Deeley reigns supreme in the Channel Islands

La Moye’s PGA Head Professional Mike Deeley (above) overcame some of the strongest winds witnessed in a professional tournament to win the 2014 Voisin & Volaw PGA Channel Islands Challenge.

La Moye’s PGA Head Professional Mike Deeley overcame some of the strongest winds witnessed in a professional tournament to win the 2014 Voisin & Volaw PGA Channel Islands Challenge.

Deeley shot a total of eight-over-par 148 over two rounds at Les Mielles GC, but the first round, when Hurricane Gonzalo’s aftermath blew through was the one that called for a cool head and a lot of patience.

Taking home the first prize of £600, Deeley edged out Jack Quilligan (World of Golf) who shot 149 for the £400 second prize, with former winner Wayne Stephens (Les Mielles) in third spot.

Deeley was full of praise for Alex Mollin, the Les Mielles-based PGA Professional and driving force behind the whole event.

“This is all thanks to Alex and to our wonderful sponsors Voisin & Volaw. They’ve both been terrific, creating this unique opportunity for the PGA Professionals on the Channel Islands. We really appreciate what Alex and Voisin & Volaw have achieved.

“I really hope that we can continue to count on their support and input. Playing in tournaments is what we all turned professional for and it’s terrific to be able to do that on our own territory. The alternative means getting on a plane somewhere and that’s a very expensive way to play competitive golf.”

With the first round played as singles, and then the second round as a Pro-Am where the professionals partnered an amateur team, it was the Professionals who had to work out how best to cope with winds that were exceptional, even by Channel Islands standards.

To give a better idea of what that meant out on the course, Deeley described how he played the ‘short’ 180-yard par three eighth hole: “I needed a driver and a seven iron!” he said, “I didn’t quite hit my driver flush, ended up in the semi-rough, and took a full seven iron for the remaining 70 yards!
“It was one of those days when you didn’t know whether to No Return or prepare a winner’s speech when you handed the card in. All I tried to do was to not make a double bogey, and in fact I had just one of those, a couple of birdies downwind, and eight pars – it felt pretty heroic at the time!”

The second round was, according to Deeley, ‘Just a stiff breeze, normal stuff for Jersey’, and with four birdies on the way he went on to finish with a one-over-par 71 for a winning total of 148.  The La Moye man is now looking forward to more events overseas as the winter season beckons.

A day later Matthew Nicolle (Les Mielles) returned the compliment by winning the inaugural Royal Jersey Sprint*** with a cracking round of even par 70, the only player to achieve the par score around the famous links.

Taking the top prize for £400, Nicolle’s nearest rival was Royal Jersey’s own James O’Doherty with a three-over-par 73, closely followed by the trio of the new Voisin & Volaw PGA Channel Islands Challenge champion Deeley, Les Mielle’s Wayne Stephens, and Daniel Scriven all the way from St. George’s Hill GC in Surrey with rounds of 75.