The quarter-finals of the Okell’s-sponsored Isle of Man Men’s Golf Championships took place at Mount Murray Golf Club on Thursday evening.
The weather was dry but the temperature was very low for this time of year.
In the first match out, it was first-time qualifier Scott Donald (Castletown against former champion and recent WA Kirkpatrick Trophy winner Peter Glover (Douglas).
The game was close but, with Glover also being a member of Mount Murray, he utilised his local knowledge to win by 3 and 1.
The second match was the battle of the Castletown Scratch League members, with PJ Vermeulen against Liam Cowin. The latter started well, with Vermeulen not recovering so Cowin ran out an easy winner by 6 and 4.
In the battle of the cousins, it was defending champion Robert Noon who putted the best in a high-quality game against Chris Kneen, with Noon winning 4 and 3.
The last game of the night was between Mark Sutton (Rowany) and Joe Raeside (Mount Murray) and this was the closest of all, with Sutton going to the last hole 1 up and teeing off first.
He hit a glorious iron to 14 feet right of the flag, only for Raeside to hit it just outside him left of the flag to 14 feet.
Raeside’s putt just missed on the low side so Sutton had two putts for the win and he managed to roll the ball up to the hole to win 1 up and progress to the last four.
SEMI-FINALS
The semi-finals of both the men’s and women’s championships take place this evening (Friday), starting at 5pm off the 12th hole.
First off is Rowany lady captain Diane Neale against her good friend Shirley Price (Port St Mary). Both are steely competitors and, while Price as a former island champion is favourite, this will not be a one-sided affair as Neale is a good match play - this may go to the 18th to find a winner.
Second off at 5.10pm is Emma Noon (Mount Murray) against defending champion Kayleigh Dawson. They stand on different sides of the ball, with Noon being left-handed. This is not the first time they have met in the match play stages and Noon will be hoping to reverse the trend and win on her home course.
At 5.30pm is Liam Cowin against Mark Sutton. At this stage matches are too close to call but neither give the opponent much so it may well take birdies or eagles to win holes,
Last off at 5.40pm is a repeat of last year’s semi-final at Ramsey, with Robert Noon taking on Peter Glover.
Both are very good players with a sound short game and again it could come down to who holes out the best.
For scoring from the course, go to https://www.isleofmangolf.im/website/go.php?id=47&page=7