The Isle of Man’s men’s golf team played in the prestigious Northern Counties competition last week.
The six-man Manx team in action at Ulverston Golf Club was made up of Daryl Callister, Mark Sutton, Joe Raeside, Chris Kneen, Liam Cowin and Jamie Arneil.
As always in the ‘Big 6’ the island team were up against stiff competition from the likes of Yorkshire, Lancashire and home county Cumbria.
In windy conditions the islanders battled hard but finished in bottom spot, 15 shots shy of sixth-place Durham.
This may seem a lot but every shot of the 12 rounds counted for the team. Just over one shot a round per player would have been enough for the side to avoid the wooden spoon.
There were some good individual performances from Callister, who finished tied-18th with rounds of 70 and 77, Kneen, 73 76 (t26th), and Sutton 78, 75 (t34th).
Cumbria managed to win the ‘Big 6’ although not without drama of the highest order.
Last man in Will Coxon was aware of a one-shot lead playing the last and still decided driver going for the green was the best option.
As it sailed over the clubhouse and out of bounds he must have felt his heart sink only to find out it landed on the roof of the clubhouse, then the bonnet of the captain's car and came back in bounds 430 yards from the tee.
This left him with a simple par from the putting green to win by a single shot over Lancashire.