The original and many argue the most prestigious VAG Society competition.

First contested in 1989, each year it represented the focal point of The Tour.

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The initial partnerships always remained the same [ Brydon/Dewhirst vs Ingle/Tester ] and history bore witness to the coveted shield being regularly passed from one pair to the other (see Role Of Honour). Like many Society competitions, the format evolved over the years, from matchplay to stableford, from 18 to 36 holes. Latterly, it was contested over 36 holes and a fourball-betterball stableford method used for scoring.

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This competition was characterised by the idiosyncratic tradition of each pair wearing a ‘team uniform’ – which yielded some marvellous outfits over the years (see Photo Gallery). Team Tester/Ingle were particularly imaginative in this area, with humorous garments and even, on one memorable occasion, ever-increasing facial hair arrangements donned for the amusement & entertainment of all and sundry.

In 2004, however, The Society was overcome somewhat by a huge wave of emotion. Two members came down to dinner at Hawkstone Park on the first night of that year's tour with a rather dramatic suggestion that was to fundamentally change the way the VAG operated as an entity.It was felt that too many tours in years gone by had been beset by niggles and gripes between partnerships, as to who had really deserved to win the coveted shield, irrespective of the actual result.To that end, and to reflect the fact that, moving forwards, the VAG wished to operate more as a collective, the competition format changed fundamentally.

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So the Society decided to play 'against the course' in a competition where 'the best 2 of 4' stableford points scored on each of the 18 holes were attributed to the Society as a whole. The competition was played off scratch, and on that basis, a target of 54 points was established (ie 1xPar and 1xBogey on each hole). If this target was not reached, then the VAG would not award itself the shield, given it is a hugely illustrious trophy which the Society must always prove itself worthy of winning.

The ‘Texas Takeover’ of 2015 (which is fully documented in the changes to other competitions) rendered the VAG Pairs the only Society competition in which members played their own ball throughout each hole of the event. For that reason, it was particularly highly regarded by the purists who perceived the whole Texas Two format to be a lily-livered cop-out.

But as all scholars of the game know, time waits for no man and inevitably as the years went by the Society's golfing capabilities diminished.

So in 2025 it was time for another seismic shake-up in the format of The VAG Pairs! The Shambles format was introduced. For those readers unfamiliar with this format, it quite simply involves all four Members teeing-off and then from the single chosen tee shot, Members finish the hole playing their own ball. As previously, the best two scores are to be put on the card, with a total of 63 stableford points the new target to register a Society win.