The Isle of Man Bank-sponsored Ladies Golf Championships were held on Monday and Tuesday this week and it ended up being a close finish following a welcome return to competitive golf for Sue Kinrade showing an impressive level of golf after a break and leading the after the first round by one shot from Joy Morris and Linda Postlethwaite.

Heidi Morris was always going to be a threat to Joy Morris, especially with Jane Gaines away in Jersey, but a calamitous 7^th and 8^th and a run of mid-round dropped shots left her 3 shots behind after the first day. Linda Postlethwaite made an early impression in round 1 with a good run of pars from 2^nd through to 5^th which put her in 2^nd place, a shot behind Sue Kinrade.

Day 2 saw the temperature rising and Joy Morris came to the fore. Heidi duplicated her 1^st round score with some good golf and a birdie on the 4^th and 14^th but dropped shots on the closing holes meant she could not make up the pace to catch Sue Kinrade or Joy Morris. With Sue in pole position her experience would be vital and a birdie on t he 4^th was beneficial but what followed was a run of dropped shots which left the door wide open for Joy Morris.  Joy started off reasonably well with some solid pars but a double bogey on the 6^th was damaging and some erratic golf followed as she tried to take the lead – and keep hold of it! A birdie on the 16^th helped. Sue Kinrade finished with 2 pars and was almost back in contention but Joy held her nerve despite dropping a shot on the closing hole to win the Club Championship by 2 shots from Sue Kinrade and with Heidi Morris in 3^rd.

Moyra Atkinson took the best Stableford score prize with 30 points from Gill Cunningham in 2^nd and Hilary Summerscales in 3^rd. Next week is the RNLI Silver Spoons on Tynwald Day.