NAVY News :: Sport

Navy’s hoped-for third consecutive win in the ACT Inter-Service Golf Series was thwarted by Army at Mollymook club on the NSW South Coast on October 23-27.

It took two extra holes on the last day of the last match between Navy and Air Force to decide the outcome with Navy taking a hard-earned victory at the 20th green.

Match play was the format for this tournament which ensured a compelling challenge for all because the result of each match can swing quickly over a few holes, players requiring both skill and a cool head under pressure.

Throughout the week, the standard of golf was of the highest order and continued the tradition of close matches between the three teams.

Army lost the opening match narrowly to Air Force by 5 matches to 6.5. The result could have gone either way, with a number of close matches before the top-seeded match was decided on the first extra hole.

Army needed a large win against Navy to keep their hopes alive in the series. The team order was reshuffled and this helped Army to record one of the largest wins in the tournament’s history, defeating Navy by 9 matches to 2.5.

As in the previous two years, this set the scene for an interesting tussle on the final day, as there were a number of possible outcomes dependent upon the day’s play.

“For most of the day, Air Force held the upper hand, before a late rally led by CN VADM Russ Shalders, AO, CSC, RAN, recording a personal 5 and 4 win,” Navy golf representative CMDR Graham Bell said.

“This set up a compelling conclusion to the week’s event with the second-seeded match heading to extra holes in order to determine the overall result.

“Sadly, the biggest green-side cheers came from the Army team, because Navy’s victory over Air Force [6.5 to 5] meant that Army were now the Inter-Service Champions for the first time since 2000.”