EGU & EWGA Merger to create England Golf

The merger of the English Golf Union (EGU) and the English Women’s Golf Association (EWGA) was approved today (16 November 2011) at simultaneous general meetings of both organisations.

The merger will come into effect on 1 January 2012 and will create England Golf, one national governing body to represent all amateur golfers in England.

The merger proposal was approved by 86 per cent of the voting members of the EGU, meeting at its headquarters in Woodhall Spa; and by 100 per cent of the voting members of the EWGA, meeting at the National Motor Cycle Museum at Solihull. Both organisations had to approve the proposal by a majority of at least 75 per cent for it to be successful.

The decision was immediately hailed as a triumph for golf and a vital step forward for the game. Nigel Evans, Chairman EGU and Sylvia Perrins, Interim Chairman EWGA said: “This merger is in the best interests of golf and we are delighted that it has been given overwhelming support by our members. We look forward to a new era and to realising our vision for the future.

“England Golf will speak with one voice and send out the powerful, modern message that golf is a game for all, for men and women, boys and girls.

“A unified organisation, which promotes both the men’s and women’s game, will be more attractive to new golfers, will help us to grow the game, will be more appealing to commercial partners and sponsors and will mean we can be more cost effective.”

The merger vote followed a long period of consultation and preparation, which began in 2009 when a steering group was formed of members of both organisations. Following lengthy discussions, and the involvement of ten working groups, the proposal was produced and ratified by the Boards of both organisations before being put to the voting members.

Key points of the merger

• The headquarters of England Golf will initially be at the National Golf Centre at Woodhall Spa. The EWGA offices in Edgbaston will continue in use until at least October 2012.
• The counties will continue to be the voting members. Counties will be encouraged to merge their Unions and Associations, but this will not be mandatory.
• The Board of England Golf will initially include 10 stakeholder non-executive directors, six nominated by the EGU and four women nominated by the EWGA. One of these 10 will be nominated as Chairman.
• The first sole President of England Golf will be a woman. The President will be supported by the immediate Past President and the President-Elect. One of these three will always be a woman.
• Club golf will go on, from day-to-day, as it does now, but members will benefit from the positive perceptions created by the merger and by the better support available for clubs.
• All the championships and tournaments currently run by the EWGA and the EGU will continue.
• The regional and group structures of the two organisations will continue to run competitions. The decision-making role of the EWGA regional committees will end.
• Affiliation fees for men and women will be harmonised and will be equal by 1 January 2014. Women will continue to pay an additional subscription to the Ladies Golf Union

County Centenary Team Invitation Plate at Henbury Golf Club Monday 18th October 2010
Club/Names			Total		Club/Names			Total
Club: Lilley Brook	Paid		61		Club: Brickhampton Court	Paid		66
Brendan Sheridan	18				Nick Broady	8
John Edwards	12				Paul Whitmarsh	12
Mike Jordan	16				Neil Casling	18
Caroline Kirby	36				Mike Roberts	11
Club: Orchard	Paid		66		Club: Knowle	Paid		78
Yvonne Kettle	27				Colin Lavender	7
Mike Mann	15				Rodney Tugwell	6
Alexis Hill	23				David Roman	16
Andy Ackerman	9				Richard Hall	13
South Herefordshire	Paid		78		Filton	Paid		84
Laurie Mitchener	14				Gary Duke	13
Rod Duncan	12				Marcus Phelps	13
Peter Sawyer	17				Geoff Endicot	14
Peter Chapman	12				Trevor Atkinson	6
The Bristol	Paid		83		Cleeve Cloud	Paid		71
David Wookey	5				Trevor Martin	17
Mandy Wookey	20				John Brown	13
Ron Edwards	16				Jim Mason	15
Fred Fletcher	13				Richard Salter	24
Club: Chipping Sodbury	Paid	2nd	87		Club:Shirehampton Park	Paid		77
Bob Williams	16				Karen Rix	6
Jim Ford	6				Kevin Davies	6
Tony Davis	12				Steve Yorke	2
Mike Darby	7				Shaun McGettigan	20
Club: Stinchcombe Hill	Paid		73		Club: Cotswold Hills	Paid		82
Chris Wright	18				Jim Marland	12
John Hill	9				Patrick Brooke	20
John Slim	12				Martin Pettit	6
Geoff Sims	5				Alastair Harvey	10
Cotswold Edge	Paid		78		Gloucester	Paid		67
Neil Newman	7				Rob Drew	14
K. Hanson	14				Geoff Wedgbury	12
Paul Holland	21				Mike Coomber	18
Estelle Johnson	19				Gerry Osborn	16
Broadway	Paid		78		Cirencester	Paid		76
Chris Wright	13				John Hall	12
Les Carter	7				Richard Collishaw	26
Derrek Butler	9				Peter Stone	5
Mike Everitt	6				R. Evans	12
Henbury	Paid		83		Kendleshire	Paid		84
Derek Howell					Pat Murphy	6
M. Cole					Peter Manning	15
Eric Innes	9				Nigel Wilson	7
Steve Shepherd					Peter Whitfield	14
Bristol & Clifton	Paid		83		Long Ashton	Paid	Winners	89
Ted Langston	15				Norman Cottrell	10
David Battrick	14				Hugh Purvis	5
Peter Simpson	14				David Farrar	13
Jane Watts	27				Andy Fry	6
Tracy Park	Paid		86		Sherdons	Paid		72
Alan Parker	18				Doug Cane	18
Graeme Archer	10				Ray Webster	14
Nick Morgan	12				Jenny Watson	33
Clive Taylor	16				Ross Fenney	19
Minchinhampton	Paid		80		Rodway Hill	Paid		64
Ed Clark	7				Eric Chitty	15
Mike Doyle-Davidson	23				Ron Hannam	17
Tim Dipple	9				Mike Warren	15
Rob Stephens	3				Stephen Pounds	19
Lydney	Paid		87		Lansdown	Paid		74
Jon Mills	15				Geoff Tovey	9
Robert Hills	12				Malcolm Brown	12
Alan Robinson	15				Ian Cornwell	10
Mark Anderson	9				Ken Rawcliffe	13
Naunton Downs	Paid		78		Painswick	Paid		78
Bob Knight	13				Dave Brazington	9
Paul Gwilt	16				Mike Hoey	11
Bill Wallace	12				Ann Smith	31
Irene Gwilt	36				Martin Taylor	17
Forest Hills	Paid		77		County Union	Paid		84
Terry Thomas	26				Tony Gough	5
David Robinson	10				Bill Hill	8
Roger Hall	11				Ian Foulner	10
Dave Bowen	16				Debbie Casling	24
					Abbey Business Group	Paid		75
					Neil Brimble	14
					Nick Scanlan	10
					Bob Sheldon	15
					Richard Dee	17

SENIORS CHANNEL LEAGUE TABLE  2011
Place	COUNTY	PLAYED	WON	DRAWN	LOST	GAME PTS	TOTAL PTS
1	Gloucester	6	5	0	1	52.0	5.0
2	Devon	6	4	0	2	56.0	4.0
3	Glamorgan	6	4	0	2	50.0	4.0
4	Cornwall	6	2	1	3	40.5	2.5
5	Somerset	6	2	0	4	41.5	2.0
6	Gwent	6	2	0	4	39.0	2.0
7	Wiltshire	6	1	1	4	36.0	1.5
					check	OK	OK
	DATE	COUNTY	GAME PTS	MATCH PTS	VENUE
1	20-Apr	Somerset	9.5	1	Weston S Mare
		Devon	5.5
2	5-May	Somerset	6		Bath
		Gwent	9	1
3	5-May	Cornwall	6.5		Trethorne
		Glamorgan	8.5	1
4	16-May	Devon	9.5	1	Royal North Devon
		Gloucester	5.5
5	23-May	Cornwall	8.5	1	Bude + N Cornwall
		Gwent	6.5
6	24-May	Wiltshire	6		High Post
		Somerset	9	1
7	25-May	Gloucester	11.5	1	Shirehampton Park
		Glamorgan	3.5
8	15-Jun	Gloucester	9.5	1	Henbury
		Wiltshire	5.5
9	28-Jun	Somerset	7		Isle of Wedmore
		Gloucester	8	1
10	29-Jun	Gwent	8.5	1	St Pierre
		Wiltshire	6.5
11	15-Jul	Devon	12.5	1	Exeter
		Wiltshire	2.5
12	19-Jul	Wiltshire	8	1	Bowood
		Glamorgan	7
13	20-Jul	Gwent	7		Pontypool
		Gloucester	8	1
14	29-Jul	Glamorgan	11.5	1	Wenvoe Castle
		Somerset	3.5
15	1-Aug	Cornwall	8.5	1	Bowood park
		Somerset	6.5
16	11-Aug	Gwent	3.5		Raglan Parc
		Devon	11.5	1
17	18-Aug	Glamorgan	10.5	1	Fairwood Park
		Gwent	4.5
18	31-Aug	Wiltshire	7.5	0.5	Chippenham
		Cornwall	7.5	0.5
19	2-Sep	Glamorgan	9	1	Radyr
		Devon	6
20	7-Sep	Gloucester	9.5	1	Bristol + Clifton
		Cornwall	5.5
21	15-Sep	Devon	11	1	Teignmouth
		Cornwall	4

EGU Southern Counties Senior

Foursomes Finals 2011

Gloucestershire Seniors qualified for the finals by beating Dorset, Somerset & Wiltshire in the qualifier at Bath Golf Club on Monday 8^th August 2011.

Hertfordshire, Hampshire & Norfolk were the other counties represented in the finals held at North Weald Golf Club on Thursday 20^th October.

Due to a very late illness in the family David Rigby was unable to play. This resulted in the County President, Mr. Bill Hill stepping in as a replacement.

Gloucestershire drew Hertfordshire in the morning semi final whilst Hampshire’s opponents were Norfolk.

At the halfway stage Gloucestershire were behind, but as normal our team fought back to run out winners by 3 games to 2.

The final against Hampshire was extremely tense Gloucestershire’s top two pairs lost but the 3^rd and 4^th pair evened up the score making the last match the decider.

On the 13^th hole our last pairing of Richard Boulding & David Potter went one down.

They then won the 14^th 15^th and 16^th to be two up. Hertfordshire came back to win on the 17^th. Dormy one up with one to play.

The eighteenth hole is a par 5 with a very sharp dog leg left both players hit their drives into the bunkers Hertfordshire on the right side Gloucestershire on the left each player came out of the bunker with the balls ending up in the right hand semi. Our player hit his third shot into the trees short and left of the green.  Hampshire’s third shot was a direct hit on a tree ending up back just short of where it had started.

Both fourth shots ended up on the 18^th green. Our team putted first the ball ending up 3 foot short. Hampshire had a 12 -14 foot putt from the top of a two tier green down approximately two feet drop an excellent putt just missed the hole. David Potter held his nerve to calmly hole the putt for a half and a win by one hole.

A superb end to the Seniors 2011 season, Champions of the Channel league and then matching the counties 2004 team by winning the South East Counties Seniors Foursomes.

Well done to all the team and thanks for all the happy memories.

Tony Gough