Brampton/Wyton edge out Waddington in the Inter Station Final

The last sight of summer witnessed the six qualifying stations battle for the 2010 RAFGA Inter Station Scratch Championship at Sleaford Golf Club on 23^rd and 24^th September, sponsored by BAE Systems. This exciting two days, with its varied stableford format, is the ultimate competition in the RAFGA calendar and, as ever, it proved to be an enjoyable occasion with a close-run result once again.

Waddington, the 2009 winners, had qualified to defend their crown and were pitted against Lossiemouth, Wyton/Brampton, Cosford, Coningsby and High Wycombe. Each team had a reasonably strong line-up and to make a wager was a difficult call.

The first day got under way on an overnight rain-soaked golf course, however, it soon became clear that the Sleaford course was still struggling from a dry summer overall, making it more ‘linksy’ than its normal reputation; the rabbits seemed to have made a big impact on the course too, sadly. The greens were reasonably quick but getting close to pins on approach work was tricky and very few big putts would be made on Day One. However, the Greensomes start witnessed two familiar RAF Team names, Jason Parr and Steph Usher, take the spoils with a creditable 37 points. Assisted by their colleagues with scores in the thirties, High Wycombe equalled the Wyton/Brampton boys with 96 points after the morning session.

Day One’s afternoon fourball Better-ball allowed the now familiar players to ‘open up and let rip.’ With the weather staying kind, little wind and a decent shirtsleeve temperature, it was the pairing of Steve Lockwood and Mark Rushforth who amassed an awesome 43 points for Coningsby, out of their teams afternoon’s 108, which included ‘Rushy’ shooting a terrific 7 birdies! Once again, the Wyton/Brampton six had produced a consistent showing to forge a single point lead into Day Two. So it stood at the end of Day One: Wyt/Bra 203; Lossie 202; H Wyc 199; Wad 193; Con 193; Cos 179, as a massive thunderstorm took hold on Lincolnshire for the night ahead and players prepared for the awful weather forecast that awaited them on Day Two.

Golfers never it when like it when the weathermen get it right with a predicted deluge but, sadly, the morning of Day Two saw heavily water-proofed players set off on their foursomes rounds to do battle with the course and the weather! The nasty cold-front passed through around late morning and conditions remained blustery and cold from the North. Consequently, the late-starting leaders from Day One had a slight advantage and it was Wyton/Brampton’s Billy MacLeod and Steve Napper who made the most of their time, shooting 29 points ahead of the consistent Parr/Usher combo of High Wycombe, on countback. Following the third part of the four-stage event, Wyton/Brampton had played themselves into a comfortable lead of 13 points over High Wycombe and 16 over Waddington, but we all remember a rather bigger lead being taken into the 2009 singles being turned over. The event was poised, once more.

Surprisingly, the Lossiemouth team were unable to capitalise on the weather conditions which we felt would favour their games, with the exception of Richie Larratt who ground out 32 points. The Cosford team made up a grand effort but could not compete with their stronger opponents. For Coninsgby, the promising big-hitter Aaron Ashberry teased out 30 points but his team couldn’t keep up with the leaders. For High Wycombe, Jase Parr and Steph Usher once again made the pace with 30 points each but their team couldn’t hold their place overall. It was the Waddington team that made the best fist of the singles, led by the consistent RAF Champion Dean Lewis and his 33 points, the best of the afternoon. Waddington shot a total of 167 singles points, but this year was to prove more successful for the Wyton/Brampton combo as Billy MacLeod notched up 32 points amongst his side’s 155 point singles haul which meant that they had held their nerve as it came down to the wire, by a mere 4 points. The crowd had eagerly awaited the final players’ scores but, this year, Jose Zarate made amends and produced the goods, along with his fellow team-mates. Wyton/Brampton were crowned 2010 Inter Station Champions; congratulations to you all.

The final standings were: Wyt/Bra 439; Wad 435; Lossie 418; H Wyc 415; Con 409; Cos 358. All results are available on our website here.

My thanks to Sleaford Golf Club for allowing the RAF to hold this Championship at their facility, especially the catering staff who made us all feel very welcome and provided some excellent food with great humour. Thank you to Brian Robertson for helping us with his mathematical skills on Day Two but especially to Dave Chowns, in his last RAFGA event before he leaves the Service. Dave has been a stalwart in his quest for sponsorship, hosting and behind-the-scenes efforts on behalf of you all and we shall miss him. The best of luck to you in the future.

Finally, thanks to BAES’ Steve Nichol for his continued support to the RAFGA over many years. Steve’s comments at the presentation bear stark reminder of the difficult times that we all face in the future and we must be mindful to appreciate the significant contribution that our sponsors make to allow us to play a high-quality events. I hope that Steve Nichol and Steve Chambers enjoyed their own 2&1 win over our RAFGA pair in the wind and rain!

I hope you all have a good finale or two at your own Clubs before making the most of the winter to hone or adjust your games in preparation for the 2011 season. Watch the website for details of the RAFGA 2011 fixtures, which I hope to post soon, when approved by the DSB(RAF).

Report by: Wg Cdr Richie Matthews, Director of Golf RAFGA

RAF Brampton/Wyton's captain, Ian Robinson, being presented the Inter Station Trophy from our valued sponsors BAE Systems.