The Royal Hague is ranked 89th in the World by Top 100 golf courses and this ranking was absolutely justified as the CCGS Touring party enjoyed a wonderful and spectacular day of golf and hospitality at Holland's most highly ranked golf course. From start to finish, our day at the Royal Hague was superb - a genuine treat for all concerned. However, the match for the Stork Trophy, first contested in 1956, was something of a mismatch as we played off our British handicaps whilst our opponents' handicaps were adjusted in accordance with the European Golf Association rules! So whilst their handicaps were all higher than normal, ours remained the same and the match results reflected this imbalance.
All credit then to Bill Merry and Frank Collyer who managed to win their contest whilst our remaining teams all lost for a match result of 4 - 1 to the home club. However, any disappointment that we might have felt was overshadowed by the excellence of the course, the warmth of the welcome and the superb hospitality that we received.
We are off to the International Course today - venue for this year's Dutch Open - and will be aligning our handicaps to the European standard, ignoring any pretence that the Society will, in any way, be sticking vigorously to the British independence and choosing not to take advantage of European regulations!