Bichard at her peak in showing Games members the way home

JOAN BICHARD had good reason to enjoy the Royal Guernsey Ladies' Section Centenary Trophy, as she shot one of her lowest-ever rounds to collect the spoils. An eventual three-over-par 75 gross was a superb effort given the fact that none of the Island Games select players came close to matching Bichard's score.

Playing off an 11-handicap Bichard's converted eight-under-par net 64 was two shots better than runner-up Pat Jeffreys (36 handicap), with Betsy Fairclough (25) finishing third overall, a further shot adrift on a net 67.

To cap a fantastic day for the winner, she deposited her tee shot to within 6ft at the last and with that collected the nearest-the-pin prize.

A two-putt at 18 led to another par which was in keeping with the previous five holes and a fine back nine of 38 gross.

Bichard's opening half was pretty much unblemished too, with gross birdies at the fourth, seventh and ninth holes repairing the minor damage caused elsewhere.

A one-over-par gross front nine of 37 was the result.

Bichard could have collected the best scratch prize too; however, not being a greedy woman, the honours went instead to Lady Captain Gill Burford, who played to her handicap with an 81 gross.

Shirley Grove was the other prize winner, taking the nine-hole competition with a level-par 18 Stableford points.

MARTIN LUCAS shot the outstanding round to clinch the L'Ancresse Club's Le Cheminant Cup sponsored by Oracle Financial Services.

Lucas took full advantage of the kind conditions to shoot a fantastic round of 71 gross, which turned into a triumphant seven-under net 63, after his eight handicap status had come into effect.

That handicap has been cut accordingly and Lucas is now perilously close to category-one status.

Having started his round with five straight pars, firefighter Lucas was one of 13 players on the day who found a birdie at the par-five sixth hole.

A dropped shot at the ninth did not unsettle Lucas, coming as it did after his second birdie at the par-four eighth hole and he reached the turn in one-under-par gross 34.

Over the closing half, back-to-back dropped shots at the 14th and 15th holes did not deter Lucas as half of the damage was repaired with a birdie three at the 17th.

A back-nine tally of 37 and an end result of a net 63 meant Lucas headed the field by a shot and collected the generous winner's prize on offer.

Ray Blondel is obviously enjoying football's close season and the 17-handicapper collected second spot with a net 65 despite finishing with a double-bogey five at the last.

However, the Vale Rec manager can be grateful for his steady start of 40 strokes over the front nine which set up the chance to challenge for the lead.

Robbie Shankland (10 handicap) finished with six straight pars for his net 65 which was matched by Stuart Hamon, also a 10 handicap, who birdied the tough ninth and 15th holes.

After revision, the highly-promising junior is now a single-figure handicap for the first time and given his passion for the game, seems certain to remain there for many years to come.

But on a day when the junior representation fared well, it was left to arguably Guernsey's hottest prospect, sixteen-year-old Jack Mitchell (4), to fire the day's lowest scratch round of 68 gross, which consisted of five birdies.

Young Craig Shorto (21) headed seniors Phil Miles and Tim O'Leary on a net 67 to get among the major prizes, while the Thompson brothers, Emile (6) and Ave (14), also shot under par with rounds of 68 and 69 respectively.

FRAN and Ric Leesmith were on hand to sponsor the La Grande Mare Ladies' Section Candie Trophy in which Louise Loveridge (33 handicap) played the best golf to finish seven up on the course in the versus-par format.

Winning five of the opening six holes, which included a remarkable feat of parring the first three short holes, went a long way to Loveridge's success.

Carol Duncan (37) finished her round with two wins and surpassed Pat Russell on countback to claim the runner-up spot, both players ending five up against the challenging course.

Other prize winners consisted of Helen Banks, who got the longest drive at the 18th hole, and Yvonne Zietsman who won the nearest-the-pin honours.