Robson lands title, youngsters show their mettle

The Club Championship, spread over a period of three days, started in near perfect conditions at the Marsa course last Friday.

The competition, sponsored by Barclays Wealth, is open to all members who hold a handicap of 18 and under, with 54 entrants playing off scratch.

The Centenary Plate, which is open to all members not taking part in the championship, is played concurrently and had 21 participants.

Steve Jones and his crew ensured that the golf course was in excellent condition.

At the start of play, the main contenders for the championship were Warren Alcock, Tony Vella (the current holder) and Peter Satariano. However, a host of promising players were also hopeful of making their mark, thus increasing interest in the race for the title.

Day One saw J.J. Micallef (a 15-year-old junior member) come to the fore, with a score of 72, closely followed by Nicholas Beck (another junior) with 73.

The favourites' hopes of challenging for top spot faded after the first day as Alcock trailed in fourth, Satariano sixth and Vella 11th.

The weather changed for the worse on Day Two but this did not deter Micallef who scored another 71 with Charles Robson coming up from fourth to second with 70. Micallef remained as the overall leader with an aggregate score of 143 against Robson's 144.

On the third and final day, the pressure of being in the lead caught up with Micallef as he shot 77, his worst score for the three days. He finished with a 220.

For his part, Robson kept up his momentum with a score of 69 which gave him a winning aggregate of 213 and the title as club champion for 2007.

Youth efforts

In a statement, the Royal Malta Golf Club (RMGC) congratulated Robson for his success and noted with great satisfaction that their efforts to encourage youngsters to take up the game are paying off.

"Sixth and seventh places in the Club Championship were claimed by Chris Bergedahl and Beck, both junior members, thus putting paid to the misconception that golf is an old man's game," the RMGC said.

The RMGC thanked all the members who took a very active part in the organisation of this championship as well as sponsors Barclays Wealth and Nigel Stibbs in particular, for their continued support of the game of golf in Malta.