Run of birdies sees Eggo retain club title
DANIEL BISSON had every reason to feel dejected after being pipped for the L'Ancresse club championship title.
Eggo's latest club strokeplay title was his seventh in 10 years and he did it in style.
With Bisson shooting a level-par 70 for a two-round total of 139, one under par, Eggo needed to shoot at least a 68 to secure the title on a last 18 countback.
It was a hard ask and even after walking off the 14th with a birdie the defending champion knew he would need to complete the finishing four-hole stretch in at least two under par.
He was to do better than that with a remarkable 3-3-2 finish for a hat-trick of birdies.
'Into the wind at 16, I had to go for the green. I made the fringe and two-putted for birdie and at 17 I put an iron to 10 feet and made the putt.'
Not that he knew it at the time but a par at the last would have secured him the title, but he made a two nevertheless and with a 67 confirmed his place as the L'Ancresse club's elite player and is now just one more solid round away from joining his older brother Bobby as a plus-handicap golfer.
In the handicap standings, there were some unbelievable second round scores.
Junior golfer Stuart Hamon (6) shot a fabulous second-round 69 (net 63) while Frank Sidgwick (16) made the top 10 overall with an eight-under round of 62 net.
Amazingly, Sidgwick was to be denied the prize for best second-round score.
With a 20-shot improvement on his first round, Nigel Allain (13) shot the year's lowest net round at L'Ancresse with 61, boasting 12 pars and just the one birdie.
But it would be Mick Hamon (3) who reigned supreme over 36 holes to collect the handicap title.
With net rounds of 70 and 66, he pipped Keith Wheeler (6) by a shot.
Alan Mahy, the first-round leader and club president, fell back into seventh place overall, dropping seven shots over the final seven holes.
n?THERE was a three-way tie at the top of the Royal Guernsey leader-board in Gordon Rowlinson's President's Prize competition.
But in the medal format and courtesy of a superior countback score, Andy Blake emerged overall winner off his shot-a-hole handicap.
A four-over-par back nine sealed Blake's win from Les de la Mare (16) who had to settle for the
runner-up spot despite a birdie at the last, and Tony Mahy.
Nigel Vaudin's good form and touch on the greens continued as he holed out for six impressive birdies on his way to the day's best scratch round of 69.
Just for a change, Bobby Eggo was relegated into second place with a one-over 71.
Ray Lowe still showed he has a bit of the vintage touch left him, the former club president breaking the gross-80 barrier for a tidy round of net 68 and sixth place overall.
n?NICKY WALLBRIDGE pipped Bonnie Evans on countback to win La Grande Mare's Bruce Russell Trophy 18-hole Stableford qualifier.
Both amassed 38 points to finish two shots clear of Sarita Visser.
Wallbridge, a 16 handicap, got off to a shaky start with two blanks in the opening four holes.
But having chalked up 17 points by the turn, she finished strongly with 21.
Evans, the former island netballer and footballer, also turned with 17 points and came home in 21, but her finish was inferior to Wallbridge who picked up 10 in the last four holes.