Page 45 - RADC 2023

AMS Golf Tour – South Africa 2023
Cpl Elizabeth Chapman
From 26th September – 8th October 2023
I was fortunate enough to take part in the Army medical services overseas golf tour to South Africa, Ex SOUTH AFRICA SERPENT. Overall there was 16 golfers on the tour, 4 females and 12 males. There was a good mix of abilities from all ages and ranks, which made for some exciting matches, and an excellent opportunity to meet other people from across the AMS with the same interest.
We played a total of 7 rounds of golf across 6 different courses during our 14-day tour and played several different tournaments during this time. There was
a daily tournament at each course, with points scored daily accumulating an overall tour winner. I did manage to win on one of the days – Mossel bay Golf course, despite being unable to see my ball through the fog and torrential wind and rain, I somehow managed to play the best that I had the whole tour! Unfortunately for me, this luck didn’t last long though and I ended up placing mid table for the final score.
Aside from the golf we took a trip to Botlierskop game reserve where we spent 4 hours on a safari tour. Something we were all greatly looking forward to, until we looked at the weather forecast and noticed that it had taken a turn for the worst. Despite ending up soaked through and wind swept, we were
in high spirits and got to see some amazing wildlife in a gorgeous setting.
It wasn’t all wind and rain though, we did get to see some of the African sunshine, and definitely tried to make the most of this,
spending every second we could admiring the stunning sea and mountain views of South Africa’s western cape – when we weren’t visiting the local golf shop to replace the golf balls we had lost to the Indian ocean that is.
During the tour we also got the honour of welcoming the new Chair AMS Golf, Lt Col Ryan Mallin into his role, and to say our thanks to the previous Chair AMS Golf,
Col Stuart Campbell, for his expertise and organisational skills not only for putting the whole tour together, but for the development of AMS golf during his time as Chair.
From whale watching on the 13th hole at Pinnacle Point, to watching Europe win the Ryder cup in a local sports bar, there was always something going on! I thoroughly enjoyed my time on tour, and I am thrilled
to have been able to take part and to meet such an amazing group of people to make the trip even more fun. I am definitely looking forward to more opportunities to
get involved with AMS Golf in the future, and hopefully to see the development of the teams even further! If anybody wishes to get involved with this amazing sport, please feel free to contact me, or view further details on the Army golf association website.
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