This year's RAFGS Championship meeting again took place at Moor Park Golf Club in north-west London. 33, players assembled on another fine, dry day and, after tea/coffee and bacon rolls, set out on the first 18 holes of this 36 hole Medal competition, played over the High Course.
Everyone clearly took the message to play quickly to heart, with all groups completing their rounds in under 4 hours despite the medal format, meaning that there was plenty of time for a relaxed lunch in the Arnhem room. The afternoon round was played over the West Course and, although nominally the easier of the two courses, many players found it equally, if not more, challenging than the High Course.
The players met together after the golf for tea/coffee and cake and to wait for the results and prize presentation. The outcomes of all four trophies were quickly decided once the results were entered on Golf Genius. New Secretary Nigel Dowdall took somewhat longer to work out who got what prize, due to the complications introduced by the 'one prize' rule, but eventually the results were announced and trophies awarded:
Challenge Cup. After the first round over the High Course, the leader was Aaron Ashberry, with his gross 79 (the only score under 80), giving him a 1-shot lead from Dave Holmes. Aaron maintained his fine form in the afternoon, with his gross 77 (the lowest of only 4 scores under 80 on the West Course) giving him a total of 156 and a win by 5 shots from Charlie Hudson on 161, with Mick Roche on 162 and Dave Holmes a further shot back on 163.
Handicap Cup. It was a different story in the handicap competition, where Nigel Dowdall led by 4 shots at the halfway stage after the only sub-par round, net 68, on the High Course. Unfortunately for him, Nigel fell away in the afternoon, with a 10 on the 3rd hole of the West Course proving particularly costly. Farrukh Bajwa followed up a fine level par 72 on the High Course with a 76 on the West Course for a total of 148, but was beaten by Mick Roche and Chris Roberts on countback. Joe Bains was one shot better, on a total of 147, but Gordon Varley's rounds of 74 and 71 left him as the winner on a total of 145.
Veterans Cup. After his gross 80 in the morning, Dave Holmes led by 3 shots from Mick Roche on 83. However it was Mick who emerged victorious after a gross 79 (the only score under 80 in the veterans category) gave him a total of 162, one shot better than Dave on 163.
Veterans Handicap Cup. With four of the top five in the overall Handicap Cup being over 60, there was a familiar feel to the leaderboard in the Veterans Handicap Cup. Mick Roche took third place on countback from Farrukh Bajwa, with both players on 148, Joe Bains was second on 147 and Gordon Varley picked up his second trophy of the day following his winning total of 145.
India Trophy (Senior Veterans). This year the age limit for the India Trophy was reduced from 75 to 70, with the aim of opening up this competition to more players. Seven players met the criteria and after the first round Joe Bains, Mick Roche and Dennis Virgo were all in contention following net scores of 75. In the afternoon Joe and Mick pulled away, with Joe deservedly winning the trophy after 2nd places in both the overall and veterans handicap competitions.
Mention should go to Chris Roberts, who undoubtedly had the shot of the day when he holed a long putt across the practice putting green to win a PXG Zero Torque putter in a competition sponsored by PXG. Commiserations to Kevin Huish, who also holed a putt but lost out to Chris in a draw for the prize. PXG also sponsored the prizes for the Society trophies as part of their efforts to raise awareness of their 'Heroes Scheme', which offers substantial discounts on their products to both serving and retired military golfers.
Moor Park is a great venue for our Championship and will again be the venue for this event on 22 July 26.
Please click the link if you would like to see the full results.
