A mixture of wily old foxes and hungry young hounds will make up Bermuda's Small Island Games golf team who hope to be in the hunt for medals.

The men and women's teams will be jetting off to Rhodes, in Greece, next week to begin their preparations ahead the bi-annual showpiece.

While the hot and humid conditions should not pose Bermuda's golfers a problem, the long and hilly courses will present a new challenge — but one Bermuda Golf Association president Bob Legere believes they will overcome.

"The courses in Rhodes will be different from what our players are accustomed to," he said.

"They are very long and hilly in terrain so quite different from those in Bermuda.

"But I don't think the hot and humid conditions will affect our players as much as some of the other countries players — so that should be to our advantage."

Legere has earmarked William Haddrell and Laura Robinson for potential medal success, but has high hopes for youngsters Yana Ballentyne, Tariqah Walikraam and Blair Marshall.

"We are very excited about our women's team, especially Yana Ballentyne and Tariqah Walikraam who have shown a lot of potential.

"Another youngster to look out for is Blair Marshall who is just 16 and plays in the USA.

"He has an enormous amount of potential and very much an up and coming player — definitely one to look out."

While the future of Bermudian golf appears to be prosperous, Legere is tipping some of the more experienced players to come good at the games.

And he is hoping the women's team can go one better than two years ago when they scooped silver.

"Laura Robinson will captain and represented Bermuda at the last Island Games in the Shetland Islands," he said.

"She will be one of our best hopes for a medal — but we have high hopes for all our women players.

"Hopefully we can go one better than last time when got a silver medal. We had tied in first place but lost in the play-offs."

The men's competition is expected to be particularly strong but Legere is still confident.

He said:"Will Haddrell and Nick Mansell will be travelling and both represented us in the World Team Champion- ships in South Africa last October."Will aspires to be a professional and will be a medal hope, while Nick has been a top amateur on the Island for many years.

"Leroy Birch, a steady player, will also be playing so it will be a new experience for him but one I'm sure he is up for."

The Island Games run from June 30 until July 6.