Teenage pairs lead the way in Elite Foursomes qualifier
Talented teenagers took top billing yesterday in the Guernsey Press Elite Men’s Foursomes qualifier.
At the head of affairs in the 18-hole Stableford which decided the 16 pairings who progress to this week’s knockout stages were the defending champions, Rory and Conor McKenna, who issued a statement of intent that they are not about to give up their title easily.
The brothers eased through as top seeds with an impressive 35 points on a bright and breezy morning at L’Ancresse, showing the sort of form that suggests they will take a lot of beating in a head-to-head contest.
They were solid throughout the qualifier with the only blot on their front nine being a bogey at the eighth to go with eight pars.
They had seven pars after the turn, with a birdie arriving downwind at the long 14th while the only dropped shot on the back nine came on 17. They will face Ollie Chedhomme and Joe Marshall this evening.
The McKennas’ qualifying score was matched by junior combination Tanner Austin and Alex Mills, who demonstrated their continuing progress with some quality ballstriking in the tricky conditions.
They accumulated 18 points on the front nine, which included back-to-back birdies on the fifth and sixth, before coming home with 17 as a birdie on the 14th was followed by their only ‘blob’ of the round.
They will face Island regulars Danny Bisson and Tom Pattimore in the first round of the knockout today after the L’Ancresse duo recovered from a front nine that yielded only nine points to scrape through.
Third seeds are the powerhouse pairing of Danny Blondel and Tom Le Huray, while the top four qualifiers were completed by last year’s runners-up Steve Mahy and Jamie Blondel.
Guernsey Press Elite Men’s Foursomes Championship
Knockout draw
First round (today from 3.45pm)
Top half
C McKenna, R McKenna (p) v O Chedhomme, J Marshall; R Mills, A Chamberlain v J Nicolle, D Robinson; J Tucknott, J Savident v W Anees, C Walker; D Carre, W Davidson v J Blondel, S Mahy.
Bottom half
D Blondel, T Le Huray v L Marley, N Davy; H Brown (p), R Casey (p) v W Harwood, T Halden; J Troop, B Hibbins v D Griggs, H Bushby; D Bisson, T Pattimore v A Mills, T Austin.
