The History of The BTU Golfing Society (1926)
The Society had its origins in the "Golfing Circle" of the Institution of Heating and Ventilating Engineers, when at the Summer Meeting in Scarborough in June 1926 George Rees was elected the Honorary Secretary of the Circle. At a meeting in London in August 1926 it was agreed to officially form the BTU Golfing Society which was named after the British Thermal Unit, a measurement of heat.
The Founding Members and first Committee were Sam Fox, Harry Merrin, Earl Maiden, Walter Nobbs, Charles Allensby, R.A. Ching, with George Rees as the Honorary Secretary. Walter Nobbs was elected the first Captain for the 1927 season, and a full programme of meetings was arranged, starting with one at Mill Hill Golf Club in April. This established the pattern for future years; and to mark the formation of the Society Sam Fox presented the first official prize, the BTU Challenge Cup which is still competed for today and is the oldest of the Society's prizes.
The format of the meetings was agreed, and the yearly programme included golf at the IHVE Summer Meeting, a spring weekend meeting at Worthing Golf Club, and four other meetings, the last being held in November when the afternoon round was restricted to nine holes. The course chosen for the last meeting was usually within the London area. The summer meeting was discontinued in 1970 as a result of the IHVE summer meetings being held abroad.
In the beginning the Society membership consisted mainly of senior members of the industry, but in the early thirties some of the younger managerial members of the industry joined. Their presence assisted and inspired the Society, which flourished as a result of their youth and enthusiasm, and in 1938 the first of two of the so-called Branch Societies were formed, the Midlands and Northern Branches, both quite independent.
The Second World War interrupted events but activities were resumed in February 1946, when the annual subscription was increased from ten to twenty one shillings.
The first post war Captain was W. L. Swain, and the Society resumed its customary programme of golf meetings and events including the formation of other Societies, the East Midlands in 1951, the Yorkshire in 1952, the North Eastern in 1956, and the Scottish and the South Western in 1960.
In 1947 it was decided by the committee that the handicapping system needed re-examining to ensure that all members had an equal chance of winning a prize. A handicap sub-committee was formed of which Walter Harding was the operative member, formally becoming its Chairman in 1952, an office which he held until his resignation in 1973. He evolved a complex handicapping system based on a mathematical analysis of each member’s card at the end of each competition and which also covered the whole season, and took into account the net and gross scores against par, and the performance of the member at his own golf club.
By analysing the member's score cards at the end of each season Walter Harding was able to arrive at adjusted handicaps for the next season, which he presented for the first time in 1949 at the AGM This handicapping system is still in use today and remains one of the highlights of the AGM.
During the post war period new cups were presented which are still played for today, including the Walter Harding Trophy, the Rabbits Challenge Cup, the Norris Challenge Cup, the Crittal Challenge Cups, and the Merrin Challenge Cup. These have been followed over the years by the addition of further Cups, Trophies, Salvers, Shields, Rose Bowls, Goblets, a Chalice, and a Vase, some of which have been played for and won outright, but the majority are still in active circulation as the many engraved years and names bear witness.
Many members are unaware that the Society has a Hole-in-One Trophy which is the hardest trophy to win, and which is only presented at the AGM Dinner. Whilst no doubt there were previous winners, to date there have only been four recorded, namely Ken Jewel at Swinley Forest Golf Club in April 1981, Roy Solomon at Ashridge Golf Club in August 1995, Derek Palmer at Royal St George's Golf Club in July 1996 and Mark Costello at Ellesborough Golf Club in July 2008.
In 1950, the first Honorary Members of the Society were elected Earl Maiden and A E Rasey. In June of the same year George Rees retired as Honorary Secretary after 24 years’ service with the Society and was elected an Honorary Member in 1951.
In 1951, for the first time the BTU Spoons were introduced as runner-up prizes in place of the tankards previously awarded.
In 1952, the weekend meeting, which had been held at Worthing ever since the Society's formation, was moved to Sandwich. The Society moved back to Worthing in 1955 until 1961, when the venue was changed to Seaford. Eventually in 1973 the venue was switched to the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club at Deal.
In 1953, the BTU tie was introduced.
Clifford Hall took over as Honorary Secretary until he was succeeded by Alec Merrin in 1955, being succeeded in turn by J. S. Button in 1958 and then in turn by Freddy Glidewell in 1963 until he retired in 1972, followed by John Kilner who held the office of Honorary Secretary, until 1994 a span of over twenty years service to the Society, John Kilner was elected as an Honorary member in recognition of his efforts, and he was also elected as the first President of the Society, in 1994.
Following a great deal of discussion the Society eventually decided to hold an annual guest meeting, the first being held at Wimbledon Park Golf Club in 1968, and with the exception of 1972, the fixture continued, culminating with a special guest meeting in September 1976, held at Walton Heath Golf Club as part of the Society's Jubilee celebrations. The yearly guest meeting continued to be held at Walton Heath until 1995.
In 1973, under the Captaincy of Ross Paris, Chris Sneath (as the Chairman of the Handicap Committee) introduced the BTU Winners Category System which is still in use today.
The non-playing category was introduced in 1973 to allow members to remain part of the Society in their retirement at a reduced subscription rate, and in the same year Sydney Parker introduced the Ball Sweep to assist the financial funds. The Ball Sweep still takes place at each meeting event.
In 1974, a new handicapping system was introduced which resulted in a better spread of the prize winners, and new golf courses were introduced which resulted in an increased attendance at meetings,
In 1975 George Rooley presented to the Society an investment fund, the yearly interest from which purchases a putter which is presented in his name annually with the BTU Challenge Cup.
To celebrate fifty years of the Society’s existence a Jubilee Dinner was held at the Royal Garden Hotel London on the 22nd.October 1976 under the Captaincy of Edward Newbald where members and their guests totalled two hundred, and the guest speakers were Peter Halsall and Peter Allis
As a permanent record of the Society's Jubilee, Edward Newbald during his year as Captain donated the Jubilee Rose Bowls for annual presentation to the winners in the Foursomes Competition at the weekend meeting.
During 1978 Brian Dilby presented to the Society the Nu-Aire Salver, to be presented to the member who achieved the best aggregate score for the morning and afternoon competition at the annual guest day meeting
In 1984 Percy Jones donated another trophy for the annual guest meeting - the Percy Jones Salver. This was to be awarded to the winning member of the singles stroke-play competition at the annual guest day meeting. Then in 1985 Percy Jones also presented an investment fund, the yearly interest from which purchases a chalice which is presented in his name annually to the overall winning member at the weekend meeting.
A 60th Anniversary Dinner was held at Lords Banqueting Suite in London on the 21st. March 1986 under the Captaincy of Jack Garnham where members and guests totalled 237 and George Balshaw proposed an entertaining toast to the Guests. The principal speaker was Jan Harding the renowned script writer for many well-known comedians.
In 1988, John Kilner presented to the Society "The Golfer Trophy" which is presented annually in the Victor Ludorum tradition. This replaced the Cooling Trophy originally presented by John Cooling in 1959.
In the year 1989, a trip was made by members and their ladies to visit Percy Jones who had retired to Guernsey. As golf was naturally on the itinerary Rod Sumner presented the Away -Day Trophy for such special occasions.
Since formation the rules of the Society have only been amended on three occasions. In 1990 the change was to allow Honorary Life Membership to be given to Len Crooks whilst he still held the Office of Honorary Treasurer. In 1992, the alteration was made to allow membership from the Building Services Industry, and then in 1993 the revision called for the President and Vice-President to be elected on a three-year term basis.
There are thirteen Branch Societies covering England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland with a total combined membership in excess of 1200.
In 1938 the first two Branch Societies were formed, the Midland and Northern regions.
The other Societies were formed in the following years:
North East in 1956
East Midlands in 1951
Scottish in 1960
South West in 1961
Yorkshire in 1961
Southern Counties in 1969
Irish (Metropolitan and Provincial) in 1973
South East in 1981
Thames Valley in 1988
Wales in 2004
In 1984, on the 14th June, the first National Meeting Event took place at the Belfry, the PGA Headquarters, organised by Peter Tomkins the Honorary Secretary of the Midlands Branch. The competition was played in teams of twelve from each of the branches, some 180 players taking part with the best eight cards counting. Other similar meetings have taken place biennially, the winning team being responsible for organising the next event.
The year 2000 was destined to be special, having been committed by John Kilner, when Secretary for the BTU, to host the National Competition as part of the Millennium celebrations for the 75th year in which the Society was founded.
With the Ashridge meeting being cancelled due to the petrol shortage, the following trophies were not played for during the year - Merrin Cup, Walter Harding Trophy, Sulzer Cup, Spooner Goblets, Sandford Salvers, Digby Shields, Deal Tees and the Percy Jones Chalice.
The BTU Millennium National on 28th & 29th June 2000 at Foxhills Golf Club with accommodation at the Royal Holloway College was a tremendously successful event.
All Branches of the Society took part with the event Chairman Peter Bennett, The President John Kilner, Secretary Bill Matthews and Sydney Parker spending four days at the event, with a full complement of member helpers on the two days, Chris Sneath being the starter.
The event was won by Thames Valley with the BTU a close second, being only one point behind.
At the January 2001 AGM minor changes to the rules, mainly as an update, were approved.
The Ronald Rose Trophies were replaced by the Millennium Trophies, and the Digby Shields were presented to John Kilner and Peter Bennett for winning 4 and 3 times respectively. It was confirmed that the Deal Tees Trophy would be withdrawn due to the week-end changed format.
John Kilner having retained the Presidency for the Millennium Year stepped down after seven years, Sydney Parker was then elected, who remained President until 2006, when Ross Paris took on roll until 2013. In 2013 Terry Lee was elected as president and he has been succeeded by Bob Robertson.