FORMER Island golf championship finalist Steve Bowen has been appointed Island team captain.

The 41-year-old, who replaces fellow Royal Jersey member Terry Smith, has been unanimously accepted to the post by the full Council of the Jersey Golf Union.

Bowen played and captained Royal Jersey to the Hampshire 7-a-side title in 2005 and then captained his club’s Alexander Forbes Channel Islands League success last year.

Bowen, a director of J P Morgan Trust (Jersey), said: ‘I’m delighted to have been asked and look forward to the opportunity.

I’ll look to carry on the good work Terry Smith has done and I believe I was asked because of the success I have had with Royal Jersey in the past two years.

‘Jersey are currently on a roll against Guernsey and we have a good strength in depth of golfers in the Island at present.

There is also a good pipeline of young players coming through and I see no reason why we can’t continue the trend.

‘Saying that, this year’s inter-insular is in Guernsey and it is always very tough to get a result there.’ Bowen, who was defeated in the Island final on the last hole at La Moye in 1995 by Chris Chevalier, will retain the services of selectors Richard Ramskill and Paul Le Chevalier.

The new team captain’s immediate goal will be to help select a Channel Islands team, along with Guernsey’s Steve Turvey, to host a full Hampshire county side at Royal Jersey on 21 and 22 April.

This is a new fixture and now a regular event.

It will be played in rotation, Jersey, Hampshire, Guernsey and Hampshire then back to Jersey again.

The Hampshire match has been awarded to the CI in place of Hampshire’s regular seasonal opener against Beds, Berks and Oxfordshire.

It will provide Hampshire with stiff opposition which highlights the high regard CI golf is held in by the Hampshire Golf Union.

Bowen added: ‘This match is absolutely fantastic for the players and it will be a real challenge.

Hampshire is a very strong County and we need to make sure we give them a tough match and I see no reason why we can not do that.

‘It is an early season fixture and a big chance for our golfers to make a name for themselves too and maybe lead to Hampshire selection for them in future matches.’ JGU secretary Bob White said: ‘We are delighted Steve has accepted the position; he was in the frame as a result of his excellent record captaining Royal Jersey.

‘Our committee of 13 felt he was perfect for the job as he is level-headed and he has been around the local scene for a long time now.

‘Terry Smith felt it was time to step down, he has done four years winning the last three.

Terry was excellent for us and he put a lot of time into the position.

‘He was extremely experienced and seemed to pull the right strings the majority of the time and we thank him for his service.’ Hampshire will return to Royal Jersey again on 5 and 6 May for a full county match against Dorset.