Team Finals Weekend @ Winter Hill Golf Club – 6-8 September 2025
The annual running competition finals took place at Winter Hill Golf Club, which is near Maidenhead. Competition was over the period Saturday 6, Sunday 7 and Monday 8 September 2025, which was a little earlier than last year. A total of 9 competitions with some very good golf played over the course of the 3 days.
It’s tough to reach the finals so well done to all who made the finals. In total we had 17x 4ball bookings on Saturday, 16 bookings on Sunday and 11 bookings on Monday to facilitate 176 players in total; some of whom were doubling up in competitions.
Events kicked off on Saturday 6 September with the Hawtree Mixed Greensomes, Siemens Bowl Men’s Better Ball and the Ballantyne Men’s Match Play. Unfortunately, we were a little late teeing off because of overrun to tee times in front and play was a little slow, but this was tempered with it being a lovely warm and sunny day. The course itself looked very good, and the feedback supported this with fairways and greens helped by the recent rain in great condition.
The opening event was the mixed Hawtree Trophy, our most historic team trophy, consisting of four pairs per team playing greensomes stableford with scores aggregated. There were three regional divisions to qualify through with Wycombe Heights, Richmond Park and Huntswood making it through the knock-out rounds. Scoring was very tight with all three teams covered by just 2 points as the last pairs scores were awaited. Wycombe Heights proved to be the strongest finishers lifting the trophy with a score of 138 points. Richmond Park Filled the runner up spot on 134, pushing Huntswood into third place on countback. Like 2024, in Wycombe Heights we had a first-time winner of the Hawtree, a trophy which was first played for in 1937.
The Siemens Bowl, which is a men’s four ball better ball, aggregate stableford competition was the second event up. It was contested by four clubs, Portsmouth, Huntswood, Rose Hill and Rickmansworth who had progressed through their respective area knock out rounds. Scoring was mixed with Portsmouth getting off to a great start with 45 points and holding onto a 2point lead from Rose Hill coming into the final groupings, with Rickmansworth’s third pair scoring 46points to be within 4 of the leaders. Rose Hill were the strongest in the last round, putting a 40point score on the board for a winning 161 total, with Portsmouth on 158 taking the runner up spot, Huntswood on 151 again filling third place from Rickmansworth on 149. For Rose Hill this was an impressive fifth title in this event and fourth on the trot.
Our final event of the day was the Ballantyne Trophy men’s team event. This event consists of three pairs per club playing better ball match play. Richmond Park and
Rose Hill were our finalists having battled through area qualifying and national semi-finals. As ever the matches were very competitive with two decided on the 18th hole, but it was Richmond Park who prevailed for a 2-1 result. A first-time win in this tournament for Richmond Park and some consolation after being beaten in last year’s final.
Sunday 7 September, again a warm and sunny day, played host to the finals of the men’s Clapham Common Platinum Shield and the women’s Whitewebbs Bowl. We teed off on time and pleasingly speed of play was quicker than Saturday, though notably slowed though the field with later groups taking longer to complete. More generally there was a great buzz around the venue with eager expectation.
The Clapham Common is our oldest men’s team competition dating back to 1948. It comprises six pair aggregate stableford greensomes. The four area winners contesting the final this year were all previous winners of this event; Rose Hill, Rickmansworth, Portsmouth and Hainault Forest. The wind was again blowing, and this was reflective in the scoring with 41 points the top individual scores of the day. Portsmouth opened an early lead and never gave others a chance to peg them back with all their scores in the range 36 to 41 points for a total of 230points (average just over 38 per pair). The battle for the Ellis Cup runner up trophy was much tighter with the other three clubs all still in the hunt with one pair remaining. It was though Rickmansworth who held on with 213points, from Rose Hill on 211 and Hainault Forest on 208. This was the third time Portsmouth have won the Clapham Common Shield, having previously prevailed in 1999 and 2021. While in the Ellis Cup it was a second win for Rickmansworth who previously lifter the trophy in 2011.
The women’s Whitewebbs Bowl, which comprises four women from each club playing better ball stableford to give an aggregate two pair score for each club was our final event on Sunday. Our four national finalists as area winners were Huntswood, Portsmouth, Warley Woods and Royal Epping Forest, with all apart from Royal Epping Forest being previous winners of this event. Scoring was exceptionally close with only 3 points covering all teams after the first scores were in. The second Huntswood pair then put in the best score of the day, 40points, to lift the title with 78point total. Portsmouth were runners up with 76points from Royal Epping Forest on 75 and last year’s winners Warley Woods on 69. This was the second tile Huntswood have lifter the Whitewebbs, their previous title coming in 2023.
On Monday 8 September our final competitions of the team series were contested: the Women’s TopRock Bowl, Women’s Match Play, Men’s TopRock Salver and the Senior Men’s Mitchell-Thomson. For us as organisers it felt a lot more relaxed after the demands of the previous days. It was again a lovely day, and pace of play was generally good.
The opening event was the Women’s TopRock Bowl, which is greensomes match play single pair event. Our finalist clubs who had battled through were Southsea and Haste Hill. The front 9 was closely fought with Southsea holding a narrow lead, but the burden of conceding 20 shots weighed heavy on the back 9 as Haste Hill came through to win 4&2. This is the first time Haste Hill have prevailed in this competition.
The Women’s Match Play which is also a single pair event, competed for on a better ball basis was next up, with Warley Woods and Hoebridge the finalists this year. The match was extremely close with Hoebridge in front early on, before being pegged back by Warley Woods. The match eventually decided as per last year on the 18th green, when Warley Woods held a good putt to seal victory. This is the second time Warley Woods have lifted this trophy, defending the title the club won last year.
The men were due to follow next in the Men’s TopRock Salver, unfortunately Richmond Park had a casualty overnight and at short notice were unable to send a replacement player/pair to represent the club. This left our other finalists The South Buckinghamshire to lift the trophy. This is their second title having previously won in 2023.
The Men’s Seniors Mitchell-Thomson final was the final event of the long weekend. Our finalists were Rose Hill, Farnham Park, Hainault Forest and Easthampstead who had won their regional events. The event comprises four pairs for each team, aged 55+, playing stableford greensomes with the combined scores from each team deciding the eventual champions. Farnham Park got off to a good start and this continued through the team with scores of 37, 37, 36, 38 for a winning 148 total. Defending champions Rose Hill were runners up with 141points, followed by Hainault Forest 135 and Easthampstead on 129. This was the second time Farnham Park have lifted this trophy, their previous victory coming in 2023.
Summary closing remarks: It was great to see so many players competing at the finals, and we congratulate all who made the finals and even more so those who lifted trophies. This year was especially memorable because we had 10 different clubs lifting the 10 trophies that were on offer! Beyond this our thanks go out to all clubs, players and organisers who played in, supported and managed events and matches over the course of the year.
From an organisational perspective it’s a significant task running the team series, from boking the venue, taking entries, managing ko rounds and then organising and running the finals. Many thanks therefore to all the NAPGC competition organisers and management team, especially Anne Butcher and Les Hasell who were present with Me for most of the weekend.
Stuart Cella, Secretary NAPGC
FULL RESULTS CAN BE FOUND ON OUR COMPETITIONS PAGE HERE
IMAGES OF OUR WINNERS CAN BE FOUND BELOW:
