Article by Andre Austin:
REUBEN MAHY TROPHY & CINCINATTI CUP - FANTASTIC END OF SEASON COMPETITION AS RAY LOWE ORDER OF MERIT CHAMPIONS ARE CROWNED
We had the biggest field of the season for the Reuben Mahy Trophy and Cincinatti Cup on Sunday with 31 players competing, testament to the strength of junior golf in Guernsey. This included 13 players in the blue tee category featuring a number of players on debut. Evan Le Huray, Anna and Lucy Tee, Edward Morgan and Jake Ward all played competive golf for the first time. It was by the far the biggest field we’ve seen in the blue category and credit to the work of the professionals around the island, parents and volunteers and the work of the Guernsey Sports Commission and Ray Lowe Sporting Foundation in funding the golf in schools programme introducing a whole new generation to the game.
In the Reuben Mahy Trophy there was all to play for with a number of white tee players in contention to win the Ray Lowe order of merit. Thomas Chamberlain has enjoyed another excellent season but he’s also faced some tough challenges along the way that have tested his character and resilience. Buoyed by an excellent showing at the Hampshire Championships, he produced one of his best performances of the season to win the Reuben Mahy Trophy and in doing so leapfrog the competition to win the order of merit. His round of 88 gross for 34 points included a birdie at the third. Thomas was the nearly man last season and it was great to see his talent, hard work and great play rewarded this year. Many congratulations to a worthy champion.
Runner up on the day and in the order of merit was Jayden Tucknott, another fine display in what has been a quite remarkable season. Next season can’t come soon enough for one of the brightest talents in Guernsey golf.
In the red tee Cincinatti Cup the scoring was quite remarkable with no less than 8 of the 10 players beating their handicap. Ollie Farmer was the winner with one of the rounds of the season firing a brilliant 79 gross for 46 points which included birdies at the 1st and 9th as he was out in 39. It was a milestone for Ollie breaking 80 for the first time. He is a superb ball striker and a wonderful talent and will be a player to watch next season as he moves on to the white tees.
Runner up with 44 was Gus Carre. Gus has put a huge amount of work into his golf this season and this was a phenomenal round which included 12 pars, 8 of which were on the back nine. Gus won twice this season a fantastic effort and will take plenty of confidence into next year.
The winner of the red tee order of merit for 2023 was Josh Neville. He had an outstanding season winning five times and was also runner up five times. He played golf of the very highest quality along the way and will no doubt be a formidable challenger next year. In the meantime many congratulations to him on a quite brilliant season.
Runner up in the red tee order of merit was Ollie Farmer who made it close in the end with his superb victory on Sunday.
In the blue tee category Evan Le Huray had a debut to remember scoring 31 points, a quite astonishing display. Evan is a graduate of the golf in schools programme and is coached by our team at the Royal Guernsey Golf School and Golf Shop. We look forward to seeing more of this talented young player in the future.
Runner up also on debut was Edward Morgan with a super round of golf scoring 28 points matched by another debutant Lucy Tee who had a day to remember. Eleven of the thirteen players beat their handicap.
Luke Adcock was the runaway winner of the inaugural blue tee order of merit winning four times. Big hitting Luke has had a summer to be proud of and will be one to watch in the red tee category which promises to be fiercely competitive next year.
Runner up was Mary-Ann Waterton who has been an absolute stalwart of blue tee junior golf this year. She has put in some wonderful displays particularly early on in the summer and always with a smile on her face, congratulations to her on a great season.
After the competition the players were hosted in the clubhouse and thank you to our catering team for looking after everyone. MC Mick Marley did a great job and was joined by Karen New and Jenny Nicolle from the Ray Lowe Sporting Foundation to present the prizes. The contribution to junior golf from the foundation over the last few years has been simply outstanding. It has enabled a whole new generation of players to be introduced to our great game, helped more advanced players develop their games both on an off island as well as providing a season long competition that would be the envy of any junior county in the UK. We can’t thank them enough and particularly Geoff Troop who steps down at the end of this year but has created a legacy in junior golf in Guernsey that he and the foundation can be immensely proud of. He will be sorely missed.
Congratulations
to all the players, competitors, professionals, our fantastic Director of Golf Mr Lindsay Boyd and management team, parents, volunteers, and sponsors who made this a season to remember. We look forward to seeing everyone at our presentation evening on 17th November.
