still in contention.
The full table is available at https://www.jerseygolf.org/competition2.php?tab=details&compid=340&div=&sort=2&division=
