Match versus Nags

Walton Heath provides a new venue for this fixture in 2024, but we anticipate the rivalry and the camaraderie between the IPAGs and our friends the NAGs being as strong as ever. The IPAGs regained the trophy with a comprehensive win at West Hill in last year, but NAGs captain Andrew Brown promises a strong team including several Walton Heath members who will enjoy home course advantage.

2023 report

Captain Ed Glover assembled a strong IPAGs team for the annual match against the NAGs, hoping to regain the trophy after a narrow 7-5 defeat in 2022.

Emboldened by a new team uniform of crisp white shirt and navy cap with custom embroidery, the golfers who teed it up in the early summer sunshine included no-less than nine players in possession of single-figure handicaps. Facing a NAGs team depleted by a couple of late withdrawals, the IPAGs team were conceding shots in every match. But the men in white showed little mercy to their opponents, racing into a 4.5 to 1.5 lead in the morning fourballs - although NAGS captain Andrew Brown deserves an honourable mention, taking on two IPAGS single-handedly and emerging with a hard-fought half point.

After a calorific and terrific West Hill lunch, the teams returned to the course for the afternoon greensomes - with the final match being a six-person foresomes game featuring two IPAGs teams taking on one brave NAGs pairing. The vagaries of the alternate shot format left no room for complacency, with several matches going to the final hole, where the out of bounds lurking just a few paces from the green featured heavily. 

The afternoon session ended with IPAGs claiming 3.5 points and NAGs 2.5, resulting in an emphatic 8-4 win to the IPAGs. More importantly, everyone concerned enjoyed another memorable day on the Surrey heathlands, with new friendships forged and old acquaintances renewed. We look forward to next year’s battle against our old friends the NAGs, and wish them well for the rest of the season.