Royals out to retain the crown

The second instalment of the Island Team Scratch League gets under way this evening with a repeat of the 2017 final as the inaugural winners, the Rocque Balan Royals from the Royal Guernsey Golf Club, play host to the boys from down the west coast, the La Grande Mare Douit Dodgers.

Introduced 12 months ago to give the island’s top players more matchplay competition played off scratch in a team environment with a fresh and innovative points-scoring system designed to maintain focus and intensity, it quickly turned from an event seen by some as a bit of evening fun to a trophy all three clubs wanted to win.

‘I feel it took a bit of time to get warmed up, but the way La Grande Mare – perceived as an underdog – started made the RGGC and LGC soon realise they had their work cut out to make the final and, sure enough, LGM rightfully made the final,’ said Guernsey men’s team captain Danny Vennard, one of the driving forces behind the Scratch League.

‘There were a few sceptic views on it, but they soon agreed it was a great event.’

He added that the benefits of the inaugural Scratch League could be seen on the Sunday morning of the subsequent Inter-Insular when Guernsey won seven of the 10 singles rubbers to salvage a remarkable 10-10 draw with Jersey.

‘Last year, the island team very nearly pulled of a miracle in the singles, not sure why but I’m sure the scratch league had some impact on the Sunday,’ Vennard said.

‘It gives the players much more experience of playing scratch matchplay, which is limited without.’

Following Vennard’s introduction of the Jam Golf Order of Merit from which the top six players will gain automatic selection for this year’s Inter-Insular, the Scratch League will be of huge importance to the Guernsey captain when it comes to his four other picks to evaluate how players are performing in match-play scenarios.

‘The Order of Merit will see six players automatically get in the team with four picks. The scratch league will have its play in the selection of the four picks, with individual performances and possible pairings for the inter-insular.’

The Royals against the Douit Dodgers starts at 5.30pm today at L’Ancresse.

ISLAND TEAM SCRATCH LEAGUE FORMAT

Three clubs (La Grande Mare, L’Ancresse, Royal Guernsey) with six-man teams playing home and away. A match comprises four rubbers – two foursomes and two singles

Points available per rubber:

4 for a win

2 for a half

1 additional point for winning inside 15 holes

1 additional point for a losing player reaching the 18th

Nearest the pin bonus points: One par 3 on both front & back nines

Therefore a team could finish a match with a maximum of 28 points (Win all four rubbers with a winning bonus point plus all NTP bonuses. In other words, one rubber can earn a maximum of 7 points for one team)

Fixtures

Today – Royals v. LGM Douit Dodgers at L’Ancresse; 2 July – Martellos v. Royals at L’Ancresse; 16 July – Martellos v. Douit Dodgers at L’Ancresse; 23 July – Douit Dodgers v. Royals at La Grande Mare; 30 July – Royals v. Martellos at L’Ancresse; 6 August – Douit Dodgers v. Martellos at La Grande Mare.

Final – 20 August (hosted by club who finish top of the table).