EIGHT former county champions are among a field of 72 players who will be bidding to qualify for the knockout stages of the men's county championship at Trevose next week.

Truro's Tom Murtagh has returned from the USA to defend the title he won last year for the first time at Mullion where he defeated the then reigning champion, West Cornwall's Jon Coleman, 2&1 in a closely fought final.

Coleman is unable to contest this year's championship due to work commitments, but Tehidy Park secretary Ian Veale will be hoping to add a record seventh title to his tally of championship wins, which he currently shares with Harry Hutchinson, who won the title six times in 11 years from 1946 to 1956.

Other past winners in the field are Chris Llewelyn (Perranporth), Charlie Phillips (Newquay), Andrew Rowe (Looe), Mike Reynard (Trevose), Richard Simmons (Tehidy Park) and Phil Clayton (Newquay).

Richard Ackland (Trevose), who was runner-up for three consecutive years from 2006-08, will be hoping for better luck this time round, while several other regular members of the county team are also competing, though Welsh internationals Ben Westgate (Trevose) and Rhys Enoch (Truro) are both unavailable.

The qualifying competition gets under way at 8am on Wednesday, May 19, with the top 32 going through to the knockout stages, culminating in the 36-hole final on Saturday, May 22.

County Week opens with the traditional Royal Cornwall Goblets on Sunday, with a variety of other events being held throughout the week including the A and B Team competitions.

● Professional Tony Hilton and his three amateur partners, Henry Hilton, Matt Hart, and A J Boyse, from Lewes Golf Club, powered to a decisive victory in the Trevose May Festival of Golf last week.

They finished five strokes ahead of 2006 winners Nick Gammon (Trevose), Tom Cairns (The Berkshire), Mark Hilton (Lewes) and Ray Swift (Trevose) on 409, with Andrew Wright, Richard Wood, Nick Wright and Rob Templeton, (Long Ashton), third on 410.

Two hundred amateur and professional golfers from all over the country competed in the tournament, playing in teams of four players over 54 holes betterball medal over three days.

On a sunny and breezy opening day the Wright team forged into an early lead with a combined score of 132, one ahead of the Gammon team on 133 and two ahead of the Hilton team on 134.

Andrew Ridgley and Henke Ferreira (Trevose), won the day's Pairs prize on count-back from Rob Ryan and Steve Wareham (Dorset ), tied with Trevose captain Mike Ellis and his son Patrick.

Constant drizzle and a cold easterly breeze prevailed throughout the second day's play. However, the Wright team maintained their position at the top of the leader board with the day's lowest score of 134 to total 266, extending their lead to three strokes. Hilton's team eased from third into second spot after a day score of 135 for a total of 269.

But Gammon's team, second overnight, dropped to third place on 272, after a day score of 139 left them six strokes adrift. Tony Hilton and Matt Hart won the day two Pairs prize with a score of 65.

The final day saw the overnight leaders slip to third place after an inconsistent performance produced a day score of 144 for a total of 410. The determined Hilton team came home with the day's lowest score of 135 to take the day prize and post a winning total of 404. Gammon's team played well for a day score of 137 to total 409 which lifted them back into second place.

Results: 1, Tony Hilton, Henry Hilton, Matt Hart & A J Boyse 404; 2, Nick Gammon, Tom Cairns, Ray Swift & Mark Hilton 409; 3, Andrew Wright, Richard Wood, Nick Wright & Rob Templeton 410; 4, Grant Slater, Glyn Rowett, Dave Saget & Martin Bullock 415; 5, David Windebank, Andrew Kemp, James Windebank & Martin Rogers 416; 6, Nigel Lawrence, Andrew Clark, Mick Luckhurst & John Clark 418.

● St Enodoc defeated St Mellion 4-3 in one of two first round matches in the ladies' Gammon Trophy knockout competition played at Bude and North Cornwall on Sunday. Bev Vann's defeat of Samantha Giles on the 18th green proved to be the pivotal win for St Enodoc, with other victories coming from Trudi Tensjo, Meg Godfrey and Sarah Sandercock. Bude and North Cornwall overcame China Fleet 5-2 in the other first round match at Trethorne. They will face Mullion in the second round on Sunday, May 30, while St Enodoc take on Porthpean.

● Trevose touring pro Phil Rowe made a disappointing start to his 2010 campaign when he missed the cut in the Challenge Tour's Open Cotes d'Armor Bretagne at Golf de Pleneuf Val Andre last week.

He opened with a steady one over par 71, but his second round 76 left him six shots off the cut mark.

● Three Cornish players were hoping to make it through to the final stages of the Brabazon Trophy when the Southern Qualifier was held over 18 holes at Frilford Heath in Berkshire yesterday.

England junior international Billy Downing, current county champion Tom Murtagh (both Truro) and China Fleet's Tom Fox will be bidding for a place among the top 41 players who will progress to the final stages of the Brabazon Trophy for the English Men's Open Amateur Strokeplay Championship to be held at Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, on June 24-27.

● It has been announced that the £20m redevelopment work at St Mellion will be complete when the new-look Kernow Course, the second championship-standard 18-hole golf course at the resort, reopens on June 1.

This latest and final phase of the redevelopment work at St Mellion follows last year's relaunch of the Nicklaus Signature Course, which will host the English Open when The European Tour returns to Cornwall in 2011. The 'new' Kernow Course was itself a former European Tour venue.

● West Cornwall Golf Club is hosting its annual Pro Am-Am on Saturday, July 10. The event is followed the next day by Cornwall's Channel League match against Somerset.

The entry fee is £30 per person to include a buffet meal and a chance to win some fine prizes. Teams of three will be drawn with a professional or low amateur, but teams can also enter with a pro or low amateur at a cost of £90 per team.

The low amateur must have a below three handicap as there is also an individual gross score prize for the pros and low amateurs.

Entries should be sent to West Cornwall secretary Gareth Evans by June 26, tel 01736 753401 or email: secretary@westcornwallgolfclub.co.uk