A NEW name will be carved into the Harold Ryden trophy for the fifth successive year when finalists Gary Phillipson and Daniel Nutter go head to head at Clitheroe tonight.

Andy Samuels' home victory at Burnley in 1999 is the only time in the past 11 years that the ELGA champion hasn't been a first-time winner and that trend will continue.

While Nelson's Nutter will be playing in his first final after beating club-mate and twice runner-up Craig Fort, Phillipson, of Darwen, has the advantage of having thrived on the big stage before.

He has previously made the last two of the Harold Ryden, when he came off second best to Wilpshire's Tony Holt at Pleasington in 1998, but this was during his most successful period on the local scene as he took the ELGA Scratch Medal in this year.

It was his third triumph in four years in the competition, having also taken it in 1995 and 1997.

His path to tonight's final was relatively smooth, after a 3 and 2 win over Mark Young in the quarters was followed by a convincing 5 and 4 victory last night.

The win ended Jonathan Hurst's brave run to the semi-finals, in which the Shaw Hill golfer hit a hole-in-one during the qualifiers.

The all-Nelson battle between Nutter and Fort, who topped the qualifying scores on Saturday and also knocked out holder Trevor Foster, was considerably closer.

Having been two up and pegged back to all square, Nutter managed to get a hole ahead again going up the 16th, where he restored his two-hole advantage with a monster putt.

It meant Fort had to win the 17th to stay in the game, but conceded the hole when Nutter's approach fell just short of the pin to tie up a 3 and 1 success.

Tonight's final starts at 5.30pm and will be refereed by ELGA president David France, who said: "It should be a good final. This venue has been first class and everything has run smoothly with the course in excellent condition.

"We just have to keep our fingers crossed that the weather will be okay."