The annual three-day major event at the Marsa course, the pinnacle to the Royal Malta Golf Club (RMGC) calendar, saw Malta triumphant in a very close contest against The Rest, last weekend.

This tournament groups together the best 10 players for each team after qualifying through the previous season’s Order of Merit points rankings, similar to the Ryder Cup.

The two team captains can also pick two wild card players to round up the side to 12 golfers.

Friday’s foursomes matchplay saw the scores perfectly matched at six-all, but The Rest edged ahead the following day – 14-10 – after doing better in the Four-Ball Better Ball format.

The singles,on day three, saw Malta produce superb golf, chalking up crucial points in the middle order and eventually emerging winners 27-21.

This was golf played in the true spirit of the game, very competitively with lots of enjoyment – a credit to all involved.

The players who achieved wins in all their three matches over the weekend were Andy Borg and J.J. Micallef, for Malta, and Andy Holland, for The Rest.

Interior design and turnkey specialists, Applesteam Limited, sponsored the tournament. In a short statement, Applesteam director Rik Sharples said the event was a huge success.

“We are very pleased to confirm the sponsorship will now be ongoing in October 2017 and beyond,” he said.

Presentation and lunch, by Saffron Ltd for over 75 members, was held as The Rest and RMGC captain Dave Allsopp passed the coveted Sword to victorious captain Stefan Borg Manduca.