Blondel and de Carteret reap rewards of lesson

A MIDWEEK lesson and good teamwork saw Martyn Blondel and Lyndon de Carteret lift the Royal Bank of Scotland International Challenge Trophy at L'Ancresse on Saturday. After playing so badly the week before, Blondel decided to arrange a lesson with club professional Chris Douglas before taking part in the annual open foursomes.

It paid off handsomely as he and his partner worked well together to register 40 Stableford points and pick up the first prize.

'I'd been playing like a novice at the weekend so I had a lesson with Chris and he put me right,' said Blondel.

'He was fantastic and things came together on the day. It wasn't just down to me but my partner as well.

'It was a joint effort. We just went out to enjoy it.

'We wanted to win it but you don't expect to win. We both played quite well and we scored on every hole and that always helps.'

The pair teed off at 12.12 and expected their score to be bettered as the day wore on.

'We were surprised no one beat us because the weather was good and the wind dropped in the afternoon,' said Blondel.

Bels footballer de Carteret agreed with his partner.

'We played well as a team,' said the 41-year-old.

'We only dropped seven shots on the whole of the 18. We know each other's game fairly well and everything just came right on the day.

'It was steady, not spectacular, we just kept plodding along and it worked really well.'

The duo earned themselves a 19in. flat screen television for their efforts. They also won some prize money that they donated to the junior club.

Both of their sons are members of the junior club and it was junior player Jamie Le Page who came second with his dad Gary. They came 11th last year with a score of 36.

However, this time around the 13-year-old La Mare de Carteret schoolboy and his father were only one point behind the champions.

'We were gutted,' said Le Page senior.

'We didn't score on the ninth because of my bad tee shot so the nipper is gutted. He played fantastically, he really did.

'He carried me, to be honest, as he always does. We were standing on the 14th after I had missed a two-foot putt and he said that we weren't going to win a prize.

'I said don't give up and on the last four holes we got par, par, birdie, par. We did particularly well.'

Last year's champions Scott Ingrouille and Laurence Graham did not fare so well. They came home with 26 points and well down the pecking order.

David Rowlinson and Nigel Vaudin shot the best scratch score.

The two island players, playing out of the Royal, rose from their golfing winter hibernation to record their first respective success of the season. Their 73 gross amounted to 33 points.

This year's women's prize went to La Grande Mare duo Wendy Meerveld and Lynn Coutanche. They scored 34 points.

There were four nearest-the-pin prizes, with the pick of the bunch being Mike Hockey and Paul Redhead's effort. Their ball stopped just 20 inches from the flag.

n THE annual encounter between La Grande Mare ladies and their Alderney counterparts, resulted in a 3-2 win for La Grande Mare on a sunny Alderney course.

The match looked in danger of being a non starter when fog settled over the northern isle for several hours, but the team eventually made it and the friendly rivalry commenced.

The visitors were very happy to return to Guernsey, just ahead of the fog, with the plate.