Vaudin within one good drive of new record 63

THE big prizes went the way of Bobby Eggo and young Jack Mitchell, but it was the round of Nigel Vaudin which attracted the most attention on the final day of the island's top strokeplay event. Vaudin returned a four-under- par 66 gross which, wait for it, included a treble-bogey seven at the ninth hole.

Replace that seven with a par four and the course record was his.

Yet Vaudin was still chuffed to bits with his best round of golf for some time.

'It was nice to do it when not playing too much,' he said later.

The former island champion returns to one-handicap status after Friday's round and was happy to collect fourth prize in the Credit Suisse scratch standings, 14 shots behind the winner Eggo.

'To shoot two 78s and still win a prize can't be bad,' laughed the big man, who outlined what went wrong with potentially the best round of his life and one that threatened to surpass the 65 he shot a few years ago.

'I just hit it up the left with a draw and found the bushes. I couldn't find it and then missed a six-footer for a six.'

Even so he was out in 33 (two under) and he was to match that over the back nine.

All told, he birdied eight holes as he kept Eggo company in a birdie blitz.

Both men shot birdies at the opening hole and Eggo reached the turn in 32 with two birdies and an eagle at the sixth achieved via a drive, two-iron and 20ft putt.

The island's lowest handicap could not quite maintain the form over the back nine, bogeying 11, 12 and 15 and picking up birdies at 14 and 17 for a comfortable six-shot win from his younger brother, Andy.

Eggo junior produced his own two-under 68 on the final day when conditions were vastly improved from days one and three.

Mitchell, meanwhile, shot a 74 gross for third place in the scratch standings and outright victory in the handicap competition for the U. V. Trophy.

Having been in contention all week, there were signs of Mitchell's youthful wheels falling off as he hit the turn in 40, five over.

But, and in a nudge to the island selectors that here is a boy with the talent and nerve to play against Jersey, he shook off the nerves to cover the inward half in a one-under 34.

Mitchell later admitted that for the first time he had felt 'a bit of pressure'.

And that's what he did, especially on the back nine which had been his strength throughout the event.

The final round 34 made him four-under for the back nine over the course of the week and with a 54-hole net total of 210 he had not only won the U. V. but also dropped to one-handicap status for the first time.

L?Ancresse's Bob Ozanne emerged as his nearest challenger after a closing 67 lifted him to within three of Mitchell and one ahead of Andy Eggo and Greg Riou.

Aside from Vaudin, the round of the day came from junior Craig Shorto, a Year

9 pupil at St Sampson's Secondary which must now boast the best collection of schoolboy golfers in Guernsey, surely a first for it.

Shorto shot a net 63 off his 13 handicap and had Henry Davey to see him home.

'He played very well,' said Davey, who was on for a good round himself until he took 10 at the last.

Shorto said: 'My short game was good,' highlighting a fine birdie putt at the 15th where he rolled in his third shot from the fringe.

A gross 76 represented his best round by four shots and saw his handicap clipped to 11 as he nears his season target of reaching single figures.