Men's golf champs tee off this weekend

Douglas the venue for competition

The Grant Thornton Isle of Man Men's Close Amateur Golf Championship swings into action at a seriously well-manicured Douglas Golf Club on Saturday.

Gerald Bradley of Castletown GC will have the honour of striking the first shot of the qualifying stages of this year’s Championship at 7.30am. 

Qualifying day is back to the traditional 36 holes of stroke play golf in the one day.

The top 16 combined gross scoring golfers then go forward to matchplay rounds on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, with the final taking place in the form of 36 holes of matchplay on Sunday, 14 July. 

What might be the qualifying score on the day?

Well, the Willy Kirk stroke play competition, the month preceding the Island championship is a benchmark for the magic number.

One hundred and forty-eight stood as the score last month for the top sixteen, this was in blustery conditions, so with different weather on the day this could change significantly.

The host club, Douglas GC, will be naturally delighted with a home-grown winner and there are certainly a good number in contention this week. 

Past Island champions Kevin Moore and Peter Glover will be keen to add to their championship total, the latter will certainly be looking to set the record straight after being beaten in a play-off for the title last month