IN appalling conditions at La Moye Golf Club on Sunday Richard Ramskill won the HSBC Private Bank Jersey Amateur Championship by 5&3 against another former title holder, Gavin O’Neill.
For Ramskill, who last won the title in 2002, the conditions ‘made a difference’, for in treacherous wind and rain he played an immaculate short game which he later explained: ‘It means you either win, or at least share the hole.’ He had to come from behind to win, however, as on the second hole in a tense final O’Neill took the lead by holing a 15-foot putt to go one up.
In such conditions a birdie 4 was a tremendous achievement, but the two players, seeded one and two after the preliminary rounds, were all square again at the fourth when O’Neill made a bogey 5 to lose his lead.
At the sixth it was Ramskill’s turn to make a birdie 4 to go one up, and when O’Neill three-putted at the seventh the La Moye member was two holes up.
O’Neill cut the deficit yet again by winning the eighth with a par 4 which Ramskill could not match, having found trouble from the tee.
However, Ramskill returned to two up at the turn by winning the ninth with a par, having played the front nine in a level-par score of 36.
On the tenth Ramskill hit a superb shot into the green when his ball finished adjacent to the hole.
Although O’Neill also hit a good shot, it was short of the pin and then rolled away from the flag, leaving a difficult uphill putt which meant that for the last eight holes, Ramskill was already three holes to the good.
‘I think the hole I won it on was the 13th,’ said Ramskill.
‘I knew that if I allowed Gavin back into the game he would pick up momentum and I couldn’t allow him to win even a single hole if I could help it.
‘We both played iron shots into the green and I was left with a 35-foot putt, while he had one of something like 25 feet to play.
I rolled mine in and Gavin missed, which meant I was four up for the first time.’ The two players - good friends - shared the 14th hole before they missed the fairway with their tee shots at the 15th, where Ramskill found his ball in the rough, unlike O’Neill, who had to play again from the tee.
With both players then finding the green, Ramskill was left with the luxury of knowing he had two putts to become champion again, and when O’Neill missed his putt he conceded the title to Ramskill.
Article posted on 29th May, 2007 - 12.00am
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