The W A Kirkpatrick Matchplay Singles Trophy competition concluded at Castletown Golf Club on Tuesday.

Honorary life member Jack Yardley happily acted as referee for the keenly contested final between TISE senior club champion Sam Skelton and four-times matchplay winner Simon Murray.

They both birdied the 1st, but Skelton was two-up after the first five holes.

Murray then won the next two and turned at one-up by winning the 9th. Murray had covered the front-nine in three over par and Skelton in 41, nett 40.

The 11th was Skelton’s last shot-hole and he obliged with a nett birdie. They were now all-square. Murray bagged a birdie on the 12th whilst Skelton floundered in the fescue, failing to find his ball.

Skelton bounced back with a beautiful birdie on the 13th. Crucially, Murray restored his one-shot lead with a birdie on the 14th.

In the end, that lost ball, and the 14th, proved pivotal as they proceeded to halve their way home.

So, 25 years after his inaugural win, Murray took the title. His lovely, level par back-nine was just enough to thwart Skelton who had also lost when they last met in the final back in 2019.

Yardley commented afterwards that he had witnessed matchplay at its finest, with putts slotted-in from all angles.

He said that he would have welcomed extra holes, and it had nearly happened as Skelton’s final putt shaved the hole but trickled past.

MALCOLM LAMBERT