Isle of Man golfers competed in Northern Counties qualifying at Hallamshire Golf Club near Sheffield last weekend.

The event featured the top six golfers from Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria, Northumberland, Cheshire, Durham and the Isle of Man in a 36-hole stroke play event, with all scores to count for each county.

Hallamshire is a par-71 layout with a tough starting stretch with the first four holes played into the prevailing wind - a start of two over par for this stretch is considered good golf.

First out for the island was Daryl Callister who at level-par after 14 holes had hoped to finish better than 73.

Liam Cowin has played lots of good golf this year and the morning round was no exception. He was two over par after three holes and one over after nine, but played the best golf of the event over the back nine holes to finish three under par which was good enough for a tie for third individually after all morning rounds were completed.

Peter Glover recovered from being one over to a highly-creditable round of level-par 71.

Star of the recent island golf championship qualifying was Conor Cain who, during his first representative outing in the event at the age of 17, could have been overawed by the event and the tough start to the golf course but he kept his head and battled hard to record a round of 78.

Island champion Robert Noon is one of the Isle of Man’s most consistent performers with plenty of experience of UK competition and he produced a steady round on 73, including an eagle three on the par-five 14th. A good return after being three over par after the first hole of the day.

Paul Lowey produced a solid performance full of grit and determination to record a round of 72.

After the completion of the morning rounds, the Isle of Man finished with a total of 436 to be tied for third going into the afternoon play.

The second round proved more energy-sapping and good scores were harder to attain for the Isle of Man team.

The island golfers play less elite 36-hole events than the players from the other counties who are better equipped to deal with the physical and mental pressures required to play a difficult course over an extended period, and this is reflected in the scores.

Best rounds in the afternoon were from Cowin and Callister who both returned 75, closely followed by Noon on 76 and Lowey with 78.

Both Glover and Cain suffered on the back 18 but fought hard to keep their scores as low as possible for the team. The latter landed an eagle on the 14th and will have gained valuable experience competing in this event for the first time.

The Isle of Man ended the day in seventh place, only six shots behind Cheshire in sixth which is a creditable performance.

The players now look forward to 2023 when the event will be held at Comis Mount Murray, with the Isle of Man having home course advantage and preparation will begin shortly.

Hopefully the Manx golfing fraternity will turn out in force to add to the home advantage.

Thanks go to David Kinrade as team manager and Vicky Noon who represented Isle of Man Golf on the more formal side of the event.