Inter Regional Championship 22

INTER REGIONAL

championship

06 - 07 September 2022 Worksop Golf Club

Worksop Golf Club once again hosted the Inter Regional Championship and after one of the hottest summers on record, the course had suffered, like most golf courses up and down the country. The fairways were burnt, but it must be said the greens were in excellent condition with pin positions as tough as we have seen all season. A little rain in the preceding few days helped the fairways which now had some give meaning the ball was not able to run for the distances they once had. This coupled with the receptive greens made for a much fairer test than it might have been.

With a field of 9 teams, (Cyprus unable to travel due to travel restrictions) we had 54 players representing their A Teams in this year’s Championship; Northern Ireland (the reigning Champions), Scotland, Wales and both Northern, Midlands, and Southern regions.

The competition format remained the same in time honoured tradition with Greensome Pairs Stableford in the morning and Singles Stableford in the

afternoon, all with relevant handicap allowances.

An early start accompanied by dark clouds gave the feeling that you could get at the course and score well. At least that was the feeling in the practise area; of course, things always change after you hit your first drive off the first tee. That said, the rain held off, at least until later in the afternoon, and the sun made an appearance as the morning progressed.

All was set for a good day’s competition.

With play off the yellow tees, it was now left to the teams and players to produce the scores.

It was clear that those with the ability to hit consistently straight shots would score well and this was the case in the morning Greensomes, where some extremely good scores were posted.

There were six pairs who posted 40 pts or more and a further six hitting the high thirties. Most notably it was the reigning champions from Northern Ireland who got off to the best of starts with Sgt J Simmons and Capt D Muir posting a winner score of 46 pts, this was followed

by Eastern Region’s WO1 J Butler and Mr R Cooper on 43 pts. Other notable scores were North West’s Capt S Tickle and Mr M Wiggins on 42 pts, WO2 G Riding and Mr R Delmare, and Scotland’s SSgt B Innes and WO1 D Grant on 41 pts and then Northern Ireland’s Sgt R Fraser and Capt C Tweed on 40 pts.

As for the team scores, at this stage the team from Northern Ireland had firmly placed a marker down and were not going to give up the trophy without a fight, scoring an impressive 125 pts.

Competition for the next few places was however much closer with North West (118 pts), Eastern (116 pts), North East (114 pts) and Scotland (112 pts) all within 6 pts of each other, but the best of the bunch trailing behind Northern Ireland by 7 pts.

Practice makes perfect

The afternoon singles competition was again played off the yellow tees and with

Practice green

the weather starting to close in and a forecast of heavy rain, thunder and lightning, there were doubts as to whether all matches would be completed. Any weather delay would severely disrupt our ability to complete the competition, owing to the drawing in of the evenings. So, with the officials patrolling the course to maintain a good pace of play, the competition got underway. Play progressed well into the afternoon before the heavens opened and the lightning started, but with frequent weather checks and effective communication between the officials on the ground play continued, but for a brief period when the rain fell as if a monsoon, waterproofs were hurriedly donned. As the rain subsided and play returned to normality it soon became clear that Northern Ireland were going to be difficult to beat as they maintained the pressure on their closest rivals, one player posting 40pts and three others 37pts or better.

The next four teams making up the chasing pack from the morning Greensomes fought hard to make a challenge with Scotland making the best charge, but having started 13 pts adrift at the start of the singles it was always going to be a big ask and whilst they leapfrogged the North East, North West and Eastern regions, they ended up 19 pts short of Northern Ireland.

At the close of play, North Ireland had retained their title with a very commendable 311 pts, in Runner-Up position on 292 pts was Scotland, who rose four places during the afternoon rounds, third came Eastern Region on 286 pts and fourth North East on 282 pts.

Our thanks, once again, go out to the Worksop committee and all its members for allowing us the use of their course for this year’s event and for their generous hospitality and support. A special mention must go to the Club Captain, Mr

Stuart Fletcher, who went out of his way to make us feel so welcome and also assisted as a starter for the day. To Scott Barber and his staff in the Pro shop, Natalie Willis and her catering staff, and all of the greenkeeping staff for setting the course so well. Finally, a special mention to the new General Manager, Mr Simon Booth, who following a meeting to discuss future events agreed to host the Inter Region Championship for a further 5 years. We are already looking forward to 2023!

Our thanks again to Thales, the AGA Headline Sponsor, to BT and Comm Spec who continue to provide pro bono IT tech support to the AGA, to the Army Sport Control Board, and last, but by no means least, to Lt Col (Retd) Keith Seddon, the Tournament Director, for his unstinting efforts to ensure the event ran smoothly.

The overall results: Greensome Pairs (AM): 1st Capt Muir and Sgt Simmons 46pts 2nd WO2 Butler and Mr Cooper 43 pts Singles Nett (PM): 1st Sgt Ian Lockwood 2nd Maj Alan Falconer 3rd WO1 John Butler 4th Capt Cliff Tweed

41 pts 40 pts OCB 40 pts 39 pts

Regional Team Scores: 1st Norther Ireland 2nd Scotland 3rd Eastern 4th North East 5th North West 6th South West 7th Wales 8th West Midlands 9th South East

311 pts 292 pts 286 pts 282 pts 273 pts 266 pts 258 pts 256 pts 255 pts

With the Championship secured at Worksop for the next 5 years, we look forward to returning on Tue 5 and Wed 6 Sep 23 with the usual practice round and Committee match taking place on Tue 5 Sep 23.

L to R: Maj A Falconer, Sgt R Fraser, Trish Westwood (WGC Lady Captain), Capt D Muir, LCpl S Clare, Stuart Fletcher (WGC Captain), Capt C Tweed, Sgt J Simmons