A Valiant Effort at the National - The Friendship Cup 2026.

The NATO Golf Club team prepare for the second Friendship Cup at the National

The second match of the reinvigorated Friendship Cup between the International Golf Club and the NATO Golf Club was renewed on a beautiful May day at the National Golf Club. A magnificent turn out saw 9 flights of 4BBB, with 27 points up for grabs (one point for the front 9, one point for the back nine and one point for the overall match). The previous match had been one-sided affair with IGC winning 16.5 points v 4.5 points in 2025. In true Ryder Cup spirit, NGC needed 14 points to win the trophy.

The National was in great condition as the sun shone on a lovely Saturday morning. The NGC set out resplendent in their multi-coloured shirts and quarter zip tops with high expectations of pulling off a shock win. At the turn, the matches were evenly balanced with NGC ahead in 4 games but all were incredibly tight. Who would hold their nerve?

Up front, Joe and Rich turned on the style to turn their match around, winning 2-1. In the battle of the Captains, Darryl and Jon convincingly won 2.5 v 0.5. while the battling Horvats took a clean sweep 3-0. Arvid and Annick were incredibly unlucky in a tight match to lose 2.5-0.5 which they could easily have won 3-0. The NGC were leading at this point and all of the remaining matches saw the NGC fight to the last with a great effort from the Wiens, Team USA, Glen and Guillaume and Julian and Robbie.

It all came down to the last match where NGC needed a big win. Sadly it was not to be as Rick and his guest partner lost out. An incredibly competitive match saw IGC hold out to take a 15.5 v 11.5 win.

The Friendship Cup is presented to the IGC Captain!

The teams adjourned to the terrace for an in-depth debrief and the prize giving. A close competition ended with great camaraderie and the intent of organizing a rematch in 12 months time.