Junior Division championship with a thrilling four-and-three victory over Doug Clark.

The turning point in the match came when after birdieing number five, Clark's tee shot at the sixth hole came to rest behind a tree and he could only manage bogey on the hole while Cox made par.

Clark's game started to unravel following this mishap while Cox continued to play steadily. Cox was one under par after the 15th when Clark finally succumbed.

"Everything went perfect for a change and fortunately I came out on top,'' said Cox, who also beat Clark at this year's Bermuda Amateur Match Play Championships. "I was over the moon and ecstatic to beat Dr. Clark.'' According to Cox, Clark may have dug his own grave as he had given the former advice on improving his game throughout the week.

"Whenever I have a problem I call up Doug and he'll help me make the necessary corrections...I guess it came back to haunt him this time.'' Cox's opponent in today's 36-hole final comes in the form of Paul Evans who edged past Scott Taylor one-up.

Evans has been enjoying quite a run this year, especially after failing to qualify for the championship flight last year and then getting knocked out in the opening round of the first flight.

He beat defending champion Robert Vallis to open his account and although his game yesterday did not match the standard reached against Vallis it was just enough to oust Taylor.

"I'm just thrilled to be in the finals,'' said Evans, a former schoolmate of Cox at Tabor Academy in Massachusetts. "I'm only a year away from the seniors so it's a real joy to do so well amongst the juniors.

"I'm looking forward to playing against Ricky and feel I have a good chance.

We play pretty much the same game, in fact I played with him last Saturday.'' The pair will set off at 7.42 a.m. for the first 18 holes with the second round starting at 1.15 p.m.

Meanwhile, another thriller saw defending senior champion Dick Stimets come back from one down after 16 holes to beat Charles Hartnett one-up and earn the right to face Charles Bailey in the 18-hole senior final starting at 1.21 p.m.

Bailey had cast aside the challenge of Ted Kennerson four and three in securing his position.

One up after the first nine holes, Stimets suddenly found himself trailing when Hartnett snatched both 13 and 14.

But Hartnett would fall apart at 17 when he three-putted, handing Stimets the hole and allowing him to draw level heading for number 18.

There the misery continued for Hartnett as he put his second shot 25 feet from the hole while Stimets' ball came to rest just 15 feet away. The former's fate was sealed with Stimets sinking the putt while he could not get his ball to drop.

"It was a tough position to be in at 16 and I was definitely concerned,'' said Stimets, who halted Jack Wahl's seven-year reign atop the division last year. "I missed a few shots, which disappointed me a bit, but I was able to make some when I really needed to.'' Peter Thompson and Steve Duxbury clash in the Junior Consolation final as do David Donahue and Wahl among the seniors.

RICKY COX -- Had a good win over Douglas Clark yesterday.