Society of the Month – September
Clansmen's Golf Society
Year Founded
2000 in Rochdale
Geographic Area you play most
Events are mainly in the North West. The trip started in North Wales, staying in Llandudno taking fantastic courses such as Maesdu, North Wales, Caennerfon Castle. Over the years (20 plus) we played and stayed at Hill Valley, Portal, Oulton Hall and most recently at the fabulous Hawkstone Park….back to Shropshire.
2010 Picture – Society Golfing
2019 Picture – Society Golfing
Annual Tour
There is one major annual tour which for the last couple of years has been to Hawkstone Park in Shropshire. Members also have regular overseas tours to The Algarve in Autumn and Florida in Spring.
Hawkstone Park – Shropshire
Formats
There are usually 2 rounds on the annual tour. One day is a team stableford and the other is an individual stableford so we have team champions and individual champion each year.
Jared Ashworth – 2023 Champion
How Many golfers
The annual tour is around 16 people and over the years we have had around 30 members. Those who still play golf are invited each year. Once a Clansmen always a Clansmen. The age range is what makes it a special sort of fun – this year the range was 32 to 82 years of age… all competing. This is what makes golf such a special sport where handicaps enable healthy competition, whatever your age or ability. Our ability range matches our age range!!!
Why did it start
Founded in 2000 in Rochdale at a Golden Wedding….under the plumes of cigar smoke (times have changed) a few uncles, cousins sons and fathers were sharing a beer and someone (Uncle Ray Hodgkiss) remarked that we should get together over a beer a lot more often than christenings, weddings, funerals and big anniversaries – and the idea of a golf trip was formed and the one who had had the most to drink , Paul Doney, agreed to be the organiser!
The group consists of family and friends of family, golfers and no longer golfers are all welcome…….hence the society name – Clansmen.
Two of the clan have managed to attend every trip so far. Paul (Captain and organiser) and David Ashworth. David’s full attendance record is quite an amazing feat given that for 3 years he was working and living in California, yet still somehow got himself over for a few days to join the society’s big trip.
Paul Doney presenting the champion golfer Jared Ashworth with trophies & the Clansmen’s bright tartan waistcoat to wear for that evening.
How do you select which courses to play
Selected by Paul. In the early years budget was a major factor as many members were quite young but those 30- year olds are now 50 plus so comfort is more of a factor! It used to be that we wanted a town centre to crawl the pubs and finish at a good old fashioned chippy, but these days we’re all a bit shattered after the golf and like to keep the bar quite close to the sleep zone.
Check out the North West & Welsh golf courses listed on the NCG Society Guide Website – North West & Wales.
Favourite Course played with Society
The ones we have played most often are Maesdu in Llandudno, Hawkstone Park and Hill Valley.
Top Tips for running a golf society
- Book early and secure deposits. Chasing money and organising prizes is probably the most time consuming part of things, but these days technology has made things so much easier for the organiser. Bank transfers much easier than the old days of asking for cheques to be posted……when was the last time you wrote a cheque???!!! And the internet makes it very quick and easy to organise personalised prizes and presents. Just send them your logo and they will do the rest.
- The biggest tip is to remember it’s a golf society designed to be fun, don’t take things too seriously. Of course golf rules apply and the spirit of the game should be followed, but it’s a casual group and the aim is for everyone to have a good time.
- Having a couple of non golfers (as we did for few years) proved most beneficial…… setting up a bar with drinks and nibbles for the lads as they come off the course went down very well with everybody!
3 reasons to join the Society
Friendship, beer and golf.
Club Membership Split
Almost all members are also members of golf clubs – Crompton & Royton, Newbury & Crookham being the main ones currently.
Mental/Physical Health benefits
The big thing for us is spending quality fun time with each other. You go to a function and have good catch up but it’s all done in a few hours. In the society you spend a few days together, properly catching up and having a great laugh together generating memories that will last.
Final Thoughts
We’ve come a long way since the year 2000 when 12 of us set out for a few days in North Wales. We stayed at a very traditional B&B …… very reasonable rates …. If one person was having a shower in the residence, then anyone else had to make do with a very cold trickle of water. The first evening dinner….we were asked to select either Apple Pie or Arctic Roll for our desert, sounded great. 10 golfers ordered the pie and two the roll…….you may have guessed what’s coming next. 10 were presented with 1/10th of a pie in quantity and the other 2 had the joy of half an arctic roll each 😊. We co-ordinated ourselves far far better for evening 2 to ensure a more evenly distributed desert divvy up!
Over the years we have seen a few members of the society come and go and some have sadly passed away. We like to think that everyone who has participated has had a good laugh. If you win the main singles event then you have the honour of the trophy and the joy of wearing the Clansmen’s bright tartan waistcoat that evening.
So, if you happen upon a golf group all (well those who remember) wearing the bright orange shirts with the sound of fore….. that could well be the Clansmen’s Golf Society.
The Clansmen
Gallery
