Peter Glover triumphed in the WA Kirkpatrick Trophy which was held at Mount Murray Golf Club last weekend. 

A lot of people thought that Father Time was catching up with Glover, with his handicap increasing and often been seen cutting a frustrated figure on the golf course now that he is nearing the age of becoming a senior golfer. 

But those thoughts were proved wrong in style over the weekend in Santon. 

Glover rolled back the years and played like when he was crowned island champion in 2014, carding scores of 72 and 70 to finish the competition on 142 which equates to level par.

This gave him the win by three shots to clinch the WA Kirkpatrick Trophy. 

Runner-up was Joe Raeside of the host club with rounds of 73 and 72 for a total score of 145.  

It is pleasing to see Raeside fulfilling his promise which saw him taking a golf-related degree a few years ago before returning to the island and starting work.  

He has been a reserve for the island team in the Northern Counties in the past and it is good to see him reducing his handicap and moving back towards the top of island golf. 

In third and missing out on the runner-up spot was Daryl Callister of Castletown. He is consistently in contention and will be one of the favourites to become island golf champion again this year.  

Current island champion Robert Noon was fourth and will be hoping to retain his title for the third year in a row when he has home course advantage when the championships take place at Mount Murray. 

While a great competition in its own right, the WA Kirkpatrick is always considered a warm-up for Isle of Man Golf Championship qualifying day where the top 16 qualify for the match play stages. 

Had it been last weekend then a score of 153 would have been needed to make the cut – let’s see whether this is a good guide for the championship which starts on Saturday, July 6. 

In the nett competition Glover was also the winner from Raeside, with Stuart Wallace of Mount Murray finishing third. 

Isle of Man Golf would like to thank Mount Murray Golf Club for making the facilities available for the competition. 

A special thanks to Gary Corlett and his greenkeeping staff that set up the course with greens that would not be out of place on the world professional tours. 

At the presentation, WA Kirkpatrick’s nephew Simon Kirkpatrick stated that Willy would have been made up to see the island top players still playing for a trophy in his name. 

ANDREW HORNE