Defending champion Jarryd Dillas is confident his partnership with Will Haddrell will be a winning one when Dillas goes in search of his third straight title — and fifth overall — during the 60th Bermuda Amateur Four-Ball Championships at Port Royal this weekend.

Dillas lifted the title alongside Nick Mansell for the past two years, but with Mansell now living abroad, Dillas had to find a new partner to continue his success. Up stepped Haddrell, who recently returned to the Island, to fill the void.

“Yeah, I think it will be good, I’m looking forward to playing with Will,” said Dillas who also won titles with Dr Robert Vallis and David Smith.

“We represented Bermuda together along with Fraser Hunt at the World Amateur last October in Turkey and he was our non-playing captain for the Island Games team this summer.

“Since he just moved back to the Island just before the Summer I’ve gotten to know him well over the last few months and I’m looking forward to playing alongside him over the three days starting on Friday. If we go out and play well we will have a good chance. My game is coming together nicely, I’m doing a lot of work on my short game, which has always been the weakness in my game. I’ve seen some good signs, I had a nice finish last month down in Florida and I’m hoping to build on that.”

Dillas earned a top-20 finish at that event, the 10th annual St Augustine Amateur in Elkton, Florida, carding rounds of 74, 70 and 72 to place third in the Mid-Atlantic division and 20th overall.

And with Haddrell’s victory in the Bermuda Amateur Strokeplay Championships in June, the pair will start this tournament as favourites. The organisers were hoping for a bigger field with reduced entry fees, but the tournament is clashing with other club events, leaving just 17 men’s, eight women’s and two junior teams to sign up before Monday’s deadline.

The pair were part of the winning team at this summer’s NatWest Island Games, with Haddrell captaining the quartet of Dillas, Mark Phillips, Jevon Roberts, and Mitchell Campbell. Phillips and Roberts are also expected to be in contention this weekend as they are playing together.

“Mark has just come back from being based in the States and playing great golf while Jevon has really come on in leaps and bounds in the last 12 to 18 months and they will definitely be one of the teams in there,” said Dillas. “Hopefully we will be there with them on Sunday.

“From an event standpoint ideally you would like it to be three nice days, which is best for everybody and the calibre of golf can be higher if the wind is not up and it is not raining. But in sport you have to deal with whatever is dealt to you. Fingers crossed for some good weather, I don’t think it will be too bad, though the wind may pick up a bit on Saturday.”

Added Dillas: “The BGA is really trying hard to improve its events, the entry fee is quite a bit lower but this year the event coincides with the men’s invitation at Mid Ocean as well as the stroke play club championship at Riddell’s Bay.

“Maybe moving forward we will have to look at the scheduling a little bit to make things work together with the clubs so that the players don’t have to make a choice in playing this event over that event.

“I know a couple of the players are travelling, Dr Vallis, who I played with before, and Fraser Hunt who were runners up last year, I think are both off the Island.

“It’s a little disappointing, but there are still a couple of good teams out there and hopefully the weather cooperates. I know Port Royal is in great shape not too long after the (Grand) Slam so I’m looking forward to playing on it and I hope everyone else is as well.”

The second annual Colors Charity Classic, which will raise funds for Project 100, a charity established in 1986 to assist the mentally handicapped in Bermuda, will take place on November 16 at Belmont Hills Golf Club.

Play will begin with a 12.30pm shotgun start and entry fee for a team of four is $400 ($100 per player). The tournament will be a four-man captain’s choice and other prizes will be for closest-to-the-pin and longest drive.