Lucas wins by KO

DARKNESS was fast descending when St Pierre Park GC vice-captain Martin Lucas took a bogey four at the 18th and last hole to win the most extraordinary golf tournament the island has seen this or any year. One by one 19 St Pierre Park members crashed out of the Captain's Kings competition, an idea club captain Tony Hall brought back with him from his second home in Florida.

All 19 played the first hole and with each one played another competitor bowed out.

Seeing 19 players cramped around the first green needed to be seen to be believed and it was former St Martin's Priaulx League footballer Paul Bourgaize who was first to go in the most cruel circumstances.

His iron into the first cannoned into a spectator and rebounded out of bounds.

Playing three off the tee he forced a chip-off, the formula used to eliminate tied players, only to proceed to lose it.

He didn't seem to be too bothered though and like every other expelled golfer hung around to the end, which came more than four hours' later.

Keith Ogier, who had survived the first chip-off of the night, lasted five holes before losing out to Ian Carre and Wayne Green in another.

'It's really good fun. Socially, it brings everybody together and nobody is treating it that seriously,' comments which flew in the face of some of the concentrated faces this correspondernt witnessed.

Hall was delighted with the outcome.

'I live in Florida half the time and it was there I got the idea. I took it to the committee, they liked the idea and I bought a trophy.

'The winner gets the bragging rights of also having a King of Diamonds motif sewn onto their driver headcover.'

Hall explained there had been quite a battle just to get to the final.

In the end it came down to Lucas v. Carre on the 18th.

Ten handicap Carre, who had worried about his future in the competition as early as the fifth green, put his tee-shot straight through the green and into the lake. Lucas could afford a bogey and still win.

'We are very pleased,' said organiser Ken Tucknott.

'There are one or two things we would improve but everybody stayed to the end. It's been highly successful.'