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Created: 29 October 2026

A good field of 24 golfers met at Sandy Lodge for our final event of the year, the Winter Meeting, where we compete for the Roses Bowl. Our Secretary of course claimed the credit for the fact that the meeting took place on the first fine day following the two named storms of the previous Thursday and Saturday.

The tasty bacon rolls provided additional. and necessary nourishment following what had been, in some cases, challenging journeys to the club, after which most of the players made use of the first class practice facilities before their round. Despite fairway watering, the course was showing signs of the summer drought, with widespread bare patches and extensive overseeding on some of the holes, but as usual the tees and greens were in very good condition.

There was some good scoring although, unusually, it was mainly the lower handicapped players who seemed to struggle with the conditions. The prize-giving took place during the two-course lunch that followed the golf and the full results are at the link below, 

There were four Nearest the Pin prizes at the 3rd, 8th, 15th and 18th holes, with the respective winners Joe Bains, Stu Butler, Nigel Dowdall and Dennis Virgo. In the individual Stableford competition, Farroukh Bajwa took first place with 36 points, Phil Sperring was second on 35 points and also took the trophy as the leading Full Member, and Roger Carr was third on countback from Rod Powell, Pete Hamilton and Stu Butler, all on 33 points.

Sandy Lodge is a great venue for our the final event in our season and we look forward to returning there on 21 October 2027.

Full results

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Created: 18 October 2026

The annual match against the RAFGA for the Beamish Cup was postponed earlier in the year due to the excessive heat, but we were able to re-arange the fixture and it was played at Peterborough Milton on 15 October.

It was not possible to fit in the usual two rounds of 18 holes as a result of the reduction in daylight hours and the format was also tweaked, so that instead of playing better ball matchplay, with the winners determined by the total number of holes won, we played a better ball Stableford, with the winners determined by the total number of points accrued bu the team.

Ian Robinson, match manager, and the RAFGS team were indebted to Farrukh Bajwa, who stepped in as reserve at the last minute following the enforced withdrawal of one of our team, as he and partner Paddy Mournian made the crucial difference in ensuring that the RAFGS secured a narrow win by 195 points to 191 (I'm sure that we'd have done just well if you had been in the team Graham!).

RAFGS team: Ian Robinson, Ian Barclay, Farrukh Bajwa, Gary Cook, Nigel Dowdall, Colin Lockwood, Paddy Mournian, David Taylor, Ryan Wilson-Law, Brett Wooldridge.

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Created: 18 October 2026

Our annual match with 'the Seniors' took place on 12th October. The format was the usual of 18 holes of foursomes matchplay in the morning, lunch in the dining room and then 14 holes of foursomes matchplay after lunch. While the weather was not quite as warm and sunny as we have become accustomed to this year, it remained cool and dry with only a light breeze all day - ideal for golf. 

At lunch, the score was RAFGS 3, Seniors 2, and match manager Peter Bedford was optimistic that victory might be ours this year. Sadly it wasn't to be, with the Seniors winning the afternoon by 3 matches to 2 for a halved match - a close run thing, with the Seniors taking the last two matches on the final green.

A great event, played as always in an excellent spirit,  and we were looked after very well by the club.

RAFGS team: Peter Bedford, Colin Basnett, Kevin Burston, Stu Butler, Andrew Curtis, Nigel Dowdall, Rana Eymur, Mick Ford, Mark Morton, Justin Muir

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Created: 23 September 2026

23 RAFGS members, including four currently serving members, and one guest enjoyed a great day's golf at Wellingborough Golf Club. The weather was superb, with bright, warm sunshine all day and only a gentle breeze. The course was in great condition - a tribute to the hard work of the greens staff - and with ideal conditions we might have expected some very good scoring. In practice this is a tough course, with tricky greeens, and the winning score of 34 points in the morning Stableford is indicative of the challenge presented to the players.

Following a quick lunch of soup and sandwiches - not helped by the Secretary's error in setting the afternoon start time 20 minutes early - everyone played in the afternoon greensomes over 12 holes. While the players enjoyed tea after the golf, with sausage rolls and scones with jam and plenty of clotted cream, Meeting Organiser Stu Butler very efficiently entered all of the scores on Golf Genius to allow the prize-giving to proceed without undue delay, despite several errors on scorecards!.

The morning's competition for the Swinton Cup was closely fought, with three players level on 34 points (one after Golf Genius correctly assessed the score as 34 points, not the 32 points written on the card) and only separated on countback - Colin Lockwood came in 3rd, with Roger Matthews 2nd and a delighted Jenny Smale in first place.

There was a similar close finish in the competition for the Grant Govan Cups, with four pairs on 25 points and fighting it out for second place  - awarded on countback to Ryan Wilson-Law and Sean McCarthy, with Roger Carr and Keith Williams in 3rd and Alistair Maxwell and Jenny Smale in 4th just missing out on the prizes. However, there were clear winners, with Tim Bishop and Travis Stone putting together an excellent round of 29 points.

As always, the club looked after us very well and we look forward to returning to Wellingborough next year, on 20 September.

Full results:

Individual Stableford
Greensomes