STEVE LOVELL flies out to Portugal on Sunday as he battles to becomes national Sunshine Challenge Golf champion.

The former Gills star scored 104 goals in 275 games during his Priestfield career and was top scorer in four consecutive seasons between 1987-1992.

But the affable 45-year-old, who also played for Millwall and Crystal Palace, is also an impressive four-handicapper golfer and the newly-crowned Kent Messenger Group Sunshine Challenge Golf champion.

Lovell will be joined by his wife Mary in the Algarve where he will battle it out against more than a dozen other regional newspaper tournament winners over three rounds of strokeplay golf.