The Royal British Club Golfing Society owes its origin to the wish in 1973 of the Club’s Honorary Treasurer d’Arcy Orders to increase Club activities and thereby augment its income. He wrote to a fellow Committee member Alan Jones, knowing he was a dedicated golfer, and suggested the formation of a Club Golfing Society. Such a Society could then hold social functions at the Royal British Club’s (R.B.C.’s) premises in Lisbon.
Alan Jones immediately supported the idea, offered to arrange for his company,Cel-Cat to donate a trophy and d’Arcy agreed to provide a cup himself. (Both these original trophies continue to be played for to this day). Alan and d’Arcy elected themselves Captain and Honorary Secretary/Treasurer respectively! They decided that membership would be open to all members of the R.B.C. and that to encourage golfers of all standards to join, all competitions would be Stableford.
The Inaugural Meeting was held at Estoril Golf Club on 4th April, 1974. Twenty-two members – including one lady member- competed for the Cel-Cat Cup and it is interesting to note that the green fee was Esc. 150 and the dinner afterwards cost Esc. 120 per head including wines and coffee. The Society even made a small profit on the evening. Three weeks later the 25th April Revolution occurred which led to a period of political upheaval and uncertainty in Portugal.
Despite this the d’Arcy Orders Cup was played for later in 1974, and in 1975 both original trophies were competed for. But from 1976 the political situation became even more unsettled, and many expatriates left Portugal. Some of those remaining felt it inadvisable to be seen indulging in the capitalist pastime of golf, particularly when it was played in office hours so on occasions there were insufficient competitors. Winners, therefore, did not always receive the trophies as it was agreed that unless a minimum of eight competed, none would be awarded.
By 1982, the political situation had improved. Members discarded their inhibitions, returned to the golf course, and persuaded their companies to donate trophies. As a result, it became possible to hold nine meetings per annum, later increased to ten. Also, in 1982 the Committee of the R.B.C. offered to pass over the Peter Dawson Bowl, previously the Club’s Billiard Trophy. This was most appropriate as Peter Dawson, OBE, had been Portuguese Amateur Golf Champion in 1951. This large solid silver bowl has been keenly played for each year since its presentation. But returning to the past, other trophies were added: Newstead & Porter gave a cup to be competed for by those with handicaps of 19 and over, the winner holding the cup until the next meeting. In 1983 Alan Jones donated a cup for an annual Eclectic and in 1989 the Society put up a Grand Prix Shield for the member with the most points achieved in competitions during the year, based on 7 points for the first place, 6 for second, 5 for third etc. The latter two are all still competed for, the Newstead & Porter Cup has been replaced by The Ron Newstead Cup.
Over the years of course, some trophies have been discontinued when the member connected with the donor company left Portugal or the companies themselves did not want to continue with their sponsorship. But these have always been replaced by individuals or organisations wishing to be linked with the Society. (Past and current sponsors can be deduced from the list of prizes awarded included in this booklet).
In 2015, golf professional Gordon Young generously suggested that he sponsor a “Master Class" and a knock-out Putting Competition for the Gordon Young Putter Trophy. In addition, he kindly offered a free golf lesson to each “winner” of the monthly Cow Bell prize to allow members to enhance their golf skills.
On the social side of things, in the Society´s infancy, lunch preceded each meeting, thus allowing working members to spend the morning in their office. This then changed to lunch after each meeting at different hostelries chosen by the Captain.
Early in 1984, in a circular, members were invited “to bring wives, preferably your own, to the post competition lunch”. As this proved a very enjoyable occasion, in June a special Ladies Luncheon was arranged. This time the circular read: “It is hoped that members will bring their ladies – one each – to the venue to be announced.” Gradually, the Society attracted more and more lady golfers, nowadays about a third of its playing members are ladies and others are members in the non-playing spouse category.
During 1985 a rule was introduced as follows: “to prevent Alan Jones winning all the Cups, the handicap of a member winning a competition shall be reduced by 2 at the next meeting at which he competes.” Alan Jones had won s even cups in the space of three years and received numerous prizes as runner-up. (Today with a much larger membership and proper regulation of handicaps by the authorities at Estoril Golf Club this rule is no longer enforced.)
Also, in 1985 it appeared that mid-week meetings were not convenient for some working members and the experiment of holding some of the meetings on Saturday mornings was tried. Members would play their normal Saturday morning golf, not necessarily with other members of the Society, and hand in a signed card by 12 noon. This arrangement endured for a year or so and was then discontinued.