Back In Safe Hands

I thought I'd start 2015 with a story from my own golf club, Royal Ascot, based a nine iron away from the world famous race course. We've managed to get back a trophy that was last held over a hundred years ago and was seen by one of the members for sale on e-bay.

The trophy which was originally presented to Mr HS Ferguson in 1908 for winning the a bogey competition. For those that aren't familiar with this rarely played format, it is basically the golfer playing matchplay against the course. A net birdie is a win, a net par is a half and anything above that is a loss. The player with the best score against the course wins.

Some 108 years after it was presented a group of twenty or so members of the club grouped together to buy it back

Club Captain, Roger Wing (front left) and member Andy Davidson who found the trophy for sale and some of the members that helped buy it back and get it back to the club

The trophy was presented back to club captain Roger Wing and general manager Alison Hall following restoration at the AGM and it has been decided that it will now be presented annually to the player scoring the best round in the Haig Cup, the bogey competition the club runs every Easter.

The original recipient, Harold Ferguson MBE was born in London in 1851 and served in India with the Royal Artillery. He eventually became director of the state museum at Trivandrum in south-west India. He was a gifted footballer, playing for Scotland against England in 1871 & 1872 and he retired to Ascot where he lived until his death in 1921