Is a marvellous facet of most golf clubs and is much more common than people would think.
At the St Andrews Club we have the wonderful Thistle which is made up of members from The St Andrews Golf Club, The New Club and The R&A. And it is a very old historic club with many fine trophies and championships to play for.
At Mortonhall in Edinburgh of course we have the MCBA (the Mortonhall Casual Barmy Army) which is made up of a solid set of lads mostly emanating from the fine year of 1979 (and mostly emanating from George Watson’s College in fact) when a bunch of these individuals left school and formed the MCBA as a club, mainly playing at Mortonhall (Morty is rather Watsonians dominated).
It holds an annual Tour of about 3 days golf at certain venues around the UK. Not so much on a rota basis but St Andrews has been played more than any other. This tour is not for the faint hearted on the alcohol front though as I once experienced. There are some formidable drinkers within may I say. The loser famously will be obliged to take the ‘dip’ , that is a plunge in the sea at the end of the tour which is rather a large incentive to either hold back the reigns somewhat or needle down to the old gowf.
There is an annual championship and the Wessex Bowl as a handicap knockout comp named after one of our members, the Earl of Wessex, who now resides in Singapore and outside that I don’t know too much about him apart from the fact that he is a tremendous wag and works for the Bank of New York in some capacity.
Yes most members have sobriquets and are referred to as such. Bones, Daktari, Wessex of course, Trigger sometimes known as Dr Alan, Sidders sometimes known as Sydney, Peteski, Spatsy, Boaby, Wackers or Wacky (that’s me), CJ, Yogi, Shug and a good few others.
There is an annual dinner and Christmas lunch named after Mikey Paterson (the Michael Paterson Christmas lunch) and is usually held in the Canny Mans in Morningside (hard to think of a better location in terms of apt quirkiness!). Again these events are not lightweight and it is always a bit of a shocker to see the bill in the sober light of day afterwards and become a bit incredulous about. ’84 pints of Moretti! Really?!’
But what fun this club is and these chaps indeed are. As I expect is the case in the hundreds of golfing societies up and down the country and across the globe. Indeed this has been the essence of golf from the very early days of the game. At their monthly medals the members of the Gentlemen Golfers of St Andrews (aka The Royal and Ancient GC) were very much impressed upon to have finished their rounds and be in the Cross Keys by 3pm sharp, for their customary claret and other victuals and the speeches and the banter and the alcohol infused craik and ripostes.
And I suppose some things just never change. And thank goodness for that.
Whey hey!