JERSEY’S golfers have taken a commanding 2-0 lead in this year’s inter-insular series after the Island’s senior and junior sides tasted victory at La Moye over the weekend.
The seniors produced a dominant display to defeat Guernsey 11-4, before the juniors followed suit with a 9.5-5.5 victory in a contest that was considerably closer than the final scoreline suggests.
For Jersey Golf president Juanita Adlington, the weekend was about much more than simply getting two wins on the board.
“It went really well,” she said. “It was quite close at stages. It was like nip and tuck.”
That was particularly true in the junior competition.
Jersey led 3.5-1.5 after Saturday’s fourballs, but Guernsey came flying out of the blocks in Sunday’s singles, winning three of the first four matches.
Suddenly, what had looked like a healthy Jersey advantage was looking rather less comfortable.
The hosts, however, responded in style, winning five of the final six singles to secure the 9.5-5.5 victory.
“It was a decent win for Jersey,” said Adlington, “but actually, at one stage, it could have gone either way.
“If you were in attendance, it was like, ‘Oh, this is tight. Where are we going to find our points?’
Among the standout contests was Jersey’s Jacob Townsend against Guernsey’s Ollie Farmer, with Farmer eventually claiming a 2&1 victory.
Adlington was full of praise for both players, describing the standard as “off the charts” and highlighting Farmer’s status as Sussex County junior champion.
Townsend had been five down at one stage, but fought back to keep the match alive until the closing holes.
It was another indication of the increasingly high standard of junior golf across the Channel Islands – something Adlington believes can only be a good thing.
“Some of those juniors are amazing,” she said. “The standard between the two islands is just going to get better and better for juniors, which is what you want to see.” And there is plenty of reason for Jersey to be optimistic about the future.
The island’s entire junior team is aged 15 or 16, meaning they have potentially another couple of years to compete at Under-18 level.
“The best thing about our junior team is that they are all 15, 16, so we’ve got them for another couple of years,” said Adlington.
The seniors, meanwhile, were considerably more convincing. Jersey took a 3.5-1.5 lead from Saturday’s fourballs and then dominated Sunday’s singles, winning seven of the ten matches to complete an 11-4 victory.
Adlington believes the island’s slightly younger senior side is currently giving Jersey an edge, although she expects the balance of power to shift again in time.
“Seniors are still very strong,” she said. “We’ve got a slightly younger senior team than they have, and I think that just shows we’re still a bit ahead of them at the minute. “But they are gaining more points every year, and it’s all cyclical.”
The results were made all the more satisfying given the chaos which threatened to derail the weekend before it had even begun.
Friday’s travel disruption left committees scrambling after flights were cancelled, with the entire event briefly in danger of being called off.
Guernsey players eventually travelled on a later flight than was originally arranged, allowing the original schedule to be restored.
For those organising the event, it was a stressful few hours.
“We got it played,” said Adlington. “And once the golf got under way, the weekend delivered exactly the sort of atmosphere the Inter-Insular is supposed to create. It was competitive, but it was fair,” said Adlington.
“And it was really good. There were a lot of spectators out, which was really pleasing.”
That atmosphere, coupled with the quality of golf on show, left Jersey Golf with plenty to celebrate.
The island now holds two wins from the four-match series, with the Men’s and Women’s Inter-Insulars still to come at L’Ancresse Links in Guernsey.
That will present a different challenge, with Jersey surrendering home advantage and travelling to Guernsey for the final two contests.
But Adlington is not hiding her ambitions: “I’m always hoping for the quick clean sweep every year,” she said.
