Aylward breaks 60 with the round of his life

IN A field boasting 150 competitors, Brian Aylward played the round of his life to win the Royal Guernsey Golf Club's Alec Rose Bowl. Playing off his 13 handicap Aylward produced a virtual trouble-free round of 72 gross, with his only birdies coming on the eighth and 13th greens.

With still 12 shots remaining on his handicap, Aylward didn't buckle under pressure and only dropped a single shot at the tricky 15th hole before completing a further three pars to go with the other nine he had amassed over his round.

Aylward's par putt at the last gave him a landmark round of a net 59 and with it a significant reduction in handicap.

Julian Woodhard wouldn't have been too disappointed with his runner-up spot as he managed to birdie four of the closing six holes toward the day's lowest gross round of 67, three under par, which was converted into a net 63.

In all the former island player birdied all bar one of the par three holes and where the few shots were dropped, they understandably were at the more difficult holes.

Competition debutant James Adcock has swapped football boots for golf shoes and he took his new handicap of 17 out on the L'Ancresse links and duly carded a steady round of net 64, a winning tally on many other occasions.

Three-putting the last would have made little difference come the prizegiving, given Aylward's outstanding effort.

The top junior was young Emile Thompson (7 handicap) whose lessons with resident professional Chris Douglas seem to be paying dividends.

His gross 74, net 66, was a comfortable five shots clear of nearest rival, the in-form Jack Mitchell, who only the week before carded a notable gross 70 to head a strong Royal Guernsey men's field.

Mitchell is now of category one status and the island's lowest handicapped junior golfer.

n*PAT McKEARY'S third career hole-in-one, but first ever competitive ace, was not quite enough to get him among the top prizes at the annual Bank of Butterfield event at L'Ancresse.

Those honours went to eventual winner David Rowlinson and the Eggo brothers, Andy and Bobby.

Nonetheless McKeary's wedge at the 150-yard last hole was a masterful shot to witness. Playing partner Chris Dyer said the ball landed in the hole without even touching the sides.

McKeary was delighted with his achievement even if it did mean having to buy a full clubhouse the customary round of drinks.

'My wedge shot didn't damage the whole or green. At first I thought it had missed the lot and had gone through the back,' said McKeary.

The Bank of Butterfield, staged over 36 holes on the one day, is dubbed the first major of the year and a field of 84 enjoyed a L'Ancresse links course boasting improved greens and notably lush fairways.

Rowlinson, a recent winner of the Butterfield Salver (scratch) managed to post two solid rounds of golf off his two handicap to take the Brymay Cup with a combined total of net 136.

That four-under-par score was just enough to pip L'Ancresse rivals Andy Eggo and George Le Ray to the prestigious title.

For Rowlinson his weekend form will hopefully be a springboard to once again securing an island cap later this year, but one name on the team sheet already will be that of Bobby Eggo, who once again outclassed all around him to take the Salver.

He got off to the most concrete of starts, matching the card to par for his first nine holes.

Come the back nine he turned on the heat by carding back-to-back birdies at the 10th and 11th and again at the 16th and 17th for a gross four-under par round of 66.

In the afternoon he followed it up with a superb 68 and all told Eggo only dropped one shot over the 36 holes.

In terms of handicap Andy Eggo is closer to his elder brother than anyone else in the island at present, but still has a lot to find if he is to emulate Bobby's feats.

But he played exceptionally well too, despite getting off to a rocky start at the beginning of each round.

He bogeyed the first hole on both occasions on his way to rounds of 71 and 68.

His net tally of 137 was just one shot away from overall victory which went to Rowlinson, courtesy of a fine second-round 68 which converted into a net 66 to go with his earlier level par round of 70.

After the first round Rowlinson found himself four shots off the pace, which had been set by 10 handicapper Le Ray.

But Le Ray slipped slightly in the afternoon to finish one shot off the pace.

He will curse the three dropped shots over two of his closing holes,but courtesy of some consistent play beforehand he still ended up in the top three places.

A further shot adrift were fellow L'Ancresse members Mick Hamon (4 handicap) and Steve Mahy (1).