SGA Tour – Tour Championship 2018

Sociable Golf Association (SGA)

Season Finale ends with a Bang!

Once again, we planned our season ending Tour Championship event on recommendation from our friends at MG. Heading over the Warwickshire border for a two-day weekend, with overnighter, to Whitefields Golf Club.

With our very own Race To Whitefields season long points system, the two day event provides the opportunity for members to decide on either a drunken evening or early to bed in preparation for the chance to secure our third and final major of the season.

Following a fantastic trip to Cleobury Mortimer last year, the boys were up for the challenge and with the sun shining and a very warm welcome from all the staff at Whitefields, we were excited at the prospect of another close finish, little did we know!

Phil Wing (above R) stood on the first tee in defence of his title, knowing that lack of golf during this season due to work and family commitments, could prove to be his downfall. Other notables included in form Andrew Allsopp, Ben Abbotts and Jayson Fitzpatrick. With our lowest handicapper, Karl Harris (2) not attending, Boom Boom’s book provided no clear favourite with odds spread evenly across the field.

With first day groups drawn, competitors aim to secure a second day final grouping, thus having the advantage of viewing the leader-boards throughout the final day’s play. Ben Abbotts secured first place with 37 points, with Boom Boom Tunstall 36 and Phil Wing 34. All three headed to the bar knowing the Sunday would see the last tee time.

For any of our society friends considering Whitefields, we would recommend a visit. The facilities, course and staff were excellent and all at great value for money.

The Sunday morning provided another beautiful day and enjoying a great breakfast we all headed of the first tee. Nerves were apparent with the leaders gagging to get going, but knowing they had to wait for their tee time. Would Boom Boom live up to his nickname and hit driver off every tee or play a more considered game! A wide drive on the first was the answer both Ben & Phil expected who secured gross par’s to set the day up nicely.

During the day the leader-board ebbed and flowed with Ben & Boom battling it out. Phil lost the pace and Trevor Anderson muscled his way into the top 3. Heading to the 17^th tee and a complete surprise to the leaders, Paul Wilson had shot the lights out and was leading the championship. Paul had come from behind at Cleobury to lose out by a single point!. Unsettling Boom Boom, his drive hooked out of bounds, twice!! With Ben & Phil closing the gap.

Stood on the 18^th tee and a short 324 yard par 4, Boom Boom needed a 3 pointer to land his first Tour Championship and took out his wayward driver to the dismay of Ben & Phil, who had already hit hybrids to perfect positions. Yes, you’ve guessed it…. a wayward drive to the right (this time!) and Boom Boom was lucky to have swing amongst the trees. In true style, he cleared the trouble before him and was once again back in play. A 12-foot putt for the win lipped and the rest is history. Paul (Pic R), known as the Silent Assassin went one better than 2017 and took the title on count-back! Boom Boom’s driver was last seen on EBAY…

Season events

In addition to the planned and quite often an organisers nightmare, we run several season long events including our Order Of Merit, the coveted Match Play Championship and other events as follows:

The Order Of Merit is a 10 event rolling ranking event that captures the previous season’s Tour Championship and the full season ahead. The calculation although complicated is simple in terms of understanding, play your best at every event ensuring your average score is as high as possible. Throwing an event or even a club, will see you penalised in the long run in and in some cases, could lead losing the number 1 spot by a single putt or chip in! And yes its happened.

The Matchplay Championship is a knockout event with the draw made at the first event of the season. The final pairing are provided with caddies and a special day out.

Betterball Championship and Skins League are additional events that utilise the monthly events scoring to calculate the league tables or knockout rounds. Members’ just rock up and the committee do the rest and if the lads ever read the website, they should know if they’ve took home a trophy at the season end.

There are obviously many, many fond and enjoyable memories from the last 22 years and in most cases we have improved our personal handicaps. We continue to raise money for great causes; our fund-raising exceeds £5,000 including a memorable six a side football competition a few years back.

We continue to organise and enjoy Society life and many friendships have been built through our membership. We look forward to the next twenty years.

SGA Tour – Sociable Golf Association – Established 1997
Website: www.sgatournews.com
Email: sgatournews@hotmail.co.uk
Contact: Phil Wing 07486 900843 (Work – 07917 098299)

Founder Members – Phil Wing & Alan Smith

PTF Golf Society – Derby

Production Test Facility Golf Society

Our society was founded in 1991 by employees from the Production Test Facility (PTF) at Rolls-Royce Aero Engines in Derby.

2018 Mid-Season Review

2018’s busy calendar of events and Darren ‘Dash’ Ashmole’s year on the Captain’s throne was planned to start as ever at Morley Hayes over the Christmas break. However, torrential rain and frozen greens forced an abandonment of the event after just a few holes and saw an early return to the nineteenth hole. The weather relented slightly by mid-January for the re-arranged fixture with ‘Long’ Tom Donnachie just pipping Paul ‘PK’ Hind to the ‘Winter Warmer’ Trophy after back 9 count-back both finishing on 35 points.

The unseasonal weather took a further turn for the worst over the Easter weekend as 3 inches of snow in the Peak District forced the postponement of our first full day out of the season at the picturesque Buxton & High Peak. The re-scheduled event in late-April was played in miserable conditions and saw point scoring prove difficult with Joe Cullen winning the Spring Salver on his Society debut with 32 points.

A short trip to Chilwell Manor quickly followed in early May as at last we saw some sunshine to proudly show off our new and improved Society Golf Shirts supplied by Midlands Golf Superstore (thanks to Ian Nicholson) and also sporting the Midlands Golfer magazine logo.

Sec Nathan rocking the new MG logoed shirt

Blustery conditions and tight, tree-lined fairways saw another low point scoring day but a solid performance from Todd Foster winning the Presidents Cup on 34 points

The PTF Invitational event took place at Ormonde Fields in early June with the Divisional prize pots shared evenly between members and guests alike but it was the ever consistent Rob Langley who triumphed overall with 37 points to win the Invitational Trophy for a second successive season.

The heatwave had well and truly kicked in by early July for our latest event along the A50 in Staffordshire at the impressive Newcastle-under-Lyme. Greens in great condition considering the ‘Mediterranean’ temperatures and scorched fairways with the ball travelling huge distances saw the highest scoring of the season with the ‘Alvaston Maori’ aka Ian Hickton storming to victory with 40 points to lift the Summer Vase.

PTF – In Scarborough

The upcoming ‘Weekend Away’ in early August was the highlight of everyone’s season and saw 24 of us travel up to stay in Scarborough for a third time where we played the ‘Friday Fiver’ at Filey, the main ‘Tourist Trophy’ event at South Cliff and Sunday’s closing event at Whitby.

The in-form Ian Hickton currently stands at the top of our ‘Order of Merit’ with 124 points however with the best four scores counting towards the Aggregate Trophy it’s still all to play for with the final ‘Order of Merit event taking place with our visit to nearby Burton-on-Trent in early September.

A close of season reoprt will be added very soon.

Please visit our website at the address below where you can find 2018’s full results and all Society news in PK’s newsletter’s which are a very entertaining read from the society jester. http://www.spanglefish.com/ptfgolfsociety/index.asp

For all enquiries please contact the PTF Golf Society Secretary: nathan.richards@rolls-royce.com

If you are a local Midlands golf society and would like to make your own contribution to On the Tee, both in the magazine and online, please contact us by e-mailing Phil at editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk or registering your details via our Society Registration Form

DOGS (Dallington Old Boys)

Dallington Old Boys Golf Society or “DOGS” as we call ourselves were founded in November 2016 and are based around the Northamptonshire region.

We started as a core group of friends in and around our 30s who were finding it ever harder to stay in touch on a regular basis amongst the daily grind and family commitments. DOGS was born. With a founding membership of 21 we’ve already grown by over a third in just over a year which is a fantastic achievement from everyone involved.

We’re proudly run by a committee of Kelvin “Dad” Longrigg – who looks after the core running of the society as Captain and Secretary, Glen “DD” Smith – Vice Captain and Treasurer who helps ensure event days run like clockwork, Stuart “Jarv” Wiseman – the brains behind our league tables and handicap adjustments. Alex “Sharky” Parkinson manages our social media channels “tweeting, following, and YouTubing” his heart out hoping that one day we’ll get a complimentary invite to Augusta J. Then we have Mr. Phil “Fines Master esq” Martin who, with sniper like precision polices the society rules with the proceeds helping to fund our social events. We’re also very proud to donate a portion of our fines to charity each year and for 2018 we’ve selected Cancer Research as the beneficiary.

We are a band of builders, sales folk, recruiters, architects, designers, electricians, not to mention a few members of the #Hashtagutd celebrity YouTube football team – all of us bound by our common interest in golf.

And it would be remiss to not give a special mention to our northern/southern @madebygav with a backswing that would beguile the most experienced contortionist – naturally he’s known as “The Whirlwind”. We think he’s one of the longest hitters on tour, it’s just that we’re never really sure which way it’s going off the tee!

Playing courses in and around the Northamptonshire/Midlands area our curtain closer was hosted by the Belfry on the Brabazon course capping a hugely successful first season. Some notably enjoyable courses have been Collingtree Park, Staverton Park and Whittlebury Park, each providing their own quirks and challenges.

In terms of competitions, we run season long stableford and match play leagues. Interestingly, since our inaugural event we are still yet to see a double winner!! The stableford league is the bread and butter of accolades with the overall winner presented with the Stephen Fairbrother Order of Merit trophy (below) – in memory of our good friend “Fairy” who sadly passed away in 2008 at the age of 24, way way before his time. He keeps the weather good for us! Ironically, the first Order of Merit was won by none other than “Dad” himself having been taken right to the wire at the last event by Vice Captain DD. 2018 promises to be an equally competitive affair as the race to being crowned 2018 OoM Champion hots up again with the promise of the winner’s name etched into DOGS folklore.

In addition to the season long leagues we also run individual event prizes; the usual NP/LDs plus various special prizes such as “Par 5 Hero (best cumulative par 5 scores)” and “Connect 4 (best 4 holes in a row)” amongst others with current front runners lit up on the special prize leaderboard.

New for 2018 will also see us running some golf “skills schools” such as freestyling, chipping challenges etc. which we’ll be posting on our social media channels for a bit of fun.

So what does the future hold for DOGS? We’re still a young society and are always looking for ways to improve. We regularly run surveys seeking feedback on how we are run, the courses we play, hospitality etc. We also like to share this feedback with our hosts. Aside from continuing to invest in our main objective of promoting friendships through the enjoyment of the game we’d like to increase our membershipand grow our DOGS brand to become synonymous with being one of the most attractive golf societies in and around the Northampton area.

If you are interested in becoming a DOG – please get in touch via email at dogsgolfers@gmail.com or via one of our social media channels @dogsgolfsociety. Similarly, if you’re a golfing venue and would be interested in hosting us as a society please get in touch

Willowbrook GS

Willowbrook Golf Society

The Society was formed in 2002 by a group of golfers who met casually on a Sunday evening, to ‘chew the weekend fat’ in The Willowbrook Club, a private members social club in Gedling, Nottingham.

The first 3 meetings were informal affairs with 30 or so golfers having days out at Greetham Valley and Morley Hayes Golf Clubs. The WGS was formally made a Society in 2003 and plays midweek – most of us are self-employed or retired – 7 or 8 times a year, starting in late March and running through to early November. We normally play within an hour to hour and a quarters drive away from our headquarters, but have within that radius courses like The Notts Golf Club, Worksop, Coxmoor and Lindrick to chose from, all of which we have played. Membership has reduced over the years, but we have a core of 20 members and usually take around 16 guests to each meeting

We are a mixed ability group, mostly club members from east and north Notts, with handicaps ranging from 5 to 28. Our meetings consist of team events, with an Order of Merit Trophy being awarded at the end of the season on the basis of the average of best five individual Stableford scores attained during the season.

Sec Tony Rogers (r) with the WGS fourball at MG’s Society Classic, Marriott Forest of Arden 2016

Over the years we have raised many thousands of pounds for charities including The Lincs/Notts Air Ambulance, Nottingham Hospice, Panthers Disabled Sports, The Children’s Kidney Ward at The Nottingham City Hospital and in 2015 the society helped our secretary and two other cancer sufferers to raise almost £4,700 for The Teenage Cancer Trust by doing 54-holes in a day – 18 each at Mapperley GC, Ruddington Grange GC and The Nottinghamshire G & CC.

Our first meeting this year will be at Newark at the end of March, and future venues this year include Ullesthorpe Court, Scraptoft, Rufford Park and our only 27-hole day of the year at Belton Park, Grantham.

There is one thing missing from our list of achievements – in 15 years of trying, no one has had ‘A Hole in One’!!!!

Contact details:

Secretary – Tony Rogers – golf@tonyrogers.plus.com

Facebook: Willowbrook Golf Society – Twitter @WillowbrookGS

If you are a local Midlands golf society and would like to make your own contribution to On the Tee, both in the magazine and online, please contact us by e-mailing Phil at editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk or registering your details via our Society Registration Form

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

If you are a local Midlands golf society and would like to make your own contribution to On the Tee, both in the magazine and online, please contact us by e-mailing Phil at editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk or registering your details via our Society Registration Form

Robin Hood GS

The Robin Hood Golf Society – Swannington (Leics)

Robin Hood’s origins started back in the autumn of 2011. Originally formed by Mike Barnett, Andy Hawtin & Kevin Orvis as a means of getting some exercise & thrashing away the pains of the working week. Since those early day the society has grown steadily, with the odd regular leaving or quitting the game, but new blood has kept on coming.

The society now has 32 members all of who play at least two society events per season. The season consists of 10 society events running from February until November. These events enable members to accrue points towards the end of year presentations. A minimum of 7 of the 10 events count towards the player of the season, where the highest average score decides the eventual winner of the Claret Jug.

The monthly events carry prizes for 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd places. These prizes range from Polo shirts, Gloves, Balls, Umbrellas & eventually to beer. There is also a prize for last place which is a “turkey hat” of which the unlucky participant has to wear on the 1^st tee at the next event. There are also prizes for nearest the pin, longest drive & nearest the pin in two.

Although many of us are club members, the majority are “fair weather” golfers, which in some ways reflects our age span which ranges from 25 – 78 years.

We try to accommodate at least 5 – 6 new golfing venues per season during the so called “better weather” months. In the winter months we mainly stay local, because you never know if the event will be called off at short notice.

During the month of June, we play for the Brian Orvis Memorial Trophy. This trophy was donated by Kevin Orvis in remembrance of his late father, who scored a hole in one at Chevin Golf Club. CGC presented the trophy to Brian for his achievement.

The month of December brings around our “winter warmer” in which we play an 18 hole par 3 course & again a trophy has been produced.

As a society we also try to have two long weekend’s away “stay & play” outings, which normally take place in May & September.

Each society event concludes in our hostelry of residence The Robin Hood, Swannington. Traditional Sunday lunch is provided by our hosts Kevin & Carol, after which the prize giving takes place & a gallon of beer is donated by the landlord.

As a society we have run & participated in charity fund raising events over the past three years for British Heart Foundation, Rainbows & Acorns. The donations have either been individual, as a team or part of organised media, all of which have been run from The Robin Hood.

The social aspect of the society balances the competitiveness of the winning demon within & for those who dedicate their Sunday society day to winning, comes the harsh reality of the handicapper.

RHGS Committee:

Mike (Rhino) Barnett Chair & Events
Ian (Villa) Boyes Treasurer
Paul (Wils) Wilson Handicaps
Dave (Sticky) Stevenson Captain

www.robinhoodgolfsociety.com or tel: 01530 831137

If you are a local Midlands golf society and would like to make your own contribution to On the Tee, both in the magazine and online, please contact us by e-mailing Phil at editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk or registering your details via our Society Registration Form

St Thomas Association GS

ERDINGTON STAGS

The Golf Society was formed in February 2000 by golf playing members of St Thomas’ Association in Erdington. The society now boasts over 50 members and we play a range of courses all over the Midlands. Occasionally we trek further afield. We tend to play twice a month and we have a Presidents day and a Captains day – both days usually involve a coach trip which are usually very entertaining in themselves.

At least once a year we have a society weekend away which normally consists of a two night stay with three rounds of golf. This year we travelled even further afield than usual to the wonderful courses at La Manga in Spain – it was so successful that we will be booking it again for next year. For this particular trip we even had a STAG return from Australia just to specifically play with us (and to see his family I suppose) – Jim Daly – our Captain’s brother.

Our members handicaps range from scratch to 28 so we have a wide range of players who all encourage each other – as well as berate for the occasional air shot or miss-hit – we still await the society’s first ever hole-in-one!!!

We hold a monthly meeting on the first Friday of every month at the club where we discuss all sorts of matters that have arisen over the past month. This is a great opportunity for us to celebrate the past months victories, any controversial issues and, of course, to socialise with a great bunch of people.

Once a year we hold a charity dance where we raise money for local charities. Past charities have included Acorns, The Norman Laud Association, Help for Heroes, The QE Hospital, The John Taylor Hospice and The Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Since our formation we have raised over £22,500 for local charities.

Our members comprise of people from all walks of life and usually have some outrageous stories to tell. Our current captain is David Logue with his Vice Captain Chris McGrath. Our President is the much respected John Costello and our society secretary is Brendan Reilly. Brendan organises all of our trips and courses that we play at – he’s renowned for rounding the fee for our rounds up!!!

We would love to see some new faces around the society and you can contact us through our website www.stthomasassociationgolfsociety.co.uk

If you are a local Midlands golf society and would like to make your own contribution to The Wall, and in the magazine’s new society section (#No Gimmes), please contact us by e-mailing Phil at editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk or registering your details via our Society Registration Form

MAGS Staffordshire

The MAGS Society hail from the edge of The Potteries in Staffs and have a membership of over 60 golfers, gathered over the years since their inception back in 2006. Back then it was The Mainwaring Arms as the home base but they are now run from The Sheet Anchor pub just a little further down the road in Baldwins Gate. Phil Lally, one of the founders organises the venues and prizes and Hon Sec Ian Cairns takes care of the organisation of each event.

Every last Thursday in the month, apart from December the MAGS meet for a society day, playing their golf at courses in Staffs, Derbys, Shropshire and Cheshire. The events are limited to a maximum of 36 players and even in the winter months entry is nearly always full. Membership is open to all and handicaps range from six to 28. They’re a pretty competitive bunch and the events are divided into two divisions so that the chances of being in the prizes increases. The total prize fund for each event is 13 individual prizes with an additional kitty for ‘twos’.

MAGS GS – At MG’s Society Classic – Marriott Forest of Arden 2016

They hold year- long competitions to find the Golfer of the Year and a Knock Out Cup. Also included in the monthly schedule are four major comps which include ‘The Welsh Cup’ an annual event played on a course in North Wales. It’s a region the guys are very familiar with as each year 12 golfers take part in the ‘Links and Drinks’ event, three seaside courses and two nights away and there’s also a popular Llandudno weekend that even more members enjoy each year.

The Golfer of the Year is organised to be part of each monthly society day and is based on the best five stableford scores over the year. The Knock Out starts in the Jan/Feb events with the top 32 scoring players going through to the next round and the same format exists in March/April leaving 16 remaining, then it gets whittled down further through the year until the final between the top two which is held at Brocton Hall in the Autumn.

For 2018 as it’s a Ryder Cup year, there will be a special MAGS event around September time based on Ryder style formats.

For more information about the Society go to http://magsgolf.wix.com/mags-golf-society

If you are a local Midlands golf society and would like to make your own contribution to On the Tee, both in the magazine and online, please contact us by e-mailing Phil at editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk or registering your details via our Society Registration Form

UAB Golf Society

Urban Art Golf Society

UAB golf society logo

The UABGS was formed in 2011 when a collection of patrons from the Jewellery Quarters’ Urban Art Bars (The Red Lion and The Lord Clifden) decided that their golf needed a new sense of purpose, and, some healthy competition.

The drinking society with a golfing problem quickly gathered a steady membership and now ventures out six times a year to clubs all over the Midlands.

Not being attached to a particular golf club, society members and their frequent visitors travel the breadth of the Midlands in search of golfing fulfillment. Recent years have enjoyed trips to Sapey GC, Druids Heath GC, Aston Wood GC and Shrewsbury GC, just to name a few favourites.

A mystery golf course is usually on the card for the final game of the season, which is always followed by the end of season awards ceremony, complete with trophies for the winners and tales of woe from those less fortunate.

Members compete in league and cup competitions, whilst visitors are also invited to take part in longest drive, nearest the pin, the all-important “points sweep”, and, more recently, the group “yellow ball” competition.

The Society emphasis has always been on fun and laughter, with visitors frequently returning as and when they can. Most recently, UABGS returned to Sapey GC for a spectacular day in which the field of 17 attendees were separated by a mere 8 points! A testament to the handicap committee or the modest quality of the golf on show… you decide.

Whilst the Society’s heartbeat is The Red Lion in Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter, the members themselves are spread from Telford to Warwick. Anyone wishing to join us should contact Chairman Tonks (uabgolfscoiety@yahoo.co.uk) or you could always visit one of the pubs and ask for information.

You can also follow UABGS on twitter @uab_golf and facebook.com/UABGOLF

If you are a local Midlands golf society and would like to make your own contribution to The Wall, and/or in the magazine as well in our new society section #NoGimmes, please contact us by e-mailing Phil at editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk or registering your details via our Society Registration Form

Leekbrook Travellers GS

Leekbrook Travellers

Midlands Golfer’s own Leekbrook Travellers are a very new golf society, initiated during a drunken pre-Xmas evening at the Travellers Rest pub, just outside Leek in Staffs. We are made up of residents of the local estate and also an equal amount of Leek (Birchall) and Westwood GC members who are just looking for a few extra golfing days out and to try a few new courses in the area that they haven’t come across before.

LTGS are a super sociable group with our aim to run fun and entertaining days out and we genuinely encourage members of all ages and abilities to join us. We currently have 48 members already of which six are ladies.

It’s early days for us all at LTGS, we’re a little bit of a rabble for now, but we’ve made a great start and the rate of new members joining in has been amazing and really exciting. The editor of MG, Phil Nicholas is also the LTGS organiser and encourages the society to take part in magazine based playing events, which they do so to mixed success. This fourball below for instance took 3rd place out of 21 in the MG Society Classic at Marriott Forest of Arden in 2016. Soon we’ll be taking on some of the other MG affiliated groups in Ryder Cup style match ups.

We run events on the last Friday of each month, 12 months of the year. If you live in the Leek/Staffordshire Moorlands area and are interested in fun golfing days out, come and join us, we’d love to hear from you.

Facebook – Leekbrook Travellers Golf Society

Call Phil – 07530 752688

If you are a local Midlands golf society and would like to make your own contribution to The Wall, both in the magazine (#NoGimmes) and online, please contact us by e-mailing Phil at editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk or registering your details via our Society Registration Form

Caribbean Golf Society

The Caribbean Golf Society was formed in Birmingham during the winter months of 2007 when sensible people would usually be at home warming the fire. The idea to form arose out of seeing so many African-Caribbean golfers playing regularly in the region.

The inaugural event took place at the Lickey Hills Golf Club in Birmingham on Good Friday 2007. Fourteen golfers took part in our first event, which turned out to be a very sunny day for the time of the year. We have since held many events across the Midlands with our membership growing from those first fourteen golfers to well over 40 in 2015. We welcome all golfers, you do not have to be of Caribbean origin to become a member.

Our Mission:

Provide a networking outlet for people in the region
Utilize golf for personal growth and career advancement
Provide educational and mentoring programs to improve golfing skills and personable skills to the youth in the region
Increase the knowledge, self-confidence and enjoyment of the game of golf

The CGS are long standing friends and supporters of Midlands Golfer, the first society we ever covered back in 2010. Long regarded as being one of the best organised and most competitive groups in the region, their typical season takes them all over the Midlands and sometimes further beyond. They also find time to raise vital funds for local charities as well as joining us for our own fund raisers and competitions.

Naturally there’s an Order of Merit title at stake, won in 2017 in great style by Ian Higgins who won three of the season’s main events on his way to the overall title.

There are three England based Caribbean Golf Societies and every year our Birmingham based group take on the other two, based in Bristol and London for the annual ‘three-way’ match, an two-day event that always sees a high level of competitiveness but also a good deal of fun and socialising too.

Find out more about the CGS by visiting the website at www.caribbeangolfsociety.co.uk

If you are a local Midlands golf society and would like to make your own contribution to The Wall, and/or in the magazine in our new society section #NoGimmes, please contact us by e-mailing Phil at editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk or registering your details via our Society Registration Form

Dowty Golf Society

DOWTY WOLVERHAMPTON

A couple of years ago due to dwindling numbers the continuation of the very long running Dowty Wolverhampton Golf Society was in doubt. An influx of new members though in 2016 has seen them reach their 57^th year in 2018 still prospering. The highlight of the 2017 season was the first ever “weekender”, where 11 of the society’s members travelled to Grantham to play and stay at the excellent Belton Woods complex.

Indeed the weekend proved to be such a success that plans are already in place for 2018’s fixture & there is also talk of a trip abroad, Last season also saw us visit Church Stretton, Ombersley, The Shropshire & Bewdley Pines amongst others. As ever the Society is always looking to welcome new members & although based in Wolverhampton we travel all over The Midlands looking for a good golfing challenge. Most of our fixtures take place on a Friday afternoon (between 1pm and 2pm) so if you are interested in joining us please feel free to contact stuart.davis17@blueyonder.co.uk for more information.

Website: http://www.dowtywolverhamptongolfsociety.co.uk/

If you are a local Midlands golf society and would like to make your own contribution to On the Tee, both in the magazine and online, please contact us by e-mailing Phil at editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk or registering your details via our Society Registration Form

The Branston Dobbers

THE BRANSTON DOBBERS

Branston Dobbers were formed in early 2014 by a collective looking for a good time while playing the beautiful game of golf. The group was formed by a group of five friends known as the ‘originals’ who like to play and have side bets,banter and a beer after a hard day on the course. This quickly spiralled into the newest up and coming society to hit the Branston Golf & Country Club in many years.

The Dobbers currently have 30 active members from all walks of life including five female members, of which 20 or so play weekly at our regular Saturday 8.30-9am tee times.

The first ‘Major’ of the Dobbers season was the ‘Dead Duck Trophy’ played in May (to commemorate the life of a young duck tragically killed on the course by a rogue ‘snap hook’) which was won by none other than 2014/2015 Captain Stuart Haywood.

As our popularity grew, a second ‘Major’ was pencilled in for the summer to co-incide with Ryder Cup weekend against another society from Branston known as ‘The Squids’ .This attracted a very large crowd to the patio area for the climax which was an 11/11 tie after 2 days of singles and doubles matches. All money raised went to the 2014 Branston Captain’s Charity, Canine Partners.

Apparently – THE best looking society in The Midlands – The Branston Dobbers

The first winter event was played between The Dobbers & the ‘Chicken Club’ (Burton GC society). This event was played at Burton on a brisk Sunday morning with the Dobbers running out winners and taking the trophy home.

Up to date in 2018, the Dobber’s travels have continued, a trip to La Manga in October 2016 was a memorable players and partners occasion. Plus we’ve recently teamed up with another group, The Wolves Supporters GS for a very enjoyable match up at Penn GC.

The Dobbers are looking for other local societies to join up with for friendly matches, get in touch by e-mailing them at branstondobbers@gmail.com

If you are a local Midlands golf society and would like to make your own contribution to On the Tee, both in the magazine and online, please contact us by e-mailing Phil at editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk or registering your details via our Society Registration Form

Wolves Golf Society

A fan of both Wolves and Golf, we welcome new members to come join us once a month on Saturdays or Sundays.

The society is now into its second year and we would welcome anyone to join FREE of charge, all they have to do is pay to play on the day of the society meeting.we will advertise meetings on our Twitter and Facebook, and if anyone wants to email they can.

We meet on a monthly basis at various Golf Clubs around the Midlands and we are hoping to play other golf societies around the country also.

Wolves Golf Society

Shane Robinson and Adam Sedgwick both run the society and they are welcoming new members weekly.

We hope to build a foundation for like-minded golf lovers to also show that we as Wolverhampton wanderers supporters don’t just meet up for football matches, we also can meet up for other sports too.

We’re over the moon to run this society for wolves fans, we do welcome fans from other clubs as we already have WEST BROMWICH and ASTON VILLA supporters playing.

We’ve been invited to travel to Portugal on the 19th October 2018 to play against premier league teams SPORTING LISBON and SETBUL societies.

We hope to play more societies around the UK and Europe in the future.

To anyone wanting to join we want them to know that you will have total piece of mind when joining our society that you’ll ha e a relaxing and enjoyable day/weekend with great like-minded people.

For more info, our contact details are:

TWITTER: wolves_society

FACEBOOK: wolves supporters golf society

EMAIL: wolvesgolfsociety@gmail.com

Little Aston Quarter Page #50

PLASTICS INDUSTRY GOLF SOCIETY (PIGS)

As long ago as 1931 a group of businessmen working in the newly formed plastics industry met on regular occasions for a game of golf, friendly banter and a chance to catch up on common interests. So popular were these occasions that it was decided to form a golfing society which accommodated their love of the game and also provided the opportunity to network within the industry.

Little Aston, Record 1

Little Aston, Record

The P.I.G.S. was formed initially in 1933 by Cyril Last (Founder) and proved so popular it quickly went national with the Midlands section being set up in1934 by Sydney Goode (BIP), E.Wilding-Cole and Jim Butler all of whom presented competition trophies to the society. These same trophies are still competed for today and feature each season in our fixture programme.

Monsanto Team Winners

The P.I.G.S. are well known throughout the Midlands and have played courses such as Little Aston, Moseley, Blackwell, Moor Hall, Edgbaston, Beaudesert, Enville, South Staffs, Keddleston Park to name just a few. A major highlight of each season is our National Event which takes place in September, traditionally Woodhall Spa. On this occasion, all sections compete both individually and as a team for many original trophies.

Midlands Winner at Woodhall

Our season of events begins in April through to October featuring courses which vary each year and, with the exception of our Christmas Cracker in December are generally played in the afternoon followed by Dinner, awards and prizes. I extend a big thank you to the sponsors of each these events. We also encourage our members to bring along visitors and are actively seeking newcomers to join the society. These days we do not insist on potential members being associated with the plastics industry. Please do visit our website www.thepigs.co.uk and get a feel for what we are about.

President Captain

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P.IG.S GS

Len Strong. Midlands & National Secretary PIGS

PIGS new president

the manor fp #52

Warwickshire Teachers’ GS

The Warwickshire Teachers’ Golf Society have 6 competitions per year, all played at various different courses around Warwickshire (and the surrounding counties occasionally!). We are always looking to recruit new members and guests – anyone that works or has worked in an educational establishment (not just teachers and not just Warwickshire!).

Our focus is on fun and friendly competitions – all abilities and ages are welcome. Anybody interested in coming along for a game or becoming a member should contact wtgsociety@gmail.com or visit twitter.com/wtgsociety Our next fixtures are at Oakridge on October 27th & Kilworth Springs on January 4th.

The Society was formed in 1974 by a group of teachers in North Warwickshire met to form a nomadic golfing society. Numbers were small and all members either belonged to Nuneaton GC or Atherstone GC.

As well as the 6 in-house competitions per year, since 1975 the society has played an annual match against Nuneaton GC. Records since 1989 show Nuneaton to be leading the way with 15 wins to WTGS’ 6. 6 matches have also been drawn.

In 1998 the North Warwickshire Teachers’ Golf Society changed it’s name to the current Warwickshire Teachers’ Golf Society as by this time a number of members had joined from the south of the county.

In 2005 the secretary of the society, Adrian Richards, died just prior to his retirement. He was also a member of Nuneaton GC. The annual match against Nuneaton is now played for the Adrian Richards Trophy

2017 society roles:

Captain – Callum Peake

Vice captain – Adam Newell

Treasurer – Dave Wilkins

Secretaries – Dave Wilkins & Keith Rawlins

2015 captain Wilf Feely provides plenty of entertainment. He has turned up at the wrong course, and on the wrong date, and his jokes during his speeches in his captaincy year were not for the faint-hearted! The most successful players over the past decade are Dennis James and Keith Rawlins, too many trophies to remember and constant calls for handicap cuts!

WAC Golf Society

WAC Golf Society (Worcester)

By Beefy and Lamby (co-organisers)

We just love playing golf and enjoy the laughter on the fairways. The WAC Golf Society play out of Bransford Golf Club based on the outskirts of Worcester, a great Par 72 lake jewelled course in superb condition. We were formed in 2013 by Dave Broad and Dave Lamb (aka Beefy and Lamby, below) with the intention to take fellow club golfers to play some of the best courses around the Midlands and beyond. We wanted to support charities and over the past few years we have raised £1000s for Cancer charities in the UK.

WAC Golf Society

Our society members have grown from a handful to over 35 players currently, we have played some of the best courses around including The Belfry, The Forest of Arden, The Astbury, The Vale at Evesham and have enjoyed weekend away trips to St Pier Golf Club and the Vale of Glamorgan. We have also played at Celtic Manor, Gleneagles and St Andrews Old Course.

We run an annual trip to Okehampton, Devon where we play 90 holes of Golf over four very competitive and fun days, plenty of prizes on offer including an Order of Merit and numbers grow each year for this event.

Our main aim is for club golfers to experience other courses, as well as having like-minded and friendly banter that group golf can achieve. We aim to keep costs down to around £20-30 for our local Midlands rounds and enjoy playing local courses every year such as Cleobury Mortimer and Burghill Valley who treat us very well and provide some superb deals.

We have a Twitter (@WACgolfsociety) and a Facebook page and have recently started our very own YouTube channel.

2018 is shaping up to be a great season for WAC events, please visit our web site at www.wacgolfsociety.com to find out how you can join us on some great days out.

Contact Details:

Dave Broad – Email: d-broad@sky.com Tel: 07846 233190

Dave Lamb – Email: davelamb@mail.com Tel: 07429 192646

If you are a local Midlands golf society and would like to make your own contribution to On the Tee, both in the magazine and online, please contact us by e-mailing Phil at editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk or registering your details via our Society Registration Form

GENERAL ENQUIRIES: 07883 188081 I EMAIL - editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk

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