Friends Golf Society

As written by Peter Christoforou, a Friend

We celebrated our 10^th Anniversary in 2015, not bad going for a society that was formed in 2005 by sixteen friends and relatives, hence the name. Since our inception the society has grown and now boasts a membership of over 40 golfers.

Myself and my close friend Steve Efstathiou run the society, me being the treasurer and Steve the secretary booking the courses with Steve’s son Socratis the handicaps secretary.

Our members are dotted all round the West Midlands, Derby, Nottingham and Leicester so we arrange the courses to fit in with everyone.

We meet once a month on a Wednesday and play seven competitions between March and October with points awarded for the top ten finishes which go towards an Order of Merit table. Prizes and a small trophy are also presented to the top three finishes in each event.

Each event has its own named trophy, the first one we play for is the George Angelides, in memory of one of our founder members. We also have The Founders Cup named after the three founder officers myself ,Steve Efstathiou and my brother Chris Christoforou.

The Order of Merit winner becomes society captain and leads the society the following season in a challenge match against another Midlands society under a Ryder Cup format in May.

Last season we were fortunate to have a  sponsor in Double A kebabs, most of our members are in the catering trade and through their suppliers we receive some very welcome financial support.

Over the years we have played on some great courses the most recent one being Northamptonshire County, our other local favourites include Little Aston, Walmley, The Nottinghamshire and Enville. We also treated ourselves this year for the 10^th anniversary with a trip to Woburn which was a fantastic occasion and a closely fought event too with double OOM points on offer.

The highlight of the season is the trip abroad, four days in the Algarve with three rounds of golf on some of Europe’s finest courses such as the Old Course in Vilamoura which is everyone’s favourite. The below image shows a group of Friends, off course last year during our trip to The Emporda Forest Golf Club, near Girona, a fabulous break.

Later on in September we always play for the Links Trophy on one of Britains best seaside courses. The Links Trophy and the Founders Cup played over three rounds are classed as majors and carry extra merit points.

We all look forward to meeting up every month to enjoy each others company, its a great day out but very competitive. Those Order of Merit points are well contested because the top twelve play in the Ryder Cup and it’s an event that everyone wants to play in.

We hope the society will continue for many years to come with the younger members taking control after the founder officers retire, so if any golfers who like their golf competitive and having fun on a great day out are keen, come and join the Friends Golf Society.

Take a look at our website www.friendsgolfsociety.co.uk 

Our contact numbers are Peter 07967039078 or Steve 07872903230