Our most northerly venue attracted an elite gathering of 10 of our members to Kettering Golf Club. The course played very long, the greens were quite slow and the degree of difficulty was enhanced by some fiendishly tricky pin positions. However, the greenkeeping staff were largely forgiven due it still being a lovely challenging layout that was originally put down in 1891.
Our day began with the biggest bacon rolls of the season. Perhaps this was a hint to the scale and quality of our post-match meal of Steak & Ale pie. Although he was abroad at the time, a photo was sent to Past Captain, Pete “The Pieman” Schofield, just to show him what he was missing.
As our group headed out into a cool but dry day, an array of wintery gear was deployed e.g. lots of jackets, as well as the odd wholly hat.
At the end of our very enjoyable outing, our October Trophy went back from whence it came with Andrew Stevenson retaining the silverware with a score of 34 points. It was noted by many that this was a lower winning score than usual – but still sufficient to put them lower down the results board as shown below. In 2nd spot came our perennial podium finisher, Brian Bamber with 32, perhaps showing the value of his pre shot routine. Just one point behind were Bernard Henry and Jeff Wood on 31 points. The prize for 3rd place eluded our Treasurer on countback and a smiling Bernard took the wine home.
As you can see from the gallery, in the absence of our Captain, The President presented our prizes to the top 3 golfers. He also handed over prizes for nearest the pin, in 3 shots to the Secretary, and in 2 shots to Richard Sharpe. However, he was the recipient of our remaining 2 prizes.
Nobody was able to get their tee shot to stay on the green at the par 3 15th hole. However, as Mike’s ball was on the green but slowly rolled a few inches off it, he was awarded “nearest the green in one”. As you can see, he was very happy to also receive our Last Legs trophy. His short acceptance speech - “A win’s a win” – was a testament to how pleased we all are to see his return to the golf course.
After dinner, we dispensed with our usual Finesmaster role and a quick whip-round the table raised £100. We had some very generous donations from a few absent members and this led to a total of £215 being added to our Captain’s charity pot.
Our final outing of 2025 will be on Thursday 13th November at Bedford & County Golf Club. This will include our traditional end of season AGM, and also see the start of our new 2025/26 financial year. Further instructions together with the necessary paperwork will be issued nearer the time. Before that happens, please get onto our website and indicate if you can join us to play, or join us for dinner and our 2025 AGM.
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible to mark the close of another memorable season.
Our return to Hertfordshire saw 19 players gather at Knebworth for our September outing. This included 2 guests, John Paterson with Pete Schofield and Philip Davies with Richard Sharpe.
The course suffered an exceptionally dry summer, but recent rains had brought a lot of colour back into the trees, fairways and the rough (of which I have a lot of personal experience).
As you can see from the photos, we enjoyed a fine dry day that produced a wide range of scores.
At the end the day our winner, by no less than 5 points, was Tom Inskip with a great score of 39 points. Trailing in his wake were 2 of my playing partners, Andrew Randall & Paul Jones with 34 & 33. I can report that Paul managed to sink a monster putt on the 2nd green for a birdie 3 and get 4 points. Not to be outdone, on the 16th hole (nearest the pin in 2) Andrew knocked his 2nd shot to 4 feet and holed that for a similar 3 for 4 !
Much to his disappointment, Ray Beckman, was the sad recipient of the 'Last Leg' rophy.
A summary of the scores is shown below together with the appropriate handicap adjustments. While Andrew took the nearest the pin in 2 prize, Brian Bamber was nearest at the par 3 10th. The winner of nearest in 3 at the par 5 last hole changed when our last group reached the green with Treasurer Jeff pipping the other names on the marker.
After dinner, Stephen Long made a great job of being our Finesmaster with some novel ways of generating income for the Captain's Charity. Following his late withdrawal due to injury, our Handicap Secretary donated the post-event refund of his match fee and this, together with some absent members' donations, led to a super total of £289 being added to our charity pot.
Our September outing closed with John Paterson being welcomed as a new member of LEGS. You can see him getting ready for his 1st tee shot in the gallery below. You can also see the Captain's group getting ready for their tee shots at the 14th hole - i'ts a good job we didn't have that one as nearest the pin at a par 3 !
In October we head north to Northamptonshire with a visit to Kettering GC on Wednesday 15th.
I hope you can join us, the entry form on our website is now open for business and our account awaits your entry fee.
I’m very pleased to report that an excellent couple of days were enjoyed by 16 LEGS members as we headed off to The Cotswolds Hotel & Spa – a new venue for us. Unfortunately, like many local courses, the extended period of dry conditions had taken their toll on the golf course but at least the weather was more kind than had been expected with sunshine and brief showers being experienced on day 1.
Tuesday 2nd – Day 1
One of the best shots of my round found the green at the 175 yard par 3 hole, the 17th that we played. However, I was soon put in my place by Captain Graham who managed to knock his tee shot to 1 foot from the hole – as you will see in the photo gallery !
After a very close contest, the top 3 players each scored 34 points and had to be separated using countback;
The randomly drawn 4-man winning team was led by Handicap Secretary Andrew, joined by David, Tom & Stephen Long. Their average score was 33.75 points, well ahead of the other 3 teams. Our 3 nearest the pin winners were Brian Bamber (par 3), Pete Schofield (4) and Clive Haywood (5)
Following a few post-round refreshments and dinner with wine, Martin Lavansch shared his musical songbook with us once again. His performance was greatly appreciated by all, including a party of 24 ladies visiting from The Rolls of Monmouth GC. Their financial contributions on top of ours, meant that Martin's efforts raised £120 for this year's Captain’s Charity. In addition, as a consequence of Alan Horn’s late withdrawal, we manage to negotiate a “credit” from the venue of £80 which Alan kindly donated to the charity, making a total of £200.
Wednesday 3rd – Day 2
On our second day we played the same course again – not something that I can recall from our recent tour venues that had 2 courses. There was however a slight difference for the Day One winners as they did not have quite as many shots as the day before !
The weather was kind for most of the time but the last hour was played in torrential rain – as you will see in the gallery.
The Wednesday winners brought 3 different names into the frame;
The randomly drawn 3-man winning team included 2 of the top 3 scorers, Richard and John plus Pete Schofield. Our 3 nearest the pin winners were John Simpson (1), Jeff Wood (2) and Colin Oates (3)
The terrific score from Clive on day 2 lifted him above all others to finish with an aggregate total of 74 points – a worthy winner of our “LEGS Away” trophy.
Finally, my thanks go to our Handicap Secretary, Andrew Stevenson. Not only did he manage all of the scores, team selections and handicap revisions but he also brought 3 dozen bottles of wine as our prize pot. I am pleased to report that every player went home with at least one bottle of wine as a memento of the trip.
Planning for a similar trip next year is already underway - hopefully with more members, and their guests, able to join in the fun.
Our August outing attracted 17 LEGS members to Bedfordshire Golf Club. Of these, 5 were members of the home club – so it was suggested that we should not look beyond them for our winner…
The golf course was one of the few that I’ve played on recently where preferred lies were not required. One of the opening tee shots of the day was hit by Handicap Secretary Andrew and as you can see, he attracted a gallery no doubt keen to monitor and learn from his technique – or was it to deliver the usual amount of stick on the 1st tee ?
At the end of a very enjoyable afternoon’s play, the winner was indeed one of the home-based players, Brian Bamber with 39 points. He certainly looked happy to receive his first LEGS trophy – almost as happy as he was to receive a bottle of Champagne !
As if to prove that the gallery was indeed watching his technique, Andrew Stevenson came in with 37 points to finish in 2nd place. Our 3rd place was decided on countback with Pete Schofield edging out our Secretary with 36 points.
Since Pete was not allowed to take home more than one prize, it left Paul Jones as nearest the pin in 2 shots at the par 4 11th and the Secretary in 3 shots at the par 5 14th hole. With nobody able to find the green at the par 3 6th hole, I was amused by a mystery man in our final group for leaving us a message on our nearest the pin marker:
“The Directors of Bedfordshire are grateful to LEGS for protecting the putting surface !”
Our President, Mike Webb, was the proud recipient of the “Last Leg” trophy.
A summary of the scores is shown below together with the appropriate handicap adjustments.
After dinner, Trevor Horwood made his debut as our Finesmaster and his efforts, together with generous pre-match donations, raised an excellent total of £326 for this year’s Captain’s Charity – Crisis. Treasurer Jeff advised everyone that a payment was made to the charity a few weeks ago with £1,700 being transferred to their account. This was greatly appreciated by them, and they will be putting it to good use straight way.
Next month, our 2025 tour of 4 counties takes us back into Hertfordshire. We will be at the (currently parched) Knebworth GC on Thursday 18th September. I hope you can join us to play golf and if not, perhaps just for dinner. The entry form on our website is now open for business and our account awaits your entry fee.
Our 2025 Captain’s Day at Pavenham Park proved to be a memorable day and was widely regarded as one of the most enjoyable outings that we’ve had for a long time. Our return back into Bedfordshire attracted 18 players including a regular guest, Mike Rayer from Bedford Blues RFC.
The golf course has stood up well to the recent dry spell and fortunately, the greens were not as speedy and scary as they’ve been in the past. Perhaps the highlight of the day came at the par 4 1st hole. Having hit his drive into the trees, Jos hit his 2nd shot to 5 feet and holed the very steep downhill putt for a birdie 3 – just the 5 points to start then !
At the end of another dry warm LEGS afternoon there were a few players that managed to better their handicap but one player stood out with his score of 41 points - David Steel taking home the July Trophy. The runner-up was Trevor Horwood with 39 closely followed by home player Richard Sharp on 38 points.
Our 3 nearest the pin prizes went to; Tom Inskip at the par 3 6th, Andrew Randall in 2 shots at the 12th and Treasurer Jeff at the par 5 last hole in 3 shots.
This month’s “Last Legs” trophy was won by Henry Richardson with 21 points - last month’s winner. It shows just how fickle this game of golf can be.
As part of our Captain’s Day the Boddington Cup was presented to the best aggregate score of the pairs that had been secretly drawn. With a score of 75, our enormous trophy was taken home by Pete Schofield and David Steel.
The summary of the scores is shown below together with the appropriate handicap adjustments.
Captain Graham generously supplied wine with dinner as well as a couple of remarkable cheese platters that the club had prepared specially for us. He had also secured a £40 voucher for the Three Tuns which Jos bought in the auction for £40.
Our Handicap Secretary’s work selling his “Mulligans” and “5ft of string” managed to raise £235 for the Captain’s charity. In addition, there were several significant donations from non-playing members that enabled Jeff to confirm the overall total raised for “Crisis” was an outstanding £448.
Next month, we move less than 7 miles down the road to The Bedfordshire on Thursday 21st August. I hope you can join us to play and if not, perhaps join us for dinner. The August entry form on our website is now open for business and our account awaits your entry fee.
Enjoy your summer, on and off the golf course.
We had a great, if very warm, day at Mid Herts with the course in fine fettle and the welcome, hospitality and food, excellent as always. Fourteen LEGS members braved the heat to play at one of the best courses on our circuit which was enjoyed by all. It was great that President Mike Webb was able to join us together with Howard Smith, a former long term Treasurer.
The standard of golf on the day was good with first prize going to Henry Richarson with an excellent 39 points. Co-sponsor of the Trophy, Ray Beckman, presented Henry with his well deserved prize. A three point handicap cut awaits his next appearance! Second place with 35 points was Jos Daalhuizen (cut 2) and third was Andrew Stevenson with a creditable 33 points (cut 1).
Nearest-the-pin in three on the ninth was Andy Pohler, in two on the fourteenth was Tom Inskip and in one on the sixteenth was Richard Sharpe.
The much coveted Last LEGS Trophy was awarded to Pete Sayers.
Congratulations to all winners, who were all subsequently relieved of a few quid by Fines Master on the day Tom Inskip! Tom had us all in one way or another and some of his inspirational, funny and climate-change focused fines were both effective and very appropriate on such a warm day. Well done Tom!
Treasurer Jeff advised that we had raised £168 on the day which included generous donations by absent members which goes towards our chosen charity, CRISIS. Thank you all for such fabulous support.
We very much look forward to returning to Mid Herts in 2026.
St Neots Report
A warm sunny day in Cambridgeshire greeted our 16 players at St Neots GC. Our day was enhanced by the much hoped for reduction in the wind experienced last month – perhaps summer is on it’s way ?
As usual, the golf course was well presented and it has held up well during this very dry spring season. The speed of the greens was heading towards their summer best and the difficulty of the slopes and hollows were a challenge to all. I am pleased to report that the improved conditions led to a general improvement in scores with half of our players scoring 30 or more points. Having said that, only one person was below their handicap - David Steel securing his 1st LEGS trophy of the year with 38 points. He was presented with the May Cup by its co-sponsor, Jeff Wood - the other being Ian McLuskie. The runner-up was Trevor Horwood with 35 closely followed by Bob Broomhall on 34 points.
The summary of the scores is shown below together with the “handicap rewards” for the podium finishers. This month’s “Last Leg” trophy was won by Alan Horn with 21 points. As you can see there was pretty much an arithmetic progression from last place up to the winner.
I am relieved to report that the Secretary once again hid a poor performance by being the nearest the pin in 2 shots at the par 4 12th hole. On the scenic par 3 8th hole, that crosses the River Kym, the prize went to Bernard Henry who narrowly missed his birdie putt. To complete our trio of spot prizes, John Simpson took the 3 shot prize at the par 5 14th hole.
Last Leg winner Alan enjoyed his Finesmaster role and took some revenge on the rest of us. In addition to some kind donations received from missing members, Captain Graham secured the auctioned 2-ball voucher donated by SNGC. All of this effort and generosity resulted in a terrific total of £311 being raised for “Crisis”.
Next month, our tour of the counties takes us into Hertfordshire, Mid Herts GC to be more precise. This is the home club of our former Treasurer Howard and it offers a variety of holes in a peaceful setting. I hope you can join us to play and if not, perhaps for dinner.
The June entry form on our website is now open for business and our account awaits your entry fee.
Enjoy your golf !
Colin Oates
Secretary 2025
A wonderful historic clubhouse and a sunny day on a lovely golf course – what more could you ask for ? – answer, No Wind !
Our April outing at Wellingborough GC attracted 18 players. They included our 2 new members, Andrew Randall, introduced by Mike Webb and Brian Bamber, introduced by Pete Schofield. After dinner, they were presented with their new LEGS ties by Captain Graham. You will see that they had been carefully prepared by our official “Keeper of the Ties”.
After a very challenging 18 holes played in very windy conditions, it was no surprise that only 3 players managed to score 30 or more points. The clear winner was Pete Schofield with a fine score of 36 and he was presented with the April Cup by its co-sponsor, Alan Horn - the other being Ken McCarthy. Pete finished ahead of Richard Shortland, 2nd with 33 and Bob Broomhall in 3rd place with 31 points. As you will see in the summary of the results that’s set out below, our Handicap Secretary has been sharpening his scythe !
Competition for the “Last Leg” was a lot closer with 3 players on 20 points. After a countback exercise on the last 6 holes, Jos Daalhuizen had the pleasure of taking the trophy for April. However, it should be noted that due to our house rule that no one is allowed to retain this trophy, the Secretary being 1 point behind them led to the countback exercise being required.
I am pleased to report that the Secretary partially made up for this embarrassment by taking the prize for nearest the pin in 2 at the 18th hole. On the par 3 4th hole, the prize went to Andrew Stevenson who was obviously keen to remind the Treasurer that it was in 1 shot !
To help boost this year’s Charity Pot, the Captain donated a very special bottle of Scotch that he’d recently received as an unwanted birthday present. This was snapped up by Bob for a bargain £40.
Pete Schofield took on the role of Finesmaster and his work plus donations from missing members led to a wonderful total of £285 being raised for “Crisis”.
Next month takes us from Northamptonshire to Cambridgeshire as our schedule moves on St Neots – hopefully for a less windy round of golf. The entry form on our website is now open for business.
As the weather improves and the days get longer, if you can’t make the golf, please let me know if you would like to join us for dinner only.
I look forward to seeing you at your next event.
Colin Oates
Secretary 2025
We mustered 15 players for our 1st event of 2025 and the golfing weather gods smiled on us at South Beds GC. This is clear from the photos of the first few shots of the year from the 1st tee from the Captain, the Secretary & the Handicap Secretary. The glorious sunshine was enjoyed by all and it proved to be ideal weather for golf – for some.
Like many local clubs, the previous week had seen extensive course maintenance taking place so the greens proved even more tricky than usual. The 2nd group out certainly enjoyed the conditions and that 4-ball included the top 3 scorers – albeit on countback. As you will see from the results summary at the bottom, we had 3 players finish on 36 points. Alan Horn was edged out of the places on countback and Clive Haywood squeezed past Paul Jones into 2nd place based on the last 3 holes. However, we did have a clear winner, Jeff Wood with 39 points. His “reward” will be a reduction of 3 in his playing handicap next month.
At the par 4 7th hole, the nearest player in 2 shots was Tom Inskip, seen smiling with his prize.
However, our other 2 prizes for nearest the pin at a par 3 and a par 5 went to auction to enhance the Captain’s Charity. This was not because there was nobody near but because Clive was nearest to both. However, having already secured 2nd place he was unable to take any more prizes home. Bringing up the rear with a score of 21 points was The Secretary. Having gone many years without doing so, this is now 2 occasions in the past 6 months – methinks more practice is required.
In addition to the golfing prizes, Andrew presented the prizes for Henry’s 2024 Forecast Quiz. The winner was Paul Jones with Alan Horn taking the runner-up spot – on the tie-breaker.
I have also included a photo of the latest LEGS branded tops – as modelled by the Three Amigos !
We enjoyed a lovely dinner of Chicken & Mushroom Pie (probably ordered by Past Captain, Pete “The Pieman” Schofield). After dinner, my thanks go to Paul Jones for his Finesmaster performance. I’m very pleased to report that £200 was raised for Captain Graham’s chosen charity, “Crisis – Together we will end homelessness”.
I would like to remind you that our next outing will be to Wellingborough GC on Wednesday 17th April. It’s one of my favourite courses and the sign-up screen is now on open our website. I hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you there.
Colin Oates
Secretary 2025
This year’s LEGS Bowling evening attracted 24 members & their guests and a very jolly time was had by all. Mike Webb had set us up with 4 rinks and the 8 teams generally played boys v girls – just to give a competitive edge to proceedings. After 2 hours of bowling it was clear that there was a wide range of abilities on show.
Many sporting analogies arose during the evening;
Captain Graham delivered a display that endorsed the general feeling that contrary to popular belief, golf actually is his sport! At one stage, Secretary Colin looked like the tension had all got too much for him – see photo !
Thanks to Tom & Andrew for organising the pre-event Nepalese meal which proved to be a resounding success. Finally a word for one of our founding members – Mike Webb on the occasion of his birthday. He looked like he’s returning to his old self and spent the evening trying to coach some of our players. It certainly tried his patience.
So overall, a very entertaining evening and a great way to set up this season’s series of 9 golf outings.
Captain | Pete Schofield
Secretary | Graham Shennan
Charity | Mind
View details of winners and losers >>
Captain | Mike Webb
Secretary | Pete Schofield
Charity | Multiple local charities
View details of winners and losers >>
Captain | David Steel
Secretary | Mike Webb
Charity | St John's Hospice, Marie Curie Cancer Care
View details of winners and losers >>
Captain | Bob Broomhall
Secretary | David Steel
Charity | Children with Cancer UK
View details of winners and losers >>
Captain | Tom Inskip
Secretary | Bob Broomhall
Charity | The Stroke Association
View details of winners and losers >>
Captain | Alan Horn
Secretary | Tom Inskip
Charity | MIND
View details of winners and losers >>
Captain | Colin Oates
Secretary | Alan Horn
Charity | Macmillan Cancer Support
View details of winners and losers >>
Captain | Andrew Stevenson
Secretary | Colin Oates
Charity | British Heart Foundation & MS Society
View details of winners and losers >>
Captain | Ian McLuskie
Secretary | Andrew Stevenson
Charity | Help for Heroes
View details of winners and losers >>
Captain | Andy Pohler
Secretary | Ian McLuskie
Charity | British Heart Foundation
View details of winners and losers >>
The History of LEGS is not in itself particularly startling, but what has surprised those who set it up and the inaugural members is the success it has enjoyed over the years. The initial meetings were held in a variety of licensed premises in and around Luton between April and September 1986. Nobody can remember why it was important to always drink whilst discussing such an important issue. The people involved were, in alphabetical order - George Clarke, Harry Critchley, Alan Hughes, Colin Roberts and Mike Webb. At first it was thought LEGS should stand for “Luton’s Eccentric Golf Society”. It was then decided that some clubs may not take us seriously and accept bookings. So we became executives, which probably contravened the Trades Description Acts of that time for most of us.
George was then the area manager of the Woolwich Building Society, so he had plenty of time on his hands to get LEGS started.
Harry was the manager of Bank of Scotland Luton branch, so he had as much if not more time to kill than George.
Colin was the manager of Legal and General and was always looking for things to do to fill his day.
Alan was a hard working self employed Insurance Broker, who enjoyed doing as much of his business on the golf course as he could.
Mike was a self employed commercial surveyor looking for any excuse to do anything but act for his clients.
A list of potential members was compiled - mostly from the immediate Luton area. Colin Roberts, offered to host the inaugural meeting at his offices on the 22nd October 1986. Legal and General provided a superb buffet and the scene was set. At the meeting, George became secretary, Harry - treasurer, Alan - vice captain, Colin - co-ordinator and Mike - captain. A full year’s program was agreed and booked for 1987 with the first meeting held at Dunstable Downs on March 24th.
History written by founding member Mike Webb
The aim of LEGS was to provide an opportunity for people to meet, play golf at various venues throughout the year and raise money for charity. It was decided that each captain would chose the charity for that year. This continues today. We are delighted to say that funds for various local and national causes have reached some £65,000. It is important for members and their guests to understand that we are foremost a golf society based on fellowship which raises money for charity. We are not a fund raising group who play golf.
All four founders agreed to each provide a trophy. George - the booby prize, Harry – the winner, Colin – the runner up, Alan – Nearest the pin, Mike – longest drive. Unfortunately all seem to have gone missing.
Captain Jeff Wood decided new trophies should be introduced during his tenure in 2014. Members were invited in pairs to sponsor a trophy for each of the month’s that we play. This was fully supported and now complete.
2023 Mike Webb
2022 David Steel
2021 Bob Broomhall
2020 Tom Inskip
2019 Alan Horn
2018 Colin Oates
2017 Andrew Stevenson
2016 Ian McLuskie
2015 Andy Pohler
2014 Jeff Wood
2013 Richard Ebbs
2012 Andrew Stevenson
2011 Martin Lavansch
2010 Ken McCarthy
2009 Ken McCarthy
2008 Henry Richardson
2007 Howard Smith
2006 Neil Curtis
2005 Ivor Harris
2004 Dickie Bird
2003 Mike Stockford
2002 Derek Jones
2001 Brian de la Salle
2000 Gerry van Lottum
1999 Ivor Harris
1998 David Steel
1997 Alan Horn
1996 Mark Hewitson
1995 Ray Berresford
1994 Bill Clayburn
1993 Paul Davies
1992 David Yallop
1991 Gordon Pritchard
1990 Nick Sheridan
1989 Mike Beatty
1988 Peter Ball
1987 Mike Webb
Sign Up for Bedford & County, 13th November
Form submitted to the secretary.
If you can make it, look forward to seeing you. If not, hopefully next time!