In his first Men’s Island Championship final in blustery conditions, Lewis Marley, who does not turn 20 until next month, was simply sensational on Sunday morning as he covered 18 holes of L’Ancresse in four under par with six birdies to lay the foundation for his maiden Guernsey title.
His opponent, two-time winner Tom Le Huray, who carded an approximate 70 for his first round, summed it up perfectly at the midway point of their 36-hole final.
‘Had you offered me level par on the first tee, I would have taken it without doubt. But if you told me I would be four down, I’d be like, “What?!”,’ Le Huray said.
After completing his 4 & 3 win in the afternoon, Marley himself could not quite comprehend what he had managed to achieve.
‘It’s unbelievable really. I went into the week with no real expectations, I actually was nervous about going out first round to be completely honest, so it’s surreal to be honest,’ he said, almost in a state of shock.
He added that the nerves were jangling for his first shot of the match.
‘I wasn’t too, too bad until I stepped over that first tee shot – I didn’t really like that one – but, yeah, best-ever round this morning, so it’s about as good as I could have hoped really.’
That opening tee shot led to a birdie as he settled down immediately to play some outstanding golf that did not allow Le Huray a glimmer of a chance. No-one in Guernsey golf, though, would have lived with Marley in form like that, even with the wind ramping up a couple of notches through the day.
So what did the new champion consider to be the key to his success?
‘Iron play, really, and I putted really, really well this morning and didn’t really miss any short ones. I only missed a couple this afternoon,’ Marley said.
‘The wind was blowing in completely the opposite direction to the rest of the week, so it was really difficult out there, but yeah, I just putted really, really well.’
Despite his admitted concerns about going out in the first round, Marley’s recent form had been trending in the right direction and he never trailed throughout the week with his solid iron play being the strength to his game. Combine that with a red-hot putter and you have something close to an unbeatable combination.
‘I had a bit of a bad spell a little while ago, and then it all just fell into place really this week.
‘My game was good, but it was sort of iron-play was good or putting was good, and it never really fell into the same place, but this week was really good.’
Another positive is that he knows a reputable engraver who is bound to spell his name correctly on the Bachmann Trophy. It is a good job that he is putting that bit of business his dad’s way, because Mick’s words of wisdom played their part in this success too.
‘He just said that 36 holes is a very, very long battle,’ Lewis said of his dad’s advice.
‘And then my mum very kindly said to me that Dad was 4 up through 18 once and it got back to square, so I didn’t really need to hear that,’ he added with a laugh.
‘But he really helps me and keeps me level-headed.’
Read more in Tuesday’s Guernsey Press.
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