On April 20 – 22, The Australian Golf Club hosted a group of Members from one of our reciprocal Clubs in New Zealand, Royal Wellington Golf Club.
Our relationship with Royal Wellington goes back to the 1960’s when past AGC President Kevin Kirby established our reciprocal arrangement through close personal and business connections with the then RWGC Captain Ian Stace. Members of both Clubs have benefited from this arrangement ever since.
In 2016 a biennial Mixed challenge match between the Clubs was established to foster our relationship and a team from The Australian were invited to visit Royal Wellington for the inaugural event that year. The teams now compete for the “Stace/Kirby Cup” every two years.
Royal Wellington Members arrived to The Australian Golf Club on Friday for a light breakfast and a practice round which was highlighted with a hole in one by RWGC Member Sue Velvin on Hole 2. Over the three day’s in Sydney, members of Royal Wellington enjoyed a visit to Government House, a harbour cruise and a Jacket and Tie dinner at the Club, which was highlighted by a tasting of the 100 year old Remy Martin Louis VIII Cognac.
Two competitive rounds were played in the form of 4BBB Stableford matches. The Australian Golf Club enjoyed the home ground advantage during round 1 and took a commanding lead after the men’s and women’s pairing matches, with a score of 10 matches to 2 matches. The best score from round 1 was Joanne Cox & Sally Cullen, representing The Australian, with a score of 45 points.
Royal Wellington fought their way back in the mixed pairing matches of the second round to record 7.5 match wins against 4.5, but the deficit was too much to overcome and The Australian won the Stace/Kirby Cup by defeating Royal Wellington Golf Club 14.5 matches to 9.5 matches overall. The best score from round 2 was 46 points by Tim Castle & Annette King, representing Royal Wellington.
The event will next be hosted in Wellington in 2020.
Click here for the Round 1 Results
Click here for the Round 2 Results
Click here for the Final Results Sheet
Below are a selection of images from the event.
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- The Stace-Kirby Cup
