03 - 04 August 2022 Whittington Heath Golf Club championship STABLEFORD
officers and senior ranks only, no junior rank accommodation! Those players booked into the competition who had annotated their requirement for accommodation had to therefore find alternative themselves or withdraw from weendedupwithafield of 42 Day one started in overcast but humid conditions with a stiff breeze whistling across the five new holes (1 5), only abating once the play entered the old areas of the course where the established tree lines offered some degree of protection. With the country having just experienced an unprecedented heatwave the course was starting to suffer the effects with yellowing and hard baked fairways, although the tee boxes and greens remained watered and lush. All in all, the course was set up to provide a good test of golf, taxing enough for the lower handicap players and forgiving amongstyearsTheenoughforthehighhandicapplayers.fieldwasslightlyreducedonrecentalthoughtherewerestilltwoladiesthefieldof42,withlastyear ’s reigning champion, LCpl Niki Sutton AGC
Lt Col (Retd) Jim Ferrier Sgt Ashley James Inf
The 2022 Stableford Championship returned to its spiritual home of Whittington Heath Golf Club after an playersnothadseelastHavingthepurposes,brandcourseclubhousemakeover.everythingpandemic.absenceoftwoyears,owingtotheCOVIDThroughoutthattimehashadamonumentalFromthebrandnewmodernandhalfwayhouse,tothebeingreconfiguredtoincludefivenewholes.Forallintentsanditwasanewcourseformostoffield.navigatedtheproblemsofthetwoyears,wehopedthisyearwouldassmoothacompetitionaswehaveinthepast,unfortunatelythiswastobethecase.Withafullfieldof(63)oneweekpriortothe
As(SPS),backtodefendhertitle.themorningprogressed, the clouds blew through, and the sun shone brightly raising the temperature and making for a very warm day. The course offered opportunities for the more adventurous where the reward of a birdie or two was
WO2 Gregory Tucker RLC LCpl Niki Sutton AGC (SPS)
18
8
15
17
more. Capt Mukunda Rajali Inf playing off 25,wastheclubhouseleader withascore of 43pts, followed by the reigning champion Sutton in joint second on 41pts along with WO2 GregoryTucker RLC and Pte Tim Shaw RLC. Then followed three more on 39pts, Sgt Pasang Sherpa RLC, Sgt Brett Evans AMS and Lt Col (Retd) Jim Ferrier. Mr Ian Bosley and Maj Stephen Johnson AMS were one back on 38pts. Other scores: 37pts SSgt Alan Finn R Sigs, Padre (Maj) Patrick O’Driscoll Inf and Lt Col Adrian Grinonneau Inf, and 36pts Lt Col (Retd) Warren Ginn, Mr Bill Vale, WO2 Clinton Hamblett RE and Maj TheSeanStevensonRLC.secondroundof day one continued in glorious sunshine and as the course continued to dry out, drives were running longer but the greens remained receptive, true and slightly slower than some we have played on this year (with the long dry spell the greens may have been kept deliberately longer to protect them from burning out). Having already played 18 holes, the players were more familiar with the course and better placed to know when and where to take a risk for the resulting reward. As a result, the scoring remained high with a further Withtenplayersscoringabove36pts.asecondhighscoreof the day, Rajali continued in fine form, scoring another round with 41pts (a total of 84pts after two rounds). Sgt Ashley James Inf hit 40pts followed by three on 38pts WO1 John Butler RLC, Cpl Saugat Gurung RLC and SSgt Adrian Bennett R Sigs. One back on 37pts was the local lad from Whittington Heath, Mr Bill Vale, and Driscoll. Then on 36pts were another Bosley, BottandSutton. After two rounds the leaderboard stood 25 84pts 77pts 75pts 74pts ’Driscoll 74pts Bosley 74pts Sherpa 20 74pts
14
O
112pts 112pts
The heat and difficult conditions were starting to take their toll on players in the fourth and final round, but those in the last three flights off the 1st knew that Thesecondplacewasupforgrabs.finalroundprovedequally
forgiving as another 29 players posted 30pts or better, with 14 on 36pts or more. The clubhouse leader Rajali was again in a rich vein of form, completing his final round with a score or 46pts (whilst eyebrows were raised he did play well). 5pts back was Hamblett, then one back on 40pts were Sherpa and WO1 Vicky van Zyl AMS. Then came four players on Finn, WO1 Charlie Brown AGC (SPS), Bott, and Sgt Brett Evans AMS. WO2 Steven Ball AGC (SPS) posted 38pts, and Chester, Bennett and Shaw were on 37pts. Sutton could only manage 34pts which on any other day may have been So,enoughtoretainhertitle.aftertwolongdaysin the sun and wind, Rajali could not be caught, winningWO1 Vicky Van Zyl AMS
JamesSuttonRajalibethebutTheChairAGA,LtCol(Retd)RogerCrook.leaderboardwasslowlytakingshapegoingintothefinalrounditwasonly2ndto7thplacesthatweregoingtocontested:123pts114pts113pts113pts112pts
Day two started as day one finished, with the weather conditions remaining hot and with a steady breeze; although the temperature had reduced slightly it was still going to create the odd problem if concentration levels lapsed. Early morning work by the greenkeepers saw a change of pin positions and a trimming of the greens. So, with hard packed fairways meaning the straight fairway bound shot would continue to roll for unprecedented distances and with receptive greens all was in place for another high scoring day time would Astell.things stood, there were realistically 6 or 7 players in with a chance, but of 25faultercoursethiswouldneedboththeleadertoalittle,whichcouldhappenoffahandicap,andthechasingpackto
Alistair Hennessey RE on 40pts, which was particularly good playing off 5. One back were James and the overnight leader Rajali on 39pts. Then came four players on 38pts Hamblett, Bosley, O’Driscoll, and Tucker. So there were several players posting consistently good scores over the two days. Sutton carded another sub handicap score of 37pts as did Sgt Jason Chester Inf, and one of our long standing attendees and a former
with an incredible 169pts, 18pts more than second placed Finn on 151pts. Interestingly, in 2021 Sutton won with score of 151pts. Rajali played well, but I suspect his handicap will be reduced considerably once CDH runs its updates. [edit Rajali’s handicap at the time of Scoringprintinghasbeenreducedto17.3].ingeneralinthetopten places was around 10pts better from last year, with the competition winner remarking that he found this course somewhat easier to play than his home course of TheCatterickGarrison.prizeswereshared
out evenly with Capt Mukunda Rajali Inf winning the Handicap Cup and also the Taylor/Bartley (over 45) went to SSgt Alan Finn R Sigs with151pts. Our thanks go to the President and Captain of Whittington Heath GC, Mr Kelvin Edwards and Mr Paul Keen. To Colin White, the General Manager, and his team for helping to arrange the event and for helping our team with the high tech IT setup in the club! To Nicky Manley and the restaurant staff for their kind hospitality. To Mike Raj, the Club Professional, and finally to Adam Jones, the Course Manager, and his team of greenkeeping staff for presenting an excellent, challenging course. The AGA is indebted to all at Whittington Heath for their long standing association with both L to R: Harrison's Shield Winner SSgt Alan Finn R Sigs
Taylor/Bartley Trophy & Handicap Cup Winner Capt Mukunda Rajali Inf Courage Cup Winner Maj Sean Stevenson RLC
