A golfing society reaching 50 years of playing is quite some feat. Two long time members, Christopher Worrall and Phil Holloway provided us with the following words and images to mark the occasion.
The original meetings to form the new Norton & District GS were held at the Garabaldi Inn, Stourbridge some time in 1976 when five original members signed up. By the end of that year there were 27 members, each paying £3 each as subs.
The first official competition was held at Forest Hills GC in Gloucs, the society travelling there by coach. One of the originals, Brian Thatcher emerged as the winner. Not a lot is documented from those early years in terms of what was competed for, only two trophies date back to then, The Monthly Medal Championship and the Singles Matchplay Tournament.
The only other location remembered from 1977 was the Brabazon at The Belfry. It is recalled in society folklore that the members vowed to keep on playing the Brabazon until it became too expensive for them, which it eventually did by reaching £18, for 18 holes!
In the 1980s the society changed their host venue pub a number of times, always in Stourbridge, before settling at the Bird in Hand in Oldswinford. One thing that did interest Midlands Golfer was that in 1985 and for a couple of years after, NDGS took part in a society team competition run by a publication called Society Golf Magazine which had some mileage for a while.
In 1996 to mark the society’s 20th year, a new annual competition was arranged at Cleobury Mortimer, a 27-hole that began well but was reduced to 18 by 2001 when some of the older members felt that 27 was getting too much for them!
It was also circa the late 1990s that a number of the members started to embark on the ‘European Tour’. Many stories have come from these events, however “what happens on tour, stays on tour”, but it is safe to say that many of the European breweries’ profits have benefited over the years, particularly in some of the early years when our members were a little less round and wrinkly!
There have been a number of venues over the years, including Majorca, Costa Del Blanca, Costa Del Sol, North France and Portugal’s Algarve in the later years.
On a number of occasions in the late 2000s/early 2010s, the Builth Wells venue became an informal weekend away event for a number of the members, incorporating Llandrindod Wells Golf Club as an additional Saturday venue. The members who made a weekend of it simply booked individual B&Bs within Builth Wells, with the evening taken up by frequenting the local hostelries! It was noted that the society venue game on Sunday was quite a subdued event by those who had travelled up on that morning!
To celebrate our 40th Anniversary in 2016, a weekend venue was arranged by Steve Colebatch and Jon Kasper. This was to be held at Carden Park, Cheshire. This proved to be a much welcomed addition to our golfing calendar, and therefore became a bi-annual event.
Our society now looks forward to reaching the 50th Anniversary later in 2026. Who knows what we will get up to then, but let’s hope we go from strength to strength!
