The qualifying stages of the Okell’s-sponsored 2025 Isle of Man Golf Championships gets underway Comis Mount Murray this weekend.

The men’s event tees off at 8am on Saturday morning, before the women get underway at 2pm on Sunday.

A field of 71 men will be teeing it up looking to make the last 16 for the match play stages, with Mount Murray’s very own Robert Noon hoping to win four titles in a row to match Julian Sutton’s achievement from 1982 to 1985.

The most important thing early on is to make the last 16 and Noon is expected to achieve this along with Daryl Callister (Castletown), Chris Kneen (Castletown), Liam Cowin (Castletown), Mark Sutton (Rowany), James Arneil (Castletown), Andrew Challenor (Castletown), Peter Glover (Douglas), Julian Sutton (Mount Murray), Joe Raeside (Mount Murray), Paul McMullan (Peel), Kevin Moore (Douglas), Neil Caine (Mount Murray), Gez Bradley (Castletown), Freddie Dancox (Ramsey), Marcus Avery (Mount Murray) and Rocco Spencer (Mount Murray).

A lot of players are capable of qualifying but you have to string together two good rounds and, while the weather forecast is good and the course is in great condition, qualifying is a marathon and not a sprint.

Therefore, the players that manage their expectations and keep a clear head will be the ones that excel.

Sunday sees 20 women teeing it up over 18 holes, with the top eight progressing to the match play stages.

Last year’s champion Emma Noon will be favourite to qualify along with previous champions Kayleigh Dawson (Peel), Shirley Price (Port St Mary) and Breeshey Jansen (Douglas).

Recent 72-hole Strokeplay Championship winner Sarah Blackman (Castletown) and Karen Faragher (Port St Mary) are also all tipped to progress, but with a lot of players with a similar handicap it will be interesting to see who does make it through.

For livescoring on the day go to https://www.isleofmangolf.im/website/go.php?id=47

ANDREW HORNE