Bermuda Four Ball Championships which start tomorrow at Port Royal.

The men, who are down from 36 teams in 1998 to 32 this year, will begin their 72-hole round tournament with three-time defending champions Bill Pitt and Henry Ascento favourites for a fourth straight title.

Both work at Port Royal so their familiarity with the course will give them an advantage.

Last year Pitt and Ascento won by four shots as they completed the three-peat in a tournament that was reduced to 54 holes after the cancellation of the second day due to gales.

The second-placed pairing of Deon Mills and Dave Purcell should again provide a challenge for the defending champions. Ian Page, who finished fourth with David Hunter last year, has a new partner in Max Atherden while Hunter is playing with Trevor Gilchrist.

In the men's field there are seven teams from overseas, five from the United States and one each from Canada and Switzerland.

There is certain to be a new winner in the women's division where the first round is scheduled for Friday. Last year's champions Ginette Spinucci and Darlene Werhnyak, who won by five strokes over Mary Bowmaster and Marsha Whitener, are not returning.

Neither are Bowmaster and Whitener in a field that was reduced from 16 to 14 just yesterday with the confirmation that visiting pair Susanne Brett and Vicki Van Leight and local duo Rose Stupfel and Susan Holland had pulled out.