The Final of the NAPGC Ballantyne Trophy was played at Winter Hill Golf Club, near Maidenhead, on the Saturday of NAPGC’s 2026 Finals Weekend. The Ballantyne finalists, Richmond Park B and Wycombe Heights C, tee’d off at 1pm on a sunny, warm, but breezy day, following the teams playing for the Hawtree and Siemens trophies. The Winter Hill course was in great condition, showing very little sign of the multiple summer heat waves that have affected so many courses, including Richmond Park.

The teams and handicaps are shown on the tee sheet (link below). Richmond Park’s first pair of Richard Back and Joe Gonclaves were ‘running late’ and arrived just 10 minutes before their tee time. Neither had played the course before but competed in a close match which finished with a “1 down” loss. Richmond Park’s second pair of Nick Rogers and Aiden Hurley also had a close match throughout but closed it out with a “2 & 1” win. Richmond Park’s third pair took the lead on the 5th hole and built a 4up lead after 9 holes. This lead was pegged back to 3up after 11 holes, 2up after 13 holes, and just 1up after 15 holes, however pars on the 16th, 17th and 18th resulted in a “1up win” at the finish. So Richmond Park retained the Ballantyne Trophy for another year with a 2:1 win. Although extremely competitive, the matches were played in a very good spirit and the Wycombe team were very gracious in defeat.