RAF SECURES OUTSTANDING VICTORY AGAINST NORFOLK

RAF vs Norfolk County Golf Union– Hunstanton Golf Club, Norfolk, 27 Mar 2011

With most players travelling direct from Birmingham Airport post the RAF Coaching week in Spain to play in the first fixture of the season, hopes were high that the poor showing against Norfolk from last year would not be repeated again. Nevertheless, swapping the mid twenties centigrade of Spain for the 5 degrees of Hunstanton links came as a bit of a shock to most as thermals, jumpers and windproofs failed to adequately warm the RAF Team during the practice round on Saturday. With only Billy Macleod, Ian Robinson and Richie Larratt having played at Hunstanton previously, it was vital that all the players familiarised themselves with the course and decided upon hole tee-off preferences for the following mornings foresomes. The course was in excellent condition with true running greens.

On arriving at the Club on Sunday morning, the weather and wind conditions were similar to that experienced during the practice round and so when the foresomes parings and order of play was decided upon by stand-in Captain for this match, Ian Robinson, everyone was content. However, against a strong Norfolk side bristling with youth and talent, many of whom play golf full time, this was a tall ask for the RAF.

At lunch the RAF were 3½ to 1½ up after some great play and wins for Daz Gould/Aaron Ashberry, Ian Robinson/James Wallis (playing his first match for the RAF) and Steph Usher/Gareth Hopkinson. The half point being secured by a battling display by Richie Larrett/Liam Pucill.

The afternoon singles faired even better, with Billy Macleod off first and securing the first afternoon point with an easy 5&4 victory and Ian Robinson comfortably winning 8&6 from midfield, the RAF only needed another 2 wins from the remaining 8 matches to clinch an historic victory. News from the course was good with Aaron Ashberry, Steph Usher and Richie Larrett all well up and Liam Pucill and Sam Whittle-Tanner evenly matched with their opponents. The final singles result was a fantastic 6½ to 3½ win for the RAF meaning the overall match score was 10-5 to the RAF. I cannot remember the last time that the RAF Team had won against a county side (perhaps some RAF golf historian can find out), let alone do so in such an outstanding fashion. Notably, each player contributed at least 1 point to the total. I was so proud to be the Captain on the day. Full results.

The Norfolk County Captain was graceful in defeat, but you could tell this result hurt. A week in Spain certainly helps with the preparation but with several Inter-Services players missing from the Team, the RAF squad now has considerable strength in depth that can only bode well for the forthcoming season.

Final thanks must go to Colin Yates for the admin for the event and for Phil Crossland who travelled across from Cambridgeshire to support the Team – it was much appreciated.

Words: Ian Robinson