Tag Archive for: Society
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
Potteries International GS
St Pierre is a big hit with the PIGS
The Marriott St Pierre in Chepstow hosted the Potteries International Golf Society (PIGS) 18th Annual Tour which took in three days in early September.
Phil Stonier, Society Organiser, commented “We made our trip to South Wales to experience yet another Marriott Golf Complex after we were so well looked after when we visited Breadsall Priory, Derby in 2017. We enjoy just turning up at a quality hotel, park the cars up for three days and just play golf, enjoy the bars, the food and all the facilities that are included. On both occasions now we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and received five star service”.
The PIGS play a Ryder Cup format Competition over three days with 24 regular members split into two teams of 12. There are two Teams with their own Captain and we adopt a theme for the weekend which is decided upon by our Captains. This year it was simply The Belts Team V The Braces Team which turned a few heads when we took to the course. So, the first two days we play in a four ball better ball format and then on the last day we have 12 single matches. Whilst the Team approach is contested we also have an individual Stableford Competition which underpins the three days. Each day we have an individual Stableford Winner who receives a Daily Trophy and the traditional Nearest the Pin and Longest Drive Competition. The golfer with the most Stableford Points over the 3 days is crowned our Tour Champion. This year’s honour went to Andy Clemson who came in with a respectable 90 points.
We also have tremendous fun after dinner when we announce the Days misdemeanours when our Fine Master dishes out the Fines and the associated tales which determine the size of the Fine. Over the years various Charities have benefited from our bad behaviour but we have now decided that we are going to buy a portable defibrillator to accompany us on our Society Days in one of the Buggies. We hope we never have to use it on either ourselves or anyone else on the course but as we are all getting older – it’s not a bad idea.
We had so much fun over the three days – the two courses we played were in excellent condition and proved a real test for us all. Most of the guys took there golf a little less serious, possibly enjoying a Sociable drink in the bars and rooms well into the early hours – hence the low scores. Next year is already planned with a trip to Slaley Hall in Northumberland – can’t wait.
Phil Stonier – Organiser
For more info and latest news take a look at the PIGS website www.potteriesgolfsociety.com
The Golden Poppys – Just the Ticket
In 2017 MG helped Gaudet Luce GC promote their 2018 society campaign which included a special prize. They posted out a number of society brochures to local groups; inside one of them was a golden ticket to win a full society day at the club.
The lucky winners were Poppys GS from Bulkington in Warwickshire and on Sunday 2nd September they enjoyed a great day out –
The society was formed in January 2016 after several months of planning and organising. They are based locally from Poppys Venue (formerly the Bulkington War Memorial Club) and play monthly competitions around the area within a 40 mile radius. The competitions comprise of The Society Championship (The Alan Ward Trophy) The Par 3 Cup (The Val Russell Trophy), played over 8 separate venues, the Winter League Pairs Competition, played over 5 separate venues, The Poppys Open (The Shaun Hale Trophy) and of course, The Captains weekend away.
They maintain close ties with the club and raise funds for the Bulkington veterans and Warwickshire and Solihull Blood Bikes, based around their frequent visits to bunkers and water hazards during society rounds!
Each Poppys monthly event has a trophy to compete for, and all trophies are named after fallen soldiers, heroes whose names appear on the war memorial in the churchyard at St James Church in Bulkington.
In a short space of time Poppys numbers have grown to 36 members, with many others entering events as guests. They run mixed format days out, an annual Order of Merit and a winter league, rounds held at North Warwickshire GC.
Poppys welcome new members and guests at their events – contact chairman Simon for further details – poppysgolf@gmail.com or find them on FB/Twitter and Instagram.
Bell GS – 59 years young
We are the Bell Golfing Society, founded in 1959 by 4 members of Moseley Rugby Club. I believe we may be the oldest golfing society, still playing in the Midlands, if not the country.
We adopted the name from The Bell, Harborne, Birmingham. Every Monday evening, during the summer, it was 9 holes at Harborne Church Farm, then up to The Bell for beer, banter and dominoes. This continued for 25 years before switching allegiance to Warley Woods, where we were warmly received by David Owen, Warley Woods golf professional. Our monthly golf days were to Shifnal, Brocton, Stratford and our traditional end of season visit to Aberdovey Golf Club, in October for a weekend of golf and merriment, accompanied of course by our very talented pianist, Roy Hurdman.
Although our Monday evening game is no longer, we more than make up for it with monthly visits to Midland courses such as Fulford Heath, Hagley, Ladbrook Park, Kings Norton and others.
Our biggest claim to fame is providing not 1 but 2 captains of the British Left Hander Golfers Association, namely Barry Packwood and Roger Stansfield.
Jeremy Smart is our current President and together with Mike Bunn, organise our annual programme and keep us solvent.
DOGS – mid season report
Dallington Old Boys Golf Society or “DOGS” as we call ourselves were founded in November 2016 and are based around the Northamptonshire region.
Our 2018 year started off at Chesfield Downs in Hertfordshire on a wet Sunday morning in January, fresh with two new members in Tom Robinson and James Hardwick, the commencement of a match play league which would run simultaneously with our main stableford league, and lots of smaller improvements to the DOGS experience.
Chesfield is an interesting course and well worth a visit. It played well in the wet and boasts a great variety of holes from long and tight 400 yard par 4s, teaser dogs legs, and some interesting par 3s.
February saw our return to Brampton Heath in Northants (below), a firm favourite among the DOGS community, not least for its more forgiving fairways and nicely manicured greens. Brampton will likely remain a winter fixture on the DOGS calendar given its miraculous drying qualities. The sand-based land the course is built on means the course remains open when many others aren’t, and plays extremely well in the wet conditions to boot.
We were due to play Whittlebury in March, but the snow got the better of us and we’re now rescheduled for August 12th. This was the setting for the first DOGS event back in November 2016, won by Mark Jessett, who has since dropped to single figures (8).
April saw us travel to Staverton in Daventry, which has become another favourite course for some of the DOGS crew. The undulating West Northants countryside provides a stunning backdrop for a testing course with some long holes, and well protected greens.
We visited Collingtree in May after the worst of the weather and while the air was less full of rain, the ground was still sodden and therefore the rough had been left very long as the ground staff had been unable to get the heavy cutters out on it. This provided an altogether different challenge on an already tough course, and yielded only the second DOGS event win with sub-36 points. The first being at The Brabazon at the Belfry complex.
June saw the mid-season Whitefields GC weekender at Draycote near Rugby, a course we’ve frequented for the past 6 years all told, starting before DOGS’s formation with a few of the guys from Northampton University just getting away for the weekend. It’s now developed into a jam-packed weekend of Stableford, a Foursomes round and the culmination of the weekend and genuine highlight, the Texas Scramble. The staff at Whitefields have always been brilliant, from the hotel to the pro shop, and the dinner bed, breakfast and 4 rounds of golf with buggies deal they do fits the bill nicely!
Kelv’s selfie at 1st tee St Ives
July saw us travel to the very modern and impressive St Ives (Hunts) GC in Cambridgeshire. The clubhouse is in immaculate condition opening just 8 years ago, and the excellent practice facilities coupled with the testing inland links style course showed exactly why it has one of the fastest growing reputations of quality in the East of England.
Expanding the DOGS brand, we now have a range of merchandise available, from polo-shirts to pitch repairers, towels to bag tags, as well as a fleet of DOGS branded golf balls. We’ll give a big shout out to anyone who happens to find one and notify us at @DOGSGolfSociety on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
DOGS merchandise
After Whittlebury in August we travel to Farthingstone, Silverstone, The Warwickshire (Kings Course) for the finale of the DOGS stableford and match play leagues, and Kingsthorpe for the end of season special event which will carry a team element. Kingsthorpe will be followed by the end of season awards presentations and drinks in town where we’ll be able to recoup some of the fines money ‘Finesmaster’ Phil Martin has been busy collecting each month for misdemeanours in the clubhouse and on the course. Who knew dirty shoes could be so costly!? I sometimes think it might be cheaper to buy a new pair each month.
The future looks bright for DOGS, now with a membership of 31, up from 22 at the start of the calendar year. We are now consistently averaging 20 per event, with more interest being shown in the society. Front runners for the halfway point include Glen Smith (13), Mr consistent Dan Dalmonego (28) and Stuart ‘Jarv’ Wiseman (18 and in the form of his life), all in strong positions in the stableford league going into the last 6 months. Smith, Adam Balme and Dan Cockerton occupying the top 3 places in the match play league, with all to play for given the F1 points allocation, weighted toward the end of the season.
Keep an eye out for us on the course, and look out for our DOGS balls.
STAGS on Tour – Murcia 2018
Captain’s Report
STAGS (St Thomas Association Golf Society) Erdington on Tour – Murcia 2018
~ Day 1 ~
It was an early start for the 16 STAGS who arrived at Birmingham Airport for 4am which was probably a wonderful sight for the other passengers as they witnessed us tuck into our large English brekkies with lashings of lager, stout and cider…and orange juice!
A slight delay on the tarmac as the captain (not me) announced that he couldn’t start the right engine. Thankfully it looks as if he was just stupid as an engineer pushed a button that read ‘right engine – on’….and we were off!
Alhama Signature Golf Course – Casualties – 0
It was a quick turn-around as we got to our apartments and headed for the salubrious surroundings at Alhama golf Club.
Alhama Signature Golf is an exceptional course that has been designed and signed in person by Jack Nicklaus. The course is long with plenty of spectacular holes.
With its circular tees, wide fairways and rough, rapid greens this course was always going to cause the STAGS some serious challenges. I didn’t count how many bunkers there were but I saw quite a few of them – a theme I continued throughout the weekend!
A steady round was called for and it was fairly obvious that a low score was going to win it.
We decided to have our nearest the pin comps on all 4 par 3 holes – I don’t know whether this is an achievement or not but only two STAGS hit any of the par 3’s – let me put that into some perspective for you – that’s out of 64 attempts only two people made the green on any of Alhama’s par 3’s. First it was Chris McGrath on the 17th and then Tim Lane pipped him to the nearest the pin on the same hole. Well done to Tim who collected the rolled over bounty! But it was Paul O’Sullivan who took the first game by winning with 29 points.
However, there was heartbreak amongst many, if not all of the STAGS, as we realised that the clubhouse had closed for the end of the day…gutted, tired and thirsty STAGS. However, it didn’t take long until we were all well-oiled later on in the evening.
Special mention goes to a couple of nameless STAGS who didn’t quite make it all the way home on the first night – one slept on a roundabout and another in somebody’s garden – the latter was found wandering the streets near to SPAR later on that morning!
~ Day 2 – Molson Coors Bowl~
El Valle Golf Course
Casualties – 2
What a superb course! The facilities were great too! Once again we were treated to some spectacular holes especially the elevated 11th tee. The course was in excellent condition and there was a lot of water to navigate…as well as the usual bunker – in hindsight I really should have brought along my bucket and spade instead of my clubs…may as well have thrown in my fishing rod whilst I’m at it!
The greens really didn’t seem to want to play ball today with many not playing the way we expected to – but what’s new there then.
Once again Tim Lane hit a nearest the pin and Andy Barcello hitting another – although as we were in-between other groups his marker had been moved – with this in mind and probably due to his lack of trust from his fellow golfers (he’s a good judge of character) he got photographic evidence to back his claim – it was a great shot all the same! Billy Noonan hit the other nearest the pin and it was Billy who won on the day and, after a fairly decent score in the first match, was now in the running to become overall champion for the second year running – surely he couldn’t do it again!?
But the final shout has to go to Ges Tierney who found out going towards the 13th tee that he had just become a grandfather. To say that Ges was emotional would be a terrific understatement – I was delighted to be there when he got the call. On behalf of the STAGS; congratulations Ges and many thanks for getting the drinks in. I believe it’s my duty to tell you that Mrs Tierney warned Ges not to celebrate too much on the night – I think we’ll leave the rest of the evening to your imagination!
~ Day 3 ~
Mar Menor Golf Course
Casualties – 1.5
So to our third and final day. With Chris (Ooo Ahh Chris McGrath [and his dad]) McGrath, Paul O’Sullivan and Billy Noonan who were teeing off first as the front-runners on our ‘home’ course.
Each hole on this course requires the utmost attention and concentration. The course demands a wide range of shots to deal with several obstacles (including electricity wires Jonas) successfully.
Lakes – of which there were many – play a key part in how well your round went…as well as the bunkers! The course in general was a very flat course which was a blessing as most of us headed out without buggies.
As we headed down the 13th it was wonderful to see Ges cheer us on from his balcony – I can’t say whether the previous night’s shenanigans had anything to do with his non-attendance but let’s just say that his luggage was a little lighter on the way back to brum!
Incredibly it was the maverick, Billy Noonan who hit the only nearest the pin on the final day – the 17th pipping Conor Ward to the accolade. Andy (the Assassin) Hoy won longest drive on the 18th although Jonas Mark looked as if he’d won with his impressive drive.
However, even after cutting himself two shots, Billy Noonan won on the day and took the title as overall Tour Champ for a second year running – congratulations to Billy (below) for a sensational weekend of golf.
I’d also like to thank a couple of visitors for joining us too – there was Dan McGrath – Chris’ Dad who had an admirable go at the Brandy on the first night which I blame for my poor run of form throughout the weekend and to Mossy who is a greenhorn when it comes to golf and has to be admired for giving it a go.
Finally, I would like to say a huge thank you to both Brendan Reilly and Les Gwillym who organised the whole event down to every miniscule detail. I have to say that without these two gentlemen at the helm things just either wouldn’t happen or our society would be one big huge shambles!
I can’t wait for next year and I’m definitely not going to drink as much!
Until next time Amigos – David Logue
Army Golf Association (West Midlands)
The Army Golf Association (AGA) was established in 1974 to include Officers and Soldiers serving in the Army, regular or retired. Reserves were introduced in 2011 and to date including the civilians based in Army establishments, the AGA has 1800 members.
The AGA (WM) society was started in 2016 and in its debut year plus last year’s events has built up its numbers to 98 golfers. It has an active following on Facebook and is looking to expand its calendar to include some match plays against other clubs and societies.
At present seven meetings per annum are held to include the season opener, spring, summer, autumn and winter meets plus a matchplay event (including a plate competition) and a team of six enter the AGA Inter-Regional event held nationally.
This year the season opener took place at Calderfields G&CC in March with the spring meeting recently held at Shifnal GC, and the summer meet will be at the Shropshire GC in July. The matchplay is in its early rounds with the finals to be held at Beau Desert later in the summer. The autumn and winter meetings are yet to be confirmed.
SSgt Aidi Bennett and Sgt Marcus Murcott are the secretaries for the AGA (WM) society and where possible would welcome some sponsorship and new members.
Contact details email: wmsec@armygolf.co.uk
Red Ram Golf Society – Derby
The Red Ram GS are based in Derby/Nottingham and as the name may suggest are formed from a mix of Nottingham Forest and Derby County supporters. They are very new on the scene too, just formed this year.
But what they lack in trips they’ve made up for in holes-in-ones already, two of their first three outings saw one of those. Pictured is Lee Shapcott, society chairman who shot his on the 16th hole at Uttoxeter GC during their March meeting.
Lee was even treated to a society guard of honour here! https://www.facebook.com/uttoxetergolfclub/videos/1404406762998557/
Prior to that, society vice-chairman Mark Leivers managed one on the 16th at Morley Hayes during their first ever day out in January.
So the message to all the golf clubs on this Red Ram GS fixture list below for 2018 is stock up with the big whisky bottles behind the bar, you might just be selling them one if this rate continues!
Sat May 26th The Nottinghamshire
Sat June 23rd Shirland GC
Sat July 21st Matlock
Sun Aug 5th Norwood Park
Sun Sept 23rd Ashbourne
Sat Oct 6th Ormonde Fields
Sun Nov 4th Beeston Fields
Thanks to Red Ram GS events director Stephen Goodwin for the info. We look forward to running a season’s review with them (and hopefully more aces) at the end of the year.
Lea Mar-vellous – A special day
Mandy Ambert – What can I say about Lea Marston Golf Club and Hotel that I didn’t say last year?
56 players came on Friday 23rd March to play in our second MG mixed event with players from Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Pontypridd. The remit of maintaining a good mix of people from the Midlands is working and with not a raindrop in sight off we went after a cheeky Bucks Fizz and Danish pastries.
The am-am shot gun start proved successful once again and with Senior Pro (Sgt Major) Darren Lewis giving us a briefing prior to the game, we played the competition.
Considering the recent weather endured by all, both nine hole courses, Academy and Marston Lakes were in great condition. The greens were soft and super receptive as well, especially on the short course, “where golfers of average ability managed to achieve prodigious amounts of backspin – which was nice.” Phil – MG
Some very close holes in one on the Academy par 3 course but the shot of the day goes to Jenny Cordon from Leek Golf Club as she hit her immersed ball from a pond onto the green on Marston Lakes. That one was caught by budding photographer Ann Tweddle from Uttoxeter GC. All adds to the fun.
Afterwards, to the bar for some refreshments and then to the evening event of drinks reception followed by a four course meal. Most of the teams stayed over for the night and were slightly more subdued the next day nursing the odd bad head, they party well.
Lea Marston’s hospitality from the seamless organisation through to the accommodation left us all feeling well indulged and spoilt. The feedback from the players has been very complimentary.
Our winners were Team Pontypridd, winning an overnight stay at the Crowne Plaza 5 Towns Resort in Colchester with our own Phil the editor and Paul Povey from Brewin Dolphin wealth management who sponsor our society section making up the fourball. Steve and Karen Parfitt from South Wales had previously played with Jean- Louis and I at the Gourmet Classic event run by Club Choice Ireland last September, and it was great that they could join us.
Phil – ” A great day and night and I normally have to apologise to my team mates that Mandy puts me with for the handicap of playing with me! But we did great as a team and it was nice to win one for a change, even nicer though to make some great new friends, which is what these events of ours are all about.”
The runners up were team Robin Hood GC (below) – Lorraine and Chaz Baldwin, Ed and Sandra Kerby winning a stay and golf at the Lea Marston Hotel.
3rd place went to team Forest of Arden – lady captain Debbie Poynton and her husband Tim and David Wright with Christine Mitchell winning a fourball at Druids Heath Golf Club.
4th place went to team LLG (Ladies Love Golf) Michelle and Chris Walker, Jane and Tony Aston winning two boxes of balls. Yes there was clearly something in their wine on the table!
On the day we also ran a raffle for Prostate Cancer Research, and Jean- Louis and I are proud to say we raised £200. Thank you SurprizeShopGolf for the raffle prizes.
Again thank you for the generosity, Crown Plaza Hotels, Lea Marston, Darren Lewis PGA Senior pro and his staff and Druids Heath GC.
Team Trentham
Next year as part of our pledge to reward and support the clubs and resorts who support MG year on year, we hope to move the event to Ullesthorpe Court Hotel in Leicestershire.
With so many ladies present I managed to sign a few up for MGALS, numbers now for our ladies society are in excess of 60 and counting. Our next MGALS event is on July 8th at the Forest of Arden.
Please contact me of you are interested in any of the events ladyeditor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk
.
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
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 1st, 2nd & 3rd 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 1st 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.
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
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 57th 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
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
.
Len Strong. Midlands & National Secretary PIGS
PIGS new president
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!
Tag Archive for: Society
Magazine
READ OUR LATEST ISSUE
Search the previous magazine editions below:
Society
This section is dedicated to golfing societies – to showcase and support the many local golfing groups that are operating in the Midlands.
What you’re all about, what you get up to, where you play and who gets the successes, and sometimes the disasters too!
Group golfers play such an important role in the golfing economy and at MG we’ve worked over the years to form many valuable relationships with our local groups, who do tend to follow our recommendations over where to play.
There are no limits to our society section here online and every group who contacts us will get a few spots in the magazine too. Plus it costs nothing to give us your content at any time, so if you would like to see your society’s name in lights and join this growing band, please get in touch by emailing editor Phil at editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk or simply find Midlands Golfer and message us on social media.
Become another brick in our society wall.
Society Wall
https://midlandsgolfer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/pigs-gs.png 169 175 Midlands Golfer https://midlandsgolfer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/midgolfer-new.jpg Midlands Golfer2017-11-10 12:34:182018-02-19 21:13:46PLASTICS INDUSTRY GOLF SOCIETY (PIGS)
https://midlandsgolfer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/20170831_153417-e1510264177648.jpg 774 1032 Midlands Golfer https://midlandsgolfer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/midgolfer-new.jpg Midlands Golfer2017-11-09 22:00:472018-02-19 21:08:28Warwickshire Teachers’ GS
https://midlandsgolfer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/WAC-3.jpg 540 960 Midlands Golfer https://midlandsgolfer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/midgolfer-new.jpg Midlands Golfer2017-10-16 12:22:212018-02-19 12:08:42WAC Golf SocietyPTF 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
Potteries International GS
St Pierre is a big hit with the PIGS
The Marriott St Pierre in Chepstow hosted the Potteries International Golf Society (PIGS) 18th Annual Tour which took in three days in early September.
Phil Stonier, Society Organiser, commented “We made our trip to South Wales to experience yet another Marriott Golf Complex after we were so well looked after when we visited Breadsall Priory, Derby in 2017. We enjoy just turning up at a quality hotel, park the cars up for three days and just play golf, enjoy the bars, the food and all the facilities that are included. On both occasions now we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and received five star service”.
The PIGS play a Ryder Cup format Competition over three days with 24 regular members split into two teams of 12. There are two Teams with their own Captain and we adopt a theme for the weekend which is decided upon by our Captains. This year it was simply The Belts Team V The Braces Team which turned a few heads when we took to the course. So, the first two days we play in a four ball better ball format and then on the last day we have 12 single matches. Whilst the Team approach is contested we also have an individual Stableford Competition which underpins the three days. Each day we have an individual Stableford Winner who receives a Daily Trophy and the traditional Nearest the Pin and Longest Drive Competition. The golfer with the most Stableford Points over the 3 days is crowned our Tour Champion. This year’s honour went to Andy Clemson who came in with a respectable 90 points.
We also have tremendous fun after dinner when we announce the Days misdemeanours when our Fine Master dishes out the Fines and the associated tales which determine the size of the Fine. Over the years various Charities have benefited from our bad behaviour but we have now decided that we are going to buy a portable defibrillator to accompany us on our Society Days in one of the Buggies. We hope we never have to use it on either ourselves or anyone else on the course but as we are all getting older – it’s not a bad idea.
We had so much fun over the three days – the two courses we played were in excellent condition and proved a real test for us all. Most of the guys took there golf a little less serious, possibly enjoying a Sociable drink in the bars and rooms well into the early hours – hence the low scores. Next year is already planned with a trip to Slaley Hall in Northumberland – can’t wait.
Phil Stonier – Organiser
For more info and latest news take a look at the PIGS website www.potteriesgolfsociety.com
The Golden Poppys – Just the Ticket
In 2017 MG helped Gaudet Luce GC promote their 2018 society campaign which included a special prize. They posted out a number of society brochures to local groups; inside one of them was a golden ticket to win a full society day at the club.
The lucky winners were Poppys GS from Bulkington in Warwickshire and on Sunday 2nd September they enjoyed a great day out –
The society was formed in January 2016 after several months of planning and organising. They are based locally from Poppys Venue (formerly the Bulkington War Memorial Club) and play monthly competitions around the area within a 40 mile radius. The competitions comprise of The Society Championship (The Alan Ward Trophy) The Par 3 Cup (The Val Russell Trophy), played over 8 separate venues, the Winter League Pairs Competition, played over 5 separate venues, The Poppys Open (The Shaun Hale Trophy) and of course, The Captains weekend away.
They maintain close ties with the club and raise funds for the Bulkington veterans and Warwickshire and Solihull Blood Bikes, based around their frequent visits to bunkers and water hazards during society rounds!
Each Poppys monthly event has a trophy to compete for, and all trophies are named after fallen soldiers, heroes whose names appear on the war memorial in the churchyard at St James Church in Bulkington.
In a short space of time Poppys numbers have grown to 36 members, with many others entering events as guests. They run mixed format days out, an annual Order of Merit and a winter league, rounds held at North Warwickshire GC.
Poppys welcome new members and guests at their events – contact chairman Simon for further details – poppysgolf@gmail.com or find them on FB/Twitter and Instagram.
Bell GS – 59 years young
We are the Bell Golfing Society, founded in 1959 by 4 members of Moseley Rugby Club. I believe we may be the oldest golfing society, still playing in the Midlands, if not the country.
We adopted the name from The Bell, Harborne, Birmingham. Every Monday evening, during the summer, it was 9 holes at Harborne Church Farm, then up to The Bell for beer, banter and dominoes. This continued for 25 years before switching allegiance to Warley Woods, where we were warmly received by David Owen, Warley Woods golf professional. Our monthly golf days were to Shifnal, Brocton, Stratford and our traditional end of season visit to Aberdovey Golf Club, in October for a weekend of golf and merriment, accompanied of course by our very talented pianist, Roy Hurdman.
Although our Monday evening game is no longer, we more than make up for it with monthly visits to Midland courses such as Fulford Heath, Hagley, Ladbrook Park, Kings Norton and others.
Our biggest claim to fame is providing not 1 but 2 captains of the British Left Hander Golfers Association, namely Barry Packwood and Roger Stansfield.
Jeremy Smart is our current President and together with Mike Bunn, organise our annual programme and keep us solvent.
DOGS – mid season report
Dallington Old Boys Golf Society or “DOGS” as we call ourselves were founded in November 2016 and are based around the Northamptonshire region.
Our 2018 year started off at Chesfield Downs in Hertfordshire on a wet Sunday morning in January, fresh with two new members in Tom Robinson and James Hardwick, the commencement of a match play league which would run simultaneously with our main stableford league, and lots of smaller improvements to the DOGS experience.
Chesfield is an interesting course and well worth a visit. It played well in the wet and boasts a great variety of holes from long and tight 400 yard par 4s, teaser dogs legs, and some interesting par 3s.
February saw our return to Brampton Heath in Northants (below), a firm favourite among the DOGS community, not least for its more forgiving fairways and nicely manicured greens. Brampton will likely remain a winter fixture on the DOGS calendar given its miraculous drying qualities. The sand-based land the course is built on means the course remains open when many others aren’t, and plays extremely well in the wet conditions to boot.
We were due to play Whittlebury in March, but the snow got the better of us and we’re now rescheduled for August 12th. This was the setting for the first DOGS event back in November 2016, won by Mark Jessett, who has since dropped to single figures (8).
April saw us travel to Staverton in Daventry, which has become another favourite course for some of the DOGS crew. The undulating West Northants countryside provides a stunning backdrop for a testing course with some long holes, and well protected greens.
We visited Collingtree in May after the worst of the weather and while the air was less full of rain, the ground was still sodden and therefore the rough had been left very long as the ground staff had been unable to get the heavy cutters out on it. This provided an altogether different challenge on an already tough course, and yielded only the second DOGS event win with sub-36 points. The first being at The Brabazon at the Belfry complex.
June saw the mid-season Whitefields GC weekender at Draycote near Rugby, a course we’ve frequented for the past 6 years all told, starting before DOGS’s formation with a few of the guys from Northampton University just getting away for the weekend. It’s now developed into a jam-packed weekend of Stableford, a Foursomes round and the culmination of the weekend and genuine highlight, the Texas Scramble. The staff at Whitefields have always been brilliant, from the hotel to the pro shop, and the dinner bed, breakfast and 4 rounds of golf with buggies deal they do fits the bill nicely!
Kelv’s selfie at 1st tee St Ives
July saw us travel to the very modern and impressive St Ives (Hunts) GC in Cambridgeshire. The clubhouse is in immaculate condition opening just 8 years ago, and the excellent practice facilities coupled with the testing inland links style course showed exactly why it has one of the fastest growing reputations of quality in the East of England.
Expanding the DOGS brand, we now have a range of merchandise available, from polo-shirts to pitch repairers, towels to bag tags, as well as a fleet of DOGS branded golf balls. We’ll give a big shout out to anyone who happens to find one and notify us at @DOGSGolfSociety on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
DOGS merchandise
After Whittlebury in August we travel to Farthingstone, Silverstone, The Warwickshire (Kings Course) for the finale of the DOGS stableford and match play leagues, and Kingsthorpe for the end of season special event which will carry a team element. Kingsthorpe will be followed by the end of season awards presentations and drinks in town where we’ll be able to recoup some of the fines money ‘Finesmaster’ Phil Martin has been busy collecting each month for misdemeanours in the clubhouse and on the course. Who knew dirty shoes could be so costly!? I sometimes think it might be cheaper to buy a new pair each month.
The future looks bright for DOGS, now with a membership of 31, up from 22 at the start of the calendar year. We are now consistently averaging 20 per event, with more interest being shown in the society. Front runners for the halfway point include Glen Smith (13), Mr consistent Dan Dalmonego (28) and Stuart ‘Jarv’ Wiseman (18 and in the form of his life), all in strong positions in the stableford league going into the last 6 months. Smith, Adam Balme and Dan Cockerton occupying the top 3 places in the match play league, with all to play for given the F1 points allocation, weighted toward the end of the season.
Keep an eye out for us on the course, and look out for our DOGS balls.
STAGS on Tour – Murcia 2018
Captain’s Report
STAGS (St Thomas Association Golf Society) Erdington on Tour – Murcia 2018
~ Day 1 ~
It was an early start for the 16 STAGS who arrived at Birmingham Airport for 4am which was probably a wonderful sight for the other passengers as they witnessed us tuck into our large English brekkies with lashings of lager, stout and cider…and orange juice!
A slight delay on the tarmac as the captain (not me) announced that he couldn’t start the right engine. Thankfully it looks as if he was just stupid as an engineer pushed a button that read ‘right engine – on’….and we were off!
Alhama Signature Golf Course – Casualties – 0
It was a quick turn-around as we got to our apartments and headed for the salubrious surroundings at Alhama golf Club.
Alhama Signature Golf is an exceptional course that has been designed and signed in person by Jack Nicklaus. The course is long with plenty of spectacular holes.
With its circular tees, wide fairways and rough, rapid greens this course was always going to cause the STAGS some serious challenges. I didn’t count how many bunkers there were but I saw quite a few of them – a theme I continued throughout the weekend!
A steady round was called for and it was fairly obvious that a low score was going to win it.
We decided to have our nearest the pin comps on all 4 par 3 holes – I don’t know whether this is an achievement or not but only two STAGS hit any of the par 3’s – let me put that into some perspective for you – that’s out of 64 attempts only two people made the green on any of Alhama’s par 3’s. First it was Chris McGrath on the 17th and then Tim Lane pipped him to the nearest the pin on the same hole. Well done to Tim who collected the rolled over bounty! But it was Paul O’Sullivan who took the first game by winning with 29 points.
However, there was heartbreak amongst many, if not all of the STAGS, as we realised that the clubhouse had closed for the end of the day…gutted, tired and thirsty STAGS. However, it didn’t take long until we were all well-oiled later on in the evening.
Special mention goes to a couple of nameless STAGS who didn’t quite make it all the way home on the first night – one slept on a roundabout and another in somebody’s garden – the latter was found wandering the streets near to SPAR later on that morning!
~ Day 2 – Molson Coors Bowl~
El Valle Golf Course
Casualties – 2
What a superb course! The facilities were great too! Once again we were treated to some spectacular holes especially the elevated 11th tee. The course was in excellent condition and there was a lot of water to navigate…as well as the usual bunker – in hindsight I really should have brought along my bucket and spade instead of my clubs…may as well have thrown in my fishing rod whilst I’m at it!
The greens really didn’t seem to want to play ball today with many not playing the way we expected to – but what’s new there then.
Once again Tim Lane hit a nearest the pin and Andy Barcello hitting another – although as we were in-between other groups his marker had been moved – with this in mind and probably due to his lack of trust from his fellow golfers (he’s a good judge of character) he got photographic evidence to back his claim – it was a great shot all the same! Billy Noonan hit the other nearest the pin and it was Billy who won on the day and, after a fairly decent score in the first match, was now in the running to become overall champion for the second year running – surely he couldn’t do it again!?
But the final shout has to go to Ges Tierney who found out going towards the 13th tee that he had just become a grandfather. To say that Ges was emotional would be a terrific understatement – I was delighted to be there when he got the call. On behalf of the STAGS; congratulations Ges and many thanks for getting the drinks in. I believe it’s my duty to tell you that Mrs Tierney warned Ges not to celebrate too much on the night – I think we’ll leave the rest of the evening to your imagination!
~ Day 3 ~
Mar Menor Golf Course
Casualties – 1.5
So to our third and final day. With Chris (Ooo Ahh Chris McGrath [and his dad]) McGrath, Paul O’Sullivan and Billy Noonan who were teeing off first as the front-runners on our ‘home’ course.
Each hole on this course requires the utmost attention and concentration. The course demands a wide range of shots to deal with several obstacles (including electricity wires Jonas) successfully.
Lakes – of which there were many – play a key part in how well your round went…as well as the bunkers! The course in general was a very flat course which was a blessing as most of us headed out without buggies.
As we headed down the 13th it was wonderful to see Ges cheer us on from his balcony – I can’t say whether the previous night’s shenanigans had anything to do with his non-attendance but let’s just say that his luggage was a little lighter on the way back to brum!
Incredibly it was the maverick, Billy Noonan who hit the only nearest the pin on the final day – the 17th pipping Conor Ward to the accolade. Andy (the Assassin) Hoy won longest drive on the 18th although Jonas Mark looked as if he’d won with his impressive drive.
However, even after cutting himself two shots, Billy Noonan won on the day and took the title as overall Tour Champ for a second year running – congratulations to Billy (below) for a sensational weekend of golf.
I’d also like to thank a couple of visitors for joining us too – there was Dan McGrath – Chris’ Dad who had an admirable go at the Brandy on the first night which I blame for my poor run of form throughout the weekend and to Mossy who is a greenhorn when it comes to golf and has to be admired for giving it a go.
Finally, I would like to say a huge thank you to both Brendan Reilly and Les Gwillym who organised the whole event down to every miniscule detail. I have to say that without these two gentlemen at the helm things just either wouldn’t happen or our society would be one big huge shambles!
I can’t wait for next year and I’m definitely not going to drink as much!
Until next time Amigos – David Logue
Army Golf Association (West Midlands)
The Army Golf Association (AGA) was established in 1974 to include Officers and Soldiers serving in the Army, regular or retired. Reserves were introduced in 2011 and to date including the civilians based in Army establishments, the AGA has 1800 members.
The AGA (WM) society was started in 2016 and in its debut year plus last year’s events has built up its numbers to 98 golfers. It has an active following on Facebook and is looking to expand its calendar to include some match plays against other clubs and societies.
At present seven meetings per annum are held to include the season opener, spring, summer, autumn and winter meets plus a matchplay event (including a plate competition) and a team of six enter the AGA Inter-Regional event held nationally.
This year the season opener took place at Calderfields G&CC in March with the spring meeting recently held at Shifnal GC, and the summer meet will be at the Shropshire GC in July. The matchplay is in its early rounds with the finals to be held at Beau Desert later in the summer. The autumn and winter meetings are yet to be confirmed.
SSgt Aidi Bennett and Sgt Marcus Murcott are the secretaries for the AGA (WM) society and where possible would welcome some sponsorship and new members.
Contact details email: wmsec@armygolf.co.uk
Red Ram Golf Society – Derby
The Red Ram GS are based in Derby/Nottingham and as the name may suggest are formed from a mix of Nottingham Forest and Derby County supporters. They are very new on the scene too, just formed this year.
But what they lack in trips they’ve made up for in holes-in-ones already, two of their first three outings saw one of those. Pictured is Lee Shapcott, society chairman who shot his on the 16th hole at Uttoxeter GC during their March meeting.
Lee was even treated to a society guard of honour here! https://www.facebook.com/uttoxetergolfclub/videos/1404406762998557/
Prior to that, society vice-chairman Mark Leivers managed one on the 16th at Morley Hayes during their first ever day out in January.
So the message to all the golf clubs on this Red Ram GS fixture list below for 2018 is stock up with the big whisky bottles behind the bar, you might just be selling them one if this rate continues!
Sat May 26th The Nottinghamshire
Sat June 23rd Shirland GC
Sat July 21st Matlock
Sun Aug 5th Norwood Park
Sun Sept 23rd Ashbourne
Sat Oct 6th Ormonde Fields
Sun Nov 4th Beeston Fields
Thanks to Red Ram GS events director Stephen Goodwin for the info. We look forward to running a season’s review with them (and hopefully more aces) at the end of the year.
Lea Mar-vellous – A special day
Mandy Ambert – What can I say about Lea Marston Golf Club and Hotel that I didn’t say last year?
56 players came on Friday 23rd March to play in our second MG mixed event with players from Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Pontypridd. The remit of maintaining a good mix of people from the Midlands is working and with not a raindrop in sight off we went after a cheeky Bucks Fizz and Danish pastries.
The am-am shot gun start proved successful once again and with Senior Pro (Sgt Major) Darren Lewis giving us a briefing prior to the game, we played the competition.
Considering the recent weather endured by all, both nine hole courses, Academy and Marston Lakes were in great condition. The greens were soft and super receptive as well, especially on the short course, “where golfers of average ability managed to achieve prodigious amounts of backspin – which was nice.” Phil – MG
Some very close holes in one on the Academy par 3 course but the shot of the day goes to Jenny Cordon from Leek Golf Club as she hit her immersed ball from a pond onto the green on Marston Lakes. That one was caught by budding photographer Ann Tweddle from Uttoxeter GC. All adds to the fun.
Afterwards, to the bar for some refreshments and then to the evening event of drinks reception followed by a four course meal. Most of the teams stayed over for the night and were slightly more subdued the next day nursing the odd bad head, they party well.
Lea Marston’s hospitality from the seamless organisation through to the accommodation left us all feeling well indulged and spoilt. The feedback from the players has been very complimentary.
Our winners were Team Pontypridd, winning an overnight stay at the Crowne Plaza 5 Towns Resort in Colchester with our own Phil the editor and Paul Povey from Brewin Dolphin wealth management who sponsor our society section making up the fourball. Steve and Karen Parfitt from South Wales had previously played with Jean- Louis and I at the Gourmet Classic event run by Club Choice Ireland last September, and it was great that they could join us.
Phil – ” A great day and night and I normally have to apologise to my team mates that Mandy puts me with for the handicap of playing with me! But we did great as a team and it was nice to win one for a change, even nicer though to make some great new friends, which is what these events of ours are all about.”
The runners up were team Robin Hood GC (below) – Lorraine and Chaz Baldwin, Ed and Sandra Kerby winning a stay and golf at the Lea Marston Hotel.
3rd place went to team Forest of Arden – lady captain Debbie Poynton and her husband Tim and David Wright with Christine Mitchell winning a fourball at Druids Heath Golf Club.
4th place went to team LLG (Ladies Love Golf) Michelle and Chris Walker, Jane and Tony Aston winning two boxes of balls. Yes there was clearly something in their wine on the table!
On the day we also ran a raffle for Prostate Cancer Research, and Jean- Louis and I are proud to say we raised £200. Thank you SurprizeShopGolf for the raffle prizes.
Again thank you for the generosity, Crown Plaza Hotels, Lea Marston, Darren Lewis PGA Senior pro and his staff and Druids Heath GC.
Team Trentham
Next year as part of our pledge to reward and support the clubs and resorts who support MG year on year, we hope to move the event to Ullesthorpe Court Hotel in Leicestershire.
With so many ladies present I managed to sign a few up for MGALS, numbers now for our ladies society are in excess of 60 and counting. Our next MGALS event is on July 8th at the Forest of Arden.
Please contact me of you are interested in any of the events ladyeditor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk
.
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
Magazine
READ OUR LATEST ISSUE
Search the previous magazine editions below:
Society
This section is dedicated to golfing societies – to showcase and support the many local golfing groups that are operating in the Midlands.
What you’re all about, what you get up to, where you play and who gets the successes, and sometimes the disasters too!
Group golfers play such an important role in the golfing economy and at MG we’ve worked over the years to form many valuable relationships with our local groups, who do tend to follow our recommendations over where to play.
There are no limits to our society section here online and every group who contacts us will get a few spots in the magazine too. Plus it costs nothing to give us your content at any time, so if you would like to see your society’s name in lights and join this growing band, please get in touch by emailing editor Phil at editor@midlandsgolfer.co.uk or simply find Midlands Golfer and message us on social media.
Become another brick in our society wall.
Society Wall
https://midlandsgolfer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/pigs-gs.png 169 175 Midlands Golfer https://midlandsgolfer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/midgolfer-new.jpg Midlands Golfer2017-11-10 12:34:182018-02-19 21:13:46PLASTICS INDUSTRY GOLF SOCIETY (PIGS) https://midlandsgolfer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/20170831_153417-e1510264177648.jpg 774 1032 Midlands Golfer https://midlandsgolfer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/midgolfer-new.jpg Midlands Golfer2017-11-09 22:00:472018-02-19 21:08:28Warwickshire Teachers’ GS https://midlandsgolfer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/WAC-3.jpg 540 960 Midlands Golfer https://midlandsgolfer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/midgolfer-new.jpg Midlands Golfer2017-10-16 12:22:212018-02-19 12:08:42WAC Golf SocietyWillowbrook 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
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 1st, 2nd & 3rd 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 1st 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.
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
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 57th 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
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
.
Len Strong. Midlands & National Secretary PIGS
PIGS new president
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!
