The final of the IWGU Singles Scratch Knockout was played on a balmy Tuesday autumn evening at Freshwater Bay Golf Club fittingly between two of the Bermudan Island Games Team, Scott Meek from Osborne and Mat Barnicoat from Shanklin and Sandown. At this level of golf pars are the order of the day and both players know each others games so well that any putt under 4 feet could be confidently given. In fact the first putt that needed to be holed was a tricky downhill six footer on the 5th that Scott needed to hole for a three to keep the match all square. On the 6th it was up to Mat to fight for the half with a tremendous sand save from a green side bunker fully seven feet below the level of the pin. It wasn't till the 8th where Mat made another great green side up and down for birdie, choosing to play from the "centre reservation" of the Tennyson with his feet together, that the beginnings of a lead started to emerge. A solid four at the 9th for Mat and an uncharacteristic three putt from Scott saw Mat reach the turn two up, not that troubled Scott renowned as the king of the fight back. However turning into the waining sun and freshening breeze Mat had other ideas going three up following a cast iron birdie at the 10th and four up after eleven. Scott's comeback kicked in at the 13th after making par from a wayward drive heading towards the sea and Mat firing his approach through the back of the green, then hitting a poor chip. Both players were well long on the par three 14th with Mat coming away with a win to go back to four up. His tee shot on the 15th was straight at the flag prompting Scott to say "Guess it's a hole in one to keep the match alive!". In actual fact Mat had gone through the back of the green leaving a testing 15ft down hill chip, Scott just missed his birdie from 18 ft leaving Mat to hit a perfectly weighted chip to within inches to secure the title.
