Conditions were superb for the junior club championships today and the golf was of the very highest quality.
Four girls contested the junior girls championship with Jennie Ballay making a welcome return and Ellie Blondel competing in the event for the first time. The quality of the golf was outstanding with Chloe Domaille enjoying a great battle with friend and rival Chloe Gaudion. There was just one shot in it at the turn with Chloe Gaudion out in 39 with six pars and Chloe Domaille out in 40 making a great birdie at the 9th to close the gap. It was on the back nine where Chloe Domaille really stepped up her game. A birdie at 13 was followed by a birdie at the 16th and a par at the 18th meant she was home in 37 for a brilliant 77 gross which meant victory in the scratch competition and overall. After a tough weekend at the inter insular last week Chloe bounced back in style today and showed the quality golfer that she is - many congratulations on a much deserved win. Chloe Gaudion too had much to be proud of, another round under 80 and a great fight back after a poor start to the back nine she came roaring back and was two under for the last four holes.
A special mention too to Ellie and Jennie. Ellie beat her handicap for the third round in a row in junior competition and had the second best nett score of the day with 39 points edging out Jennie on countback. Jennie had a sensational start and was three under gross after six holes. She added a further birdie at the 10th and finished up shooting 84 gross a fine effort after time away from competitive golf.
In the 36 hole boys competition Conor Mckenna won his first junior club championship with two magnificent rounds of golf. Conor has been in scintillating form in recent weeks and had an outstanding junior inter insular. In the first round he reached a major milestone breaking 70 for the first time in competition at L’ancresse with a superb 69 gross which featured birdies at the 6th and 17th. He backed it up in the afternoon with a wonderful level par round of 70 for a two round total of 139, one under par. Conor was out in 34 in the morning and did the same in the afternoon. Without question he is one of the finest putters in Island golf but his ball striking today was truly exceptional too. It was a popular and richly deserved win and highlighted what many of us have known for a long time, when he is playing at this level he is in the very top tier of golfers on Guernsey.
Runner up was Ollie Chedhomme who can count himself very unlucky to shoot level par over 36 holes which included seven birdies and come away empty handed. His consolation was a fine 69 in the afternoon and he is in great form ahead of the men’s inter insular.
Conor’s brilliant display was also good enough to top the nett leaderboard just ahead of Noah Davy. Noah shot a fine 77 gross in the morning to equal his best score to date. He was out in 36 with a birdie at the 8th and showed great resilience to come back after a quadruple at the 11th making an excellent birdie at the 16th. Single figures beckons for this fast improving player and he is very much one to watch next season.
Third in the nett competition was young Ollie Farmer making his debut in white tee competition. Ollie has been working incredibly hard ahead of the competition and after a shaky start hitting his first tee shot into the gorse, he then proceeded to hole out from 56 yards to make a great five and steady the ship. A round of 92 gross was more than respectable for the morning. However in the afternoon he showed all the skills that make him such an exciting prospect. He fired a brilliant 84 gross (nett 66) featuring a front nine of 40 which included a birdie at the 8th - a superb effort.
We’ve enjoyed some quite amazing days of junior golf this season but for sheer quality this was right up there. Well done to the winners and everyone who took part today and with plenty of junior golf still left this season it definitely isn’t over yet.
