Household Cavalry Sports Round-up Household Cavalry Golf 2010 by Captain AP Kellet
H
ousehold Cavalry golf in 2010 was a very memorable year: it saw our dominance in the Colonel’s in Chief Cup at Worplesdon Golf Club, the subsequent regaining of the trophy and the re-instigation of the Sunningdale match that had lapsed over the last year. The Household Division Championship was the first event on the calendar in March. It saw us field nearly 20 competitors for the day, almost half the field made up of Household Cavalrymen (past and present): it was no surprise that we carried off a few trophies. In the morning’s play Steve Wood won the Scratch, and Nick Wood was runner up in the Handicap. In the afternoon SCpl Wheeler and Dick Hennessy-Walsh were scratch winners and Captain Kibble and Chris Bye came runners up in the Handicap competition. To cap it off, Captain Douglas won nearest the pin but missed his 2ft birdie putt. During this competition we fielded some young and upcoming golfers most notably LCoH and LCpl Wharton, but due to incorrect scoring on their cards they were disqualified from the morning’s competition with scores that were rather BIG. The preliminary rounds for the Colonel’s in Chief Cup were fought the following week over the same course, giving us an advantage having been successful there. The Household Cavalry fielded two teams, the stalwarts that were hugely successful in the late 90’s comprising Dick Hennessy-Walsh, Stu Sibley, Neil Harman, Neil Flynn, SCpl Wheeler and Gary Dunkley. The B team comprised of Nick and Steve Wood, Captain Kellet, Captain Douglas, Captain Kibble and Russ Taylor. The A team cruised through the single match they played but the B team, after narrowly beating the Welsh Guards B, faced the formidable Irish Guards that have held the trophy for the last five years. After a hard afternoon’s play we came out victorious by one hole and therefore had both teams into the finals in September. The re-institution of the match at Sunningdale Golf Club in late April was greatly appreciated by all golfers both past and present that have been selected to play on one of the finest courses in the world. It is always an honour to be hosted by the Club and play the same fairways as the great Sam Torrance, who was indeed playing with Tim Henman
HCav golfers with the Maj Gen
that day probably for a sportsman’s wager. The result predictably went the way of the hosts. June saw two big events, first the Household Cavalry Charity Golf Day at Kingswood Country Club, Surrey, and the latter being a fixture against Eton College Golf Club. The Charity Golf Day has been around for four years now and it is the second time it has been held at Kingswood. Capt Warren Douglas spent many an hour fine tuning what was a spectacular event. At the end of May it was suggested that we may have to postpone it due to a lack of teams. He persevered and the outcome, after a lot of work, was indeed worthy of our Charity earning well over £20,000 for the Operational Casualties Fund. Eton College is another annual fixture that is in the Regimental Calendar and WO2 Hughes took up the challenge of organising this match with some supper and a few drinks afterwards. We were delighted and surprised to defeat their regular members on what is a notoriously difficult but short course. Victory here has been a long time in coming but again highlights the strength in HCav and our serving soldiers golfing skills. The finale to the season was the Colonel’s in Chief Cup with two teams out of the four finalists coming from the Household Cavalry. The morning matches were supremely close, with the A team beating the Welsh Guards on the final hole of the final match, but the B team narrowly
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succumbed to the Coldstream Guards. That left the HCav A team playing for the trophy and the B team in a 3rd place play off versus the Welsh Guards. The B team were beaten, again only narrowly, in the closing holes of the matches but the A team went on to record an outstanding and very convincing victory against the Coldsream Guards. Although only touching on the major events of the year, as with most sports, it is preparation that tells. Success requires patience, practice play at club and individual levels, and a winning ethos which is something that the Household Cavalry golfers have shown in abundance this year. Capt Hennessy-Walsh accepts the Colonel’s in Chief Trophy