Early starts finally begin to pay off for Geoff

GEOFF INGROUILLE, winner of the HSBC La Grande Mare Open, has made regular sacrifices to drop his handicap that most would not entertain . . . i.e. losing sleep. It's not through worrying that Royal Guernsey member Ingrouille is going short on rest, it's a deliberate plan to get better by playing when most people are tucked up in bed and still dreaming of a good round of golf.

'It's the only way to get better,' said the fourth and last of the Ingrouille brothers to take up the sport seriously.

'I get up at 5.30 nearly every day in the week and play 10 or 12 holes,' said the new 15-handicap who set the La Grande Mare course alight with a superb net 57 to finish one shot ahead of another Royal Guernsey member, Chris Warr, whose consolation was a new amateur course record of 64 and the scratch prize.

It's been a good summer's golf for Ingrouille and his wife, Sally.

Geoff won the Bucktrout Cup at his home club and, only last week, Sally won a women's competition.

But it was not so long ago that Geoff was worried that his game was going to pieces.

'Three months ago I was shanking everything and almost gave up.'

But a visit to professional coach Eddie Cooper put him right and from a 20.2 handicap at the start of the season, he now finds himself playing off 15 after the La Grande Mare Open success.

His 57 was all the more remarkable because it included an eight on the par three sixth.

Twice he went into the water and the disaster went some way to ruining an otherwise good front nine.

But it was on the back nine that Ingrouille went to town.

He covered it in 34 shots - just two over gross and seven under net - to steal the title.

'I must admit seven under on the back nine is a bit outrageous,' said Ingrouille, who admitted to feeling very nervous on the final two holes.

But, to his credit, he finished par-par to stay ahead of Warr, who had his own reason to celebrate.

Former LGM member Warr, the younger brother of island star David, enjoys his visits to the west-coast parkland course.

'I save my best performances for down there,' said the former LGM club champion.

Six-handicap Warr, whose 64 gross beat the previous course best 65 jointly held by Mark Kynes and Paul Crump, revealed his overall game has suffered this year but it seems to have lifted by a week playing championship courses in Scotland.

Warr did not bother to take his woods out for the La Grande Mare Open, instead relying on the irons which had served him so well during four days of golf in Scotland.

'I played my irons really well,' said Warr, who nevertheless described his win as a 'bolt out of the blue'.

Out in 33 (one over gross) he birdied the par-three 10th and thereafter parred each hole to return in 31 and finish level par.

While Warr does not expect his new course record to last long, he was right to point out that despite its short length, nobody has yet torn the course apart.

Island star Mick Marley will vouch for its trickiness having shot a 13-over 77 on a rare outing to the course.

Although well below his best, Marley said the course is tougher than it was, particularly the front nine.

'It's a lot tougher. They've lenghthened a couple of the par threes and the par four over the shed where I got into trouble.'

Playing partner Nigel Le Noury warned him that against the wind it was not a good idea to attempt to take the short route over the shed to the right of the fairway.

Marley ignored the advice and duly went out of bounds and took seven on the 415-yard fourth.

Le Noury took the second scratch prize with his 67 gross.