The Junior Academy at the Royal Malta Golf Club in Marsa has just hosted its first international tournament with the participation of young golfers from the United Kingdom, Belgium and Malta.
The local team was made up of Chris Bergedahl (captain), J.J. Micallef, Truman Addison, Danny Holland, Luca Caruana, Bernhard Abele and Thomas Frik.
The official practice round was followed by the Titleist/Cobra longest drive event.
The winner was Sedlescombe Golf Club boy David Wicks whose whopping drive of 275 yards down the middle of the second fairway, just pipped Bergedahl's effort.
The first day of the main competition was played in warm but rather windy conditions. At the half-way stage Matt Greenfield had shot level par and was leading by one shot from Bergedahl and Micallef.
The back nine, however, was to prove more difficult for Greenfield and Bergedahl who shot 76 and 77 respectively. Micallef persevered though to hold a three-shot lead over Addison.
The second day was played in brilliant sunshine. Like any final day of a competition, controlling one's nerves was going to be a major priority for the top three Micallef, Addison and Wicks.
Although Micallef's play was not at the same high level as the previous day, he still carded a respectable 74. Addison shot the best score of the day, a 71. As the last group arrived on the 18th tee, a large gathering of spectators watched the proceedings anxiously.
At this stage, Addison was leading by one shot from Micallef. Both players had well-placed tee shots on the fairway. Addison, however, hit his into the left-hand side bunker and ended up bogeying the hole. Micallef grabbed the opportunity and by making his par ensured that both ended with an identical 142.
A sudden death play-off was necessary to determine a winner. Both contenders parred the 18th hole in the first play-off, birdied it on the second and parred it again on the third attempt.
As light was diminishing rapidly, the tournament committee decided that there would be a fourth and last play-off hole. Both Addison and Micallef narrowly missed their birdie putt and hence the two were declared joint winners.
Wicks, with a total gross score of 146, was the runner-up and the winner (net), with an impressive total of 128, was Sam Burgess on a countback from Tom Richardson. The Best Royal Malta Golf Club player award went to Holland.
The competition ran smoothly also thanks to the contribution of organiser David Debono and his team comprising Matthias Fauser, Anne Thompson, Vanessa Galea, Kim Borg, Andy Holland and Tony Bonello.
The tournament's main sponsors were Malta International Airport and Business Meetings as well as Air Malta, Srixon, Titleist/Cobra and Bortex.