DEFENDING Men’s Island Champion Sam Quail has set the early pace as the Men’s Island Championship at La Moye Golf Club.
However, an ultra-competitive qualifying leaderboard suggests plenty of drama still lies ahead before Sunday’s match-play finals are decided.
Quail opened on Thursday with a superb four-under-par 68 despite mixing three bogeys into his round.
With sunshine and a testing breeze throughout the opening day, scoring remained impressively low, with seven players returning rounds of level par or better to leave the race for the top 16 places finely balanced heading into the second and final qualifying round.
At the close of play, the provisional cut sat at three-over-par 75, leaving little margin for error as players battle for a place in the knockout stages.
Alongside Quail, a number of fresh faces featured prominently on the leaderboard. Chris Thomas and Will Wycherley both made strong starts, while Karl Fitzpatrick recovered well from double bogeys at the 16th and 18th to post a respectable 74.
Several established names have work to do if they are to extend their championship challenge.
Charlie Kiberd and Richard Ramskill both signed for 76, leaving themselves just outside the projected qualifying places, while Junior Island Champion Jacob Townsend faces an uphill battle after an opening 77 and will need a low round on Saturday to book his place in the last 16 before defending his junior title next weekend.
In the senior championship, defending champion Jeremy Phillips remains well placed despite opening with a 75. He sits second in the senior qualifying standings behind Simon Allchin, but will also need another solid round if he is to progress in the main championship.
With qualifying concluding on Saturday and the match-play finals scheduled for Sunday afternoon, everything remains to play for at La Moye.
On Wednesday, Melissa McMahon (right) qualified in top spot one stroke ahead of teen star Anabelle Lucas-Villar.
Lucas-Villar went out in the earlier tee times and shot an impressive 4-under-par 70, a strong marker to seal the top seed heading into the matchplay.
However, in the last group out, former Dorset Champion and the current Channel Island Ladies champion McMahon showed her form by posting a round of 69, with seven birdies and one double bogey.
Iman Hamid-Wilkinson sits in third spot, closely followed by Gloria Paradiso and Andrea Cunningham who are currently tied – but they remain well off the pace a full 16 and 17 strokes off the pace respectively.
It’s looking like a two-horse race heading into the final between McMahon , 1-handicapper of Lyme Regis and Lucas-Villar, Royal Jersey Golf Club’s scratch star.
