RAF Men's

The RAF Men's Team is the highest representative team for males. The team has a large number of matches throughout the season, culminating in the most prestigious fixture, the Inter-Services against the Army and Navy, every September.

The Season Ahead - RAF Men's Captain, 2012: Jason Parr

Undertaking the position of Captain of the RAFGA Men’s Representative Team (MRT) for the 2012 season is a real honour and one that I relish. Although we narrowly missed out on regaining the Inter-Services (IS) title in 2011 the MRT is in an extremely strong position. Much of the credit belongs to my predecessor, Sqn Ldr Dean Lewis who did a sterling job over his 4 year tenure, including the outstanding victory in the 2009 IS.

Traditionally the Captain has been an integral playing member of the team, participating in representative fixtures, including the IS. However, the RAFGA has decided to adopt a philosophy of a non-playing captain; this change is entirely consistent with modern day team golf (most notably the Ryder Cup) and mirrors our sister services. A non-playing captain is in a potentially stronger position to assess player and team performance, allowing them to make more informed decisions. Thus as the inaugural non-playing captain, I will be looking to establish and develop the role throughout the forthcoming season with my principal aim being to select, develop and prepare a team which is capable of winning the IS in 2012 and years to come.

The 2012 RAFGA representative programme has been intentionally assembled to focus on player and team development. The coaching week in Spain during March represents an early opportunity in the season for our RAFGA PGA Professional, Al Currie, to work on player development. The facilities and conditions experienced during this week are first class, ensuring that we maximise the opportunity. Whilst selection for the coaching week is based on a myriad of factors, the previous season’s performances and the potential to represent the RAF at the IS, preferably within the next 3 years, are driving factors.

We have a number of extremely competitive representative fixtures against county sides throughout 2012 together with our annual matches against the Civil Service, RAF Golf Society and Army Development Team. All fixtures provide a great environment for established, emerging and new players to test and sharpen their match-play skills; it also provides me with an opportunity to trial foursome partnerships ready for the IS in September.

Whilst team and squad selection for many sports is largely subjective, golf benefits from having a more objective focus, particularly the stroke-play format, as individuals can be judged against actual scores as opposed to subjective opinion - that is why the majority of the Ryder Cup team qualify through their stroke-play results despite the event being match-play. Therefore, the MRT is very much open to new individuals who have performed at station level and subsequently regional level, with the RAF Regional Championships available as a platform for those golfers who aspire to represent the MRT. The top-6 finishers from the Regional Qualifiers automatically qualify for the RAFGA Inter-Region Match-Play Championships, which provide emerging players the opportunity to play against established RAF players. Therefore, I would strongly encourage any player with a handicap of less than 24 to attend their Regional Championship.

Finally, it is worth noting that our RAFGA PGA Professional, Al Currie, is available throughout the season for advice, lessons, club fitting etc so please feel free to contact him at Brampton Park Golf Club to discuss as required – please note that you will be responsible for any fees. Furthermore, please give me a call (95221 7181) if you wish to discuss anything and I look forward to teeing off with you during the season.

Jason Parr