Jarryd Dillas will be bidding for a fifth straight title in the Bermuda Amateur Match Play Championships, which starts today at Mid Ocean Golf Club.

As the top seed, Dillas has been given a bye into tomorrow’s play.

Confident about his chances of defending his title, Dillas said that his game is coming on at the right time.

“My game is good right now and I’m feeling good health-wise, so hopefully the week goes according to plan and I’m in the final come Saturday,” Dillas said.

Dillas comfortably beat Chris Brough eight and six in last year’s final, while defeating Fraser Hunt the previous year. The pair are back this year, and Dillas believes they, along with Mark Philips, will have him firmly in their sights.

“You have to play well the whole way through, and the crucial component of match play is to limit your mistakes,” Dillas said. “Typically the wind really comes up the week of the championships, so controlling your approach shots into the greens becomes a challenge. With that in mind, each year I work on bringing my ball flight down as well as improving my speed control with my long putts.”

Ann Symonds will be taking a different approach, having forfeited her No?1 ranking, preferring to take the qualifying route this morning.

The defending champion wrapped up the women’s title by one hole last year after opponent Linda Down came from three down late in the second round of the 36-hole final.

Symonds’s previous best finish in the tournament was a semi-final place in 2012, when she lost to Kathrin Burnie.

One rival who will be looking to dethrone her is Ebonie Burgess, the Bermuda Amateur Stroke Play female champion.

“I always back myself to go out and win, this week won’t be any different,” Burgess said. “It will be very competitive out there, but I’m pretty comfortable going into the event.”

The championships get under way with an 18-hole stroke play qualifying round to seed the golfers, followed by the first round tomorrow, and rounds three and four on Friday, before the 36-hole final on the Saturday.

The Bermuda Golf Association also has two other big tournaments scheduled for this month, with the Bermuda Open Championships taking place at Port Royal from March 24 to 27 and the Grey Goose World Par 3 Championships at the Turtle Hill Golf Club.