Inter Corps Championship 22

INTER CORPS

championship

7 - 8 July 2022 Saunton Golf Club

The draw for the Inter Corps Championship, generously sponsored by The Army Sport Control Board, was made on Wed 6 Jul, after the Matchplay finals had concluded. With the AGM having been curtailed owing to a number of highlighted COVID cases.

19 teams entered into the new format for the third year, the field comprised 12 “A” teams (CAMUS did not enter a team) and 7 “B” teams; more on the 2022 ballot later in the report. Inf A (1) and AGC A (2) teams, as winners and runners-up from the 2021 Championship respectively, were the 1 and 2 seeds with the remainder being drawn out of the hat. The draw was evenly matched with RA A, RE A and Inf A in the top half and AGC A, RLC A and R Sigs A in the bottom half. Yet again no two Corps teams were drawn together. This year RE A looked the strongest on paper. The three teams balloted out to the subsidiary competition were, RE B, AGC B and RA B. This year the AGA officials agreed for the R Sigs to enter a third team (R Sigs C) into the subsidiary competition.

As usual, the Championship moved completely to the West Course, a tricky course and one to be navigated round carefully. It was going to be a stern test. There were only two female golfers, one being the defending Champion, LCpl Niki Sutton AGC A and SSgt Mel van Zyl representing AMS. In round one there were convincing wins for RA A over R Sigs B 4½ - ½, RE A over AMS 5 - 0, RLC A over AAC 5 - 0 and REME B over RLC B 4 - 1. The other matches were a little closer with AGC A beating REME A 3½ - 1½, RAC beating RAPTC 3 - 2, Inf A beating Int Corps 3 - 2 and R Sigs A beating Inf B 3 - 2.

There were some strong teams in the field this year so the 2021 finalists would need to be on their game throughout if they were to achieve the same levels of success.

Maj Jack Musgrove RA A

Lt Col Bob Pace R Sigs A In the second round the two seeded teams had contrasting results with last years’ winners, Inf A, losing out narrowly to a strong RE A, who on paper were the team to beat.

AGC A fared better, managing a 3 - 2 win against RLC A team. The other matches saw RA A beat RAC 3½ -1½ and R Sigs A beat REME B convincingly 5 - 0. R Sigs A were considered to be going about their business quietly and were definitely a team to watch during day two.

The semi-final line-up would see RA A versus RE A and last year’s losing finalists AGC A versus R Sigs A. Four strong teams, where matches could go either way. All players performed well but the eventual finalists were RA A beating RE A 3 - 2 and R Sigs A beating AGC A 3½ - 1½.

In the Plate (Singapore Trophy) for the firstround losers, R Sigs B beat RAPTC 4½ - ½, the AMS lost out to the Int Corps also 4½ - ½, REME A beat AAC 4 - 1, and finally Inf B beat RLC B 3½ - 1½.

This left the Plate semi-finalists as R Sigs B versus Int Corps and REME A versus Inf B. In the REME Shield for day one losers, each team is required to play 18 holes scratch Stableford, with all 5 scores counting. On face value last year’s Inter Corps winners, Inf A, who had lost four of the winning team over the past 12-months, still appeared to be the strongest team on paper. On a tight course with excellent conditions and little breeze, it all seemed to play into the hands of the top players. The RLC A team scored 147pts to win the REME Shield by 14pts from the Inf A team on 133pts. Third place went to the AMS with

taking the first three matches and the Royal Irish Rangers Bowl. RA A are the 2022 Royal Irish Rangers Bowl winners.

Photos from the Inter Corps Championship can be found here.

Sgt James Reeves R Sigs A 103pts. The top individual scores for the round went to Maj Sean Stevenson RLC with 32pts followed by LCpl Cameron Weir RLC and Lt Jordan Aird RLC on 30pts. All good scores considering they were playing off scratch. RLC A are the 2022 REME Shield winners.

WO1 Parkinson accepting Singapore Trophy on behalf of REME A

Back to the Plate Championship and in the first semi-final, R Sigs B beat Int Corps 3 - 2 and in the other REME A convincingly beat the Inf B 4½ - ½. This set up a closely matched final, on paper! REME A played better on the day and came out on top with a 3 - 2 win. REME A are the 2022 Singapore Trophy winners.

The subsidiary competition saw RE B run out the winners after a 3½ - 1½ win over AGC B and a 3 - 2 win over R Sigs C. RE B are the 2022 Subsidiary Competition winners.

In the main final it was always going to be a tough ask for R Sigs A as the RA A team held three Army Team players including the runaway winner of the 2022 Strokeplay Championship, Maj Jack Musgrove RA. As anticipated, RA A got off to a flying start,

LCpl Weir accepting REME Shield on behalf of RLC A

INTER CORPS CHAMPIONS RA A L to R: Maj Musgrove, SSgt Hayward, WO2 Ramage, Sgt Perrins, WO2 Roberts

PLATE WINNERS REME A LCpl Dewar, Capt Clarke, Cfn Sanghera, WO1 Parkinson, Cpl Moore, WO2 Smith, WO1 Bell

KEY RESULTS Inter Corps Champions

RA A

Runners-Up

R Sigs A

Plate Winners

REME A

Runners-Up

R Sigs B

Stableford Winners

RLC A

Subsidiary Competition Winners

RE B