Griggs and Aitchison claim their first senior titles
Two players who have already achieved so much in Guernsey golf were crowned senior island champions for the first time on Sunday – both overcoming local legends in high-quality finals.
Arguably the big story of the championships was the return of Bobby Eggo, reaching the men’s final just 10 weeks after major heart surgery, but in a repeat of last year’s showdown, Daniel Griggs got his revenge to claim the title, while Di Aitchison was in excellent form to overcome the challenge of Veronica Bougourd.
Griggs had progressed to the knockout stages as the top seed having led the way in the 36-hole strokeplay qualifier and he defeated Adie Relph 4 & 2 in the first semi-final.
The second semi-final saw Eggo pitted against Nigel Vaudin and the former came out on top 3 & 2.
Initial signs in the final were ominous for Griggs as Eggo, having found the middle of the first fairway with his drive, knocked his wedge approach to within 3ft for a ‘gimme’ birdie to take an early advantage.
However, the lead did not last long as par was good enough for Griggs to win the second and he never trailed from that point as he produced some very solid golf, covering the front nine in one-under par.
The next three holes were all halved in pars but after Eggo got into trouble on the par-five sixth, Griggs edged ahead through a concession.
He doubled advantage thanks to a four on the ninth and another par on the 10th put him 3 up.
He continued to hold Eggo at arm’s length with three more halves and then there were further, understandable signs of his opponent’s rustiness on the long 14th where Eggo made a bogey despite having lipped out with his chip for birdie.
But his competitor’s instinct kicked in as they turned for home and he managed to prolong the match for a couple more holes.
With 15 playing into the wind, Eggo made an unconventional par by twice hitting his driver – once off the tee then again off the deck for his second – before a chip and a putt were enough to win the hole.
He then made a terrific birdie on the 16th and thoughts of a trademark 3-3-2 finish were alive when he hit a fine second into the 17th.
However, Griggs remained calm and coolly made his par to heap the pressure back on his opponent and when Eggo’s putt for a three drifted past the hole, the Royal Guernsey first-teamer was announced as the winner.
The women’s championship had already seen plenty of drama at the semi-final stage with Bougourd’s clash with Di Stenner suspended on Saturday afternoon by a thunderstorm.
Top seed Aitchison had already booked her place in the final thanks to a comfortable 6 & 5 victory over Dee Relph in their last-four encounter, but the other pair had to return early on Sunday to decide who would meet her.
Stenner held a slender one-hole advantage at that stage and doubled it on the 15th after the restart.
However, Bougourd fought back to win two of the final three holes to take the match down the 19th where she clinched her final spot.
There was never more than a couple of holes in it for 13 holes, but Aitchison never trailed and she held a narrow one-hole advantage at the turn having played the front nine in an impressive 39 gross.
She doubled her lead with a four at the tough 11th and after a couple of halves, the duo exchanged holes at 14 and 15 before Aitchison sealed the title with a well-constructed par at the 16th – her approach finding the heart of the green and her subsequent birdie attempt lagged up to hole-side with Bougourd still having a lengthy par.
When that failed to drop, the two embraced with Aitchison humble in victory and Bougourd gallant in defeat.
n Daniel Griggs will face Jeremy Phillips in the CI senior men’s final on Sunday at L’Ancresse while Di Aitchison meets Brona Lambert in the women’s final.
