Qualifying for the Isle of Man Men’s Golf Championship sponsored by Grant Thornton gets underway this weekend at Peel Golf Club.

Players will tackle 36 holes at the western course, with the top 16 qualifying for the match play stages.

The favourite must be past champion at Peel and current Isle of Man Strokeplay Champion Paul Lowey who will be looking to add to his recent WA Kirkpatrick Trophy win over the same course.

Lowey has enjoyed a stellar year so far and it is hard to see him not securing a qualifying spot - being unbeaten in the scratch league, he will be a man to avoid in the match play draw.

Defending champion Kevin Moore will be looking to retain his trophy and, following some good results in the UK this year, he will be confident of defending his title.

Liam Cowin is a great match play specialist and has done well in the UK this year as well, so he will be looking forward to this year’s championship.

Robert Noon should go well too and is another with some good performances in the UK, but he doesn’t have the best record in the match play stages which he will need to address if he is to take the title.

Island squad players will be under pressure to perform with the team captain looking to reduce the size of the squad in 2023, therefore qualification for the last 16 may be a must for them.

Island senior champion Julian Sutton performed well in the WA Kirkpatrick and was delighted to make the last 16 in a play-off last year.

Therefore no-one would be surprised to see him make the top 16, although adding to his eight titles 51 years after his first against the young guns may be a tall order, but never say never.

So let’s have a go at naming the last16 in no particular order: Paul Lowey, Peter Glover, Daryl Callister, Jamie Arneil, Peter Glover, Kevin Moore, Liam Cowin, Jon Corke, Mark Sutton, Julian Sutton, PJ Vermeulen, Robert Noon, Patrick Gandy, Danny Foulis, Conor Cain and David W. Kinrade.

A guess at the score required for qualifying is 151 - hopefully it’s lower but it would have been a play-off on 153 in the WA Kirkpatrick Trophy.

Under-18s champs

The Isle of Man Under-18s Golf Championship has been incorporated into this year’s event, with Freddie Dancox looking to retain his title as well as qualifying for the match play for the men’s.

He will face stiff competition from Sam Crawford who missed out in the same play-off at last year’s championship and local man Conor Cain.

The juniors are at the back of the field but may well feature in the fight for qualifying places as well as their own title.

Tee times:

7am (first round) and 12pm (second round) David Murray (Douglas), Daniel Hattersley (Castletown), Craig Astin (KEB); 7.09am and 12.09pm Andrew Lagden (Castletown), Jon Corke (Castletown), Stephen Skillicorn (Douglas); 7.18am and 12.18pm Martyn Callister (Ramsey), Andrew Seddon (Castletown), Paul McMullan (Mount Murray); 7.27am and 12.27pm Stuart (Douglas), (Ramsey), David Simpson (Ramsey), Samuel Skelton (Castletown); 7.36am and 12.36pm Chris Wolfendale (Douglas), Andi Howland (Castletown), Adam Teare (Douglas); 7.45am and 12.45pm Phil Christian (Peel), Gary Hunter (Douglas), Joe Raeside (Mount Murray); 7.54am and 12.54pm Donald Beggs (Rowany), Mark Sutton (Castletown), David Dancox (Ramsey); 8.03am and 1.03pm PJ Vermeulen (Castletown), Chris Biddulph (Peel), Karl Cormode (Mount Murray); 8.12am and 1.12pm Kevin Moore (Douglas), David Kinrade (Ramsey), Matt Astall (Castletown); 8.21am and 1.21pm Peter Knight (Douglas), Tom Marshall (Peel), Stephen Barbour (Ramsey); 8.30am and 1.30pm Simon Murray (Castletown), Gerald Bradley (Castletown), Ryan Cain (Douglas); 9.06am and 2.06pm Greg Stalker (Castletown), Keith Ward (Mount Murray), Kevin Doyle (KEB); 9.15am and 2.15pm Jeff Ward (Mount Murray), David J. Kinrade (Peel), Chad Wilby (PSM); 9.24am and 2.24pm Jack Rowlands (Mount Murray), Tom Doyle (Castletown), Jack Gilbert (Peel); 9.33am and 2.33pm Martin Kinrade (Ramsey), Paul Mackie (Douglas), Charles Garside (Mount Murray); 9.42am and 2.42pm Ruairi Mooney (Peel), Matthew Nicholson (Mount Murray), Gary Corlett (Mount Murray); 9.51am and 2.51pm Michael Curphey (Douglas), Lee Morgan (Peel), Michael Booth (Douglas); 10am and 3pm Liam Cowin (Castletown), Gary Ashe (Douglas), Dan Williams (Castletown); 10.09am and 3.09pm Paul Lowey (Castletown), Peter Glover (Douglas), Robert Noon (Mount Murray); 10.18am and 3.18pm Richard Skillicorn (Douglas), Tim Calladine (Mount Murray), Martin Cairney (Douglas); 10.27am and 3.27pm Jason Crease (Peel), Lewis Howland (Peel), Daniel Bell (Peel); 10.36am and 3.36pm Jonny Cain (Peel), James Arneil (Ramsey), Marc Harrison (Mount Murray); 10.45am and 3.45pm Callum Mcmurdo (Douglas), Julian Sutton (Mount Murray), Ryan Maddox (Peel); 10.54am and 3.54pm Daryl Callister (Castletown), Scott Rotheram (Douglas), Brian Duggan (KEB); 11.03am and 4.03pm Danny Foulis (Ramsey), Patrick Gandy (PSM), Tommy Fenlon (Douglas); 11.12am and 4.12pm Ben Watson (KEB), Scott Donald (Castletown), Richard Hulme (Mount Murray); 11.21am and 4.21pm Chris Kneen (Castletown), Ben Kelly (KEB), Neil Caine (Mount Murray); 11.30am and 4.30pm Matthew Bell (Castletown), Anthony Saunders (Peel), Simon Hawkins (PSM); 11.39am and 4.39pm Sam Crawford (Castletown), Conor Cain (Castletown), Freddie Dancox (Ramsey).

The match play stages start at 4.45pm on Tuesday, July 12 and hopefully there will be a big crowd in Peel.

The draw will be published on www.isleofmangolf.im and on the Facebook page Isle of Man Golf.