Great Start to 2026

The NATO Golf Club started the 2026 golfing year in style, with a strong showing of 17 players (including three guests) for the Celtic Quaich at Golf and Hotel de Pierpont 18 January. We had two new members joining in their first competition, Marco and Robbie. Welcome!

Not only were there a lot of players, but the weather, for mid-January, was incredible - sunny, not much wind, and a comfortable 8-9 degree day that had the golfers shedding layers early in the round.

With such good conditions, it was possible to score well if you were playing well. At the top of the leaderboard after the first nine there were five that were fairly closely grouped, with Jonas (guest of Matt), Bogdan, and Trevor close to net par at 17 points. But Josh and Matt were setting a great pace at 20 and 21 points respectively for the front nine.

Trevor and Josh both maintained a good standard of play, but Bogdan, Joe and Matt all turned up the heat. Bogdan's 4-over gross on the back nine was enough to take third place (on countback) over Josh, but Joe's blistering even-par gross score on the back nine vaulted him all the way to a solo second place finish. Matt's 2-over back nine score was enough to win the Celtic Quaich comfortably with 43 points.

A well-deserved win for Matt; even when in trouble, his recoveries were fantastic! Look at that finish!

Jon and Arvid wished they had such rapt attention when they were speaking!

Part of Joe's fantastic back 9 was his drive on 17, the Long Drive hole. He was the first to tee off on that hole in the competition, and that was Long Drive, done and dusted. He birdied the hole, since he basically had a wedge to the green for his second shot on a par 5!

Jonas had a great shot into the Par 3 15th, right on line, and just about 2 meters short of the pin for Closest to the Pin.

On a separate note, this was the last event for Matt and Di (and it was also Matt's 23rd birthday...). It was great to have you with us for the time that we had together! You both will be missed!

The next event is the Valentine's Massacre, and it will be on 14 February, so mark your calendars. The info for that event, and the other events for the season, will be on the website soon!