Captain Mahy set for second year in his role

The Royal Guernsey were due to host their big Butterfield Challenge Open Foursomes Stableford this weekend while four of Guernsey’s elite players were scheduled to join forces with a Jersey quartet to take on Hampshire under the Channel Islands banner.

With courses currently closed, those events will not go ahead, but RGGC captain Peter Radford has issued a message to his members saying that the links will be in pristine condition for when golf gets the green light to start again, which he hopes will be relatively soon.

‘I still strongly believe that golf will be one of the first sporting activities to be permitted once lockdown rules start to relax,’ said Radford

‘Suitable representations will be made to the Sports Commission and the States of Guernsey to push for this outcome.

‘Even once play resumes, it is most unlikely that our clubhouse will reopen for quite some time.’

Meanwhile, L’Ancresse Golf Club president Geoff Meagher has revealed that a proposal for captain Alan Mahy and vice-captain Bill Le Huray to serve an additional year in those roles until the end of 2021 will be put forward at the annual meeting later this year.

Mahy, who turns 65 tomorrow, said yesterday that he felt ‘honoured’ by that proposal and joked that he would ‘have something to improve on’ at a second drive-in.

‘This year we have had floods and now the Covid-19 pandemic, so it has not been the best of starts to my captaincy, but the most important thing is that people are healthy.

‘On a personal note, with it being the club’s 125th anniversary, this would have been a very special year and I still want to enjoy my golf as part of that, but only when it is safe to do so.

‘From what [deputies] Gavin St Pier and Heidi Soulsby said [on Wednesday], I am hoping that we might be able to play golf, perhaps in two balls, in a matter of weeks if we are sensible and do not have crowds forming – perhaps some sort of regulated starting times and players continue social distancing – because from both the mental and physical side of things it could be beneficial.’

Part of the 125th anniversary celebrations were tied in with the Open Championship, but with that event at Royal St George’s being cancelled, L’Ancresse could push their own plans back a year.

‘It is a landmark year for the club and we were just getting around to the final details of the 125th plans when the lockdown came. Hopefully we can do something along the same lines next year, although that will be for the committee to decide.

‘As for other competitions, we are very lucky to have good sponsors so we have to be mindful of that.

‘There may be scope to run competitions into October and see what we can fit in, but that is very much down to when we can get going again.

‘Our flagship event is the L’Ancresse Open and this year the team event is due to be on 31 July with the Open on 1 August and the hope in my heart is that we can play the Open. That would be a great fillip for everybody, to get a big event like that on.’