Local golf news...

Team Malta retained "the Sword" by scoring a resounding victory over The Rest in the 32nd edition of this keenly contested annual tournament.

The overall score now stands at 15-14 for Malta with three matches halved. However, The Rest will get another bite at the cherry later this year because the match just played was the 2004 edition; postponed from last November because of the laying of new greens. The 2005 clash will take place in the autumn.

As the names imply, the Malta team is made up of Maltese nationals while The Rest are representatives of the expatriate golfing community resident on the island. The sides are made up of 12 players each, with eight earning their place through an order of merit system linked to the club's competitions and the remaining four being given a wild card based on current form.

On paper this year's teams seemed fairly well balanced and it would have been difficult to pick a clear favourite. What tipped the balance was the superb effort put in by Malta's non-playing captain, William Beck.

Beck organised pre-match team meetings and made sure his team were highly motivated on the day. Much appreciated was his production of a pin placement schedule that helped his team members plan their crucial shots to the greens. His presence on the course was invaluable to the team, helping them to win by 34 points to 15; probably the highest winning margin in the tournament's recent history.

The Malta team was made up of Nick Urpani, Nick Laferla, Louis Sansone, Steve Jones, Alfred Zammit, Natal Azzopardi, Kim Borg, Nick Borg, Peter Satariano, Nick Beck, Alex Mangion and Roman Vella.

Round-up

With four rounds now played, the Captains' League has not yet produced a team that is clear favourite to win this year's competition.

There are seven teams in the league, six of which are led by past captains of the RMGC and the seventh by current captain Tom Davies.

The league evolves over seven Stableford rounds with the best five individual scores in each round counting towards the team's aggregate score. The best aggregate of five rounds out of seven determines the winning team.

Current positions: William Beck - 714 points, Tom Davies - 704, John Lewis - 682, David Ellis - 681, Kim Borg - 677, Tony Bonello - 676, Paul Stoner - 652.

Top scorers: Alan Beere - 147, Nick Laferla - 145, and Alfred Zammit - 146.

The knock-outs have now reached the quarter-final stage and all matches have to be played by May 8.

This year, the Creasy Cup will provide some very interesting matches between the last eight contenders. Ken Waddington plays Tom Davies while Benji Mangion meets Nigel Hall. Stefan Borg Manduca is pitched against last year's winner Nick Laferla, and the last pair is made up of Victor Satariano and Simon Micallef Stafrace.

The Order of Merit is headed by Alex Mangion with 59 points, closely followed by Nick Laferla with 57. Ken Waddington occupies third position with 50 points. Order of Merit placing determines the automatic choice of players for the Malta vs The Rest match.

In the Eclectic, evergreen Alfred Zammit has an '11 under par' 57, with Paul Stoner, Ken Waddington and Nick Laferla close behind on 60. Laferla seems to have a finger in every pie this year, a reflection of his excellent form.

Coming up

May is championship month for the Royal Malta Golf Club.

The ladies section is scheduled to play its championship over two rounds on the 19th and 20th. The men follow with the three-round Red Bull Club Championship on the 27th, 28th and 29th.

The Red Bull Championship is open to all players with a handicap of 18 and under but is played off scratch. The obvious favourites are those players who play off a single figure handicap, among whom is current champion Paul Stoner.

However, there is no clear favourite and any one of perhaps ten players is in with a chance. Included in anyone's list of top contenders would be the names of Lou Collins, Nick Laferla, Ken Waddington, Kim Borg, Peter Satariano, Paul Stoner, Freddie Zammit and Nick Borg.

But golf is a funny game and one would not be surprised to see the likes of Nick Urpani or Nick Beck turning it on for the occasion.

Charity match

The Lions Club Sliema Charity Stableford was played on the last day of March and, apart from coming in with some good scores, participants donated Lm280 in aid of the Creche Sisters in Guardamangia. The best score was returned by the indomitable Milly Hampson.

What golfers do

There is no end to what golfers do to cut their handicap. One Scottish gentleman by the name of Neil McLelland went a bit further than most by spending more than £50,000 on buying more than 3,000 clubs over 15 years in a bid to cut his 19 handicap.

Most of the equipment had only been used once when it went under the auctioneer's hammer following Mr McLelland's demise in January. He was still playing off 19!