No . 135 The Trusty Servant
OW Sport
As you are all aware , Win Coll Soc has adopted a new website . One of its many benefits is that OW clubs and societies can promote their activities , each with its own profile . If you have never got around to joining one of the OW sports clubs , or are simply interested in what they have been up to , please visit www . wincollsoc . org / clubs Some clubs have their own websites and the Win Coll Soc pages are intended as an enhancement rather than a replacement .
OW Golfing Society DC Bonsall ( Coll , 69-73 ) writes : Many OWs , whatever their sporting affiliations when in the School , have found that they have been drawn to the game of golf . This year above all others is a good time to be an OW who plays the Royal and Ancient game . For 2023 sees OWGS celebrate its Centenary with golfing events , dinners , the usual fixture list and many opportunities to see old friends and make new ones .
At the end of April , Royal St George ’ s sees OWs compete for prizes , including the invitation to be hosted at Pine Valley and Merion GC in the United States or at the Home of Golf itself in St Andrews . Those and other prizes are also up for grabs at the Society ’ s annual meeting at The Berkshire GC on Friday 30 th June . We also have a special day at Aldeburgh GC on Friday 15 th September before the Centenary Dinner at Grocers ’ Hall in London on Thursday 9 th November .
Please put these dates in your diary and contact either David Bonsall , President OWGS , at david @ bonsall . golf or Nick Holt , Secretary OWGS , at nickeholt @ gmail . com if you would like to attend or participate in any way .
Please also visit our website for further details : www . owgs . info
Essays in Time In order to commemorate the Centenary in style , David Bonsall has written and produced a coffee table book , Essays In Time . The cover of this impressive work shows to the initiated a fine photograph of Winchester College and its surroundings , while the back cover reveals the photographs of our two Halford Hewitt successful teams in 1948 and 2018 .
This history of the Old Wykehamist Golfing Society is detailed , wideranging and not limited in its appeal just to OWs or even golfers . David has provided much interesting context behind the decades of the Society ’ s existence , summarising neatly highlights of events on the world and British stage , as well as those in the golfing scene , music and film with a nod to the great wine , champagne and port vintages – many of them still available today and doubtless enjoyed by many of the likely readers . We are invited to sit in an armchair , dipping into the book for stories and the prompting of memories of people we have known or read about , but here with a new insight and a Wykehamical element that may not have been appreciated before .
For many , there will be names that are not known widely as OWs but whose stories are compelling . We find Horace Hutchinson ( the first great English amateur golfer ), the Honourable Michael Scott ( who beat Bobby Jones in his only defeat in the Walker Cup and was probably the best amateur in the world before World War I ) and Gerald Micklem , the foremost golf administrator of the 1960s and 1970s , whose notes on playing the Old Course were used by Nick Faldo in his 1990 Open triumph at St Andrews .
Copies are obtainable at £ 40 per copy from David Bonsall as above .
Hots Were Held … Nevin Pot , The Winchester College Football tournament for OWs , took place on Saturday 25 th March . A drying wind had erased the waterlogged conditions that had prevailed two days earlier for the school ’ s VIs Festival . Firm canvases on Hockstapler and Meads promised some fast and intense play . Old Wykehamists of all ages did not disappoint .
We were blessed by sufficient enthusiastic OWs to form 12 teams , with two impromptu captains ( Rollo Quinault ( H , 11-16 ) and Michael Hawkey ( Coll , 16-21 )) making good use of the spare players to field their semi-scratch sides .
The hooter-wielding Patrick Walker ( I , 65-70 ) managed the timings impeccably and matches got underway at 2 pm on the dot . Throughout the afternoon , play was ( occasionally very ) competitive and as it progressed , became increasingly skilful . At 5.30 four teams remained in the competition . On Commoner Canvas , the final for Nevin Pot itself , while on OTH Canvas the hotly contested Plate Final .
Vital Statistics : 83 players took part , including three members of staff , distributed 45 to OTH , 33 to Commoners , 4 to College and 1 to Co Ro .
Player ages ranged from 19 to 59 . Mean player age : 31 ; median age : 26 . There were more players in their 50s ( 12 ) than in their 40s ( 10 ) or 30s ( 10 ). The handicapping system , based on team average age , worked well throughout and will perhaps encourage a similarly diverse age range in the future .
Nevin Pot Winners : Nigel Day ’ s ( F , 99-04 ) team . Runners Up : Louis Russell ( A , 11-16 ).
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