The International Bankers Golfing Society

The Society actually came into existence back in March 1961, and was called The Overseas Bankers Club (OBC) Golfing Society. Following the merger of the OBC and The Guild of International Bankers, the Golf Society became that of the Guild and subsequently of The Worshipful Company of International Bankers in Sept 2004.

The Society holds three main events a year ( March/ April, May/June and October) playing fabulous courses such as Swinley Forest and New Zealand Golf Club and to which guests can be invited.  We also enter teams into various Inter Livery events and have twice ( so far)  finished runners up in the prestigious Prince Arthur Cup Inter Livery competition, held annually at Walton Heath. We have also been fortunate to win a number of other competitions over the years including the Lord Mayor’s Annual Charity Golf Day event at Moor Park.

Members of The Company who have a recognised golfing handicap are eligible to join the Society. If you are interested in our golfing events please contact our organiser Peter Hinson directly at hinsonpeter@btinternet.com

 

The Lord Mayor’s Charity Golf Day

Moor Park Golf Club, Rickmansworth, Herts

Wednesday 15 September 2021

Representing WCIB left to right:  Jason Van Praagh (C), David Roberts, Alexej Pikovsky and Tom Dissen.

Always a pleasure to support the Lord Mayor’s Charity Golf Day again, raising money for 4 partner charities, Place 2 Be, Samaritans, On Side and The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. 

The torrential downpours of Tuesday thankfully ceased overnight, providing the field with a partly sunny day on a somewhat wet track.  Such is the quality of the Moor Park High Course that apart from the greens being a touch slow the course was in superb condition.  Our team fought hard led by an excellent individual return by Alexej of 41 stableford points.  In the end 80 team stableford points (2 best ball format) was only good enough for a 2nd quartile finish.  The honours (for the third year running no less!) went to the team from the City of London Police with 99 points eclipsing the Actuaries with 90 points and Spectacle Makers in third with 88 points.  The Chartered Surveyors won the tricky yellow ball competition with an impressive 38 points.

Many thanks to the Paviors' Company for organizing this event 2 years on the trot.  Whilst the abacus is still out, it is expected that circa £8,000 - £10,000 was raised for the aforementioned partner charities.


 

The Marketors' Golf Day

Verulam Golf Club, St Albans, Herts

Monday 5 July 2021

WCIBGS team members left to right:  Klaus Schreiner, Jason Van Praagh (C), Andrew Lee (PC), Trevor Bush, Cliff Knowlden, Peter Hinson, Jonathan King, Tom Dissen.

Our Society had two teams participating in the annual Marketors' golf day at the well renowned Verulam Golf Club in Hertfordshire.  As can be seen from the image above, it was a day bathed in July sunshine as is completely normal in England at this time of year!  Some C19 restrictions remained in place, but the good weather made the outdoor reception and pre-lunch drinks easier for all.

Team winners on the day (3 best ball stableford format) were the Environmental Cleaners with a knockout score of 127 points, the Makers of Playing Cards were runners up with 118 points and the team from sponsor James Hambro finished third.  The Environmental Cleaners, perhaps unsurprisingly, also took first and second places in the individual stableford competition, the Plumbers Company nabbed third.  Both WCIB 4-ball teams put in solid performances, but no silverware on this outing. 

As always, an excellent day was had by all with sincere thanks to the Marketors' Company and Verulam for the hearty livery welcome.    


 

Double win for the International Bankers on resumption

of inter-livery golfing events on 21st June 2021!


Jason Van Praagh, our new Society Captain, led a team comprising Michael Bowles, Chris Lyons & Can Bitirim to victory at the annual Worshipful Company of Horner's Golf Day at Ashridge Golf Club in Berkhamsted.  It was a somewhat soggy affair with rain start to finish, although not enough to diminish the charm of Ashridge which lies in the Chiltern Hills AONB close to the border of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.  Playing the back nine first, our team combined well to post 45 points (important!), coming home on the front nine with 41 points for a team total of 86 points (best 2 stableford scores counting).  High drama ensued upon our return to the clubhouse as 4 teams were locked on 86 points: The Firefighters, the Framework Knitters, Informational Technologists (‘A-Team’) and International Bankers.  After a nail biting countback, the International Bankers snatched victory by the narrowest of margins thanks to the strong showing on the back nine.  Goes to show that every shot really does count!  This is the first time we have won this event and as such have the honour of holding the magnificent Horner's Trophy for the next 12 months.


Andrew Lee, our Immediate Past Society Captain, led a team of John Illsley, Charles Burrows and Jonathan King in winning the Worshipful Company of World Traders golf event at Woldingham Golf Club.  For those that have not had the pleasure, Woldingham GC is situated in the picturesque Halliloo Valley near Caterham in Surrey.   In heavy rain and strong winds the team dovetailed well with Andrew and John both recording personal scores of 37 points and Charles and Jonathan contributing too in a tournament where 3 out of 4 golfers scored stableford points on every hole.  With a magnificent winning score of 121 points the team comfortably headed a field of 13 livery companies with Farriers and World Traders coming second and third respectively.  Andrew Lee accepted the presentation of the World Traders Golf Trophy on behalf of the International Bankers.

 

 

Lord Mayor’s Golf Day

The International Bankers Golfing Society ('IBGS') participated in the first COVID restricted City and inter-livery event of the year on 16th September 2020 - The Lord Mayor's Charity Golf Day.   Following on from our hosting of this excellent event in 2019, the Pavior's Company did a fine job organising the day, held on the High Course at Moor Park Golf Club in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire - pictured. 

The runaway back to back winners were the City of London Police with 88 stableford team points who brilliantly navigated a very testing course with fast greens.  The Makers of Playing Cards were runners up with 78 points.  The Farrier's Company won the yellow ball competition with a total of 29 points.  Andrew Lee (C), Jason Van Praagh, Tom Dissen and Michael Bowles represented for the International Banker's, no silverware for us this year but the team mustered a respectable mid-table performance. Given the limited capacity and general social distancing restrictions eliminating the charity luncheon, the Paviors' will again be hosting this event at the same venue on 15th September 2021. 

Golfing prizes aside, the real winner was The Lord Mayor's Appeal who were not expecting the golf day to go ahead this year and for whom the event raised £1,600.


 

2020 Season

Following the cancellation of the Spring and Summer meetings, the Golf Society was extremely grateful to Swinley Forest Golf Club for hosting our Autumn meeting on Thursday 1st October in a very safe environment. Sandwiched between days of very wet weather, the day was bathed in sunshine and great golf was enjoyed by all. Charles Burrows won the De La Barre trophy with a magnificent 38 points, closely followed by Mark Stevenson on 35 points. The Korts Salver awarded to the highest scoring member aged over 60 was won by David Potter with 33 points. Noel Harweth won the nearest the pin prize with a great shot on the 17th par 3.

In addition, the very first "Knowlden Prize" for best golf society clubman was officially awarded to its namesake Cliff Knowlden.  The dual presentation consisted of a crystal handshake trophy that will be passed from recipient to recipient down the years and an engraved inaugural silver alms plate, emblazoned centrally with the WCIB coat of arms, for Cliff to keep as a momento.  Given Cliff's extraordinary service, it is fitting that the name "Knowlden" now sits alongside "De la Barre", "Mallory", "Keller" & "Korts" in the living memory of the International Bankers Golfing Society.  

In the hope that the challenging COVID situation will improve next year, we have arranged the following events:

2021

Spring meeting - Tuesday 23rd March - North Hants GC

Summer meeting - Thursday 20th May - New Zealand GC

Autumn meeting - Thursday 30th September - Swinley Forest GC N.B. Clashes with Installation Court, Common Hall and Installation Court Dinner.

 

 

Lord Mayor’s Annual Charity Appeal Golf Day for 2019

£13,047.54 raised for the Lord Mayor's Appeal

A rainy bleak morning on 26th September saw 22 teams of 4 arrive at Hadley Wood Golf Club for the Annual Golf Day in aid of the Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal.

The rain ceased at 8.52 with the majority teeing off at 9.00.  A dry day ensued and a wonderful day was capped with The Lord Mayor presenting prizes to the winners, City of London Police  with 103 points, 2nd were City Livery Club  101 points and 3rd ( on countback) W C Info Technologists A team with 94.  We were unable to match our winning form of last year but a great day was had by all.

Cliff Knowlden and Jason van Praagh had put the day together (planning began in Sept 2018!) and on the day were aided enormously by Klaus Schreiner, Michael Bowles, Charles Burrows, Annie Cripps , Corinne Dissen together with Yasmin and Pauliina from the Lord Mayor Appeal Office.

All went very smoothly with on line and live auctions/ raffle / a Heads and tails competition plus entry fees for Nearest pin competitions  and mulligans.  We are still totting up final financial position but we delighted to have raised significantly in excess of £10,000.

 

 

 

2019 Season

Our Golfing season drew to a close in October. On 3rd October we went to Swinley Forest.  Always a very special place but this year....wow, it looked magnificent with beautifully manicured fairways and heather.  It is an absolute gem and if you want to be one of the relative few that get the chance to play it, make sure that you put next year in your diary (date will be Thursday Oct 1st 2020).

The de la Barre Trophy was won by Tom Dissen and the Korts Salver by Andrew Lee. Guest winner was James Burrows (son of Charles) with a superb 42 points (playing off 10).  Nearest pin prizes were won by Doug Hutton (guest of Peter Hinson) and Trevor Bush.

The 13 hole afternoon greensomes saw some incredible scores. Winners were Danny Mead and Rob Lee (guests of Cliff Knowlden) who shot 4 under par for 33 points, beating Tom and Trevor on countback. In 3rd place were John Naish and his guest Robert Drake with 30 points.

Jason Van Praagh won the Mallory Trophy with the best members’ score through the year for his 36 points at Walton Heath in April.

This was Cliff’s final event as organiser, a task he has undertaken for some 15 years.  Peter Hinson has taken over the Golf Society event organiser role from 2020 whilst Jonathan King and Trevor Bush will organise our participation in various Inter Livery events. Best wishes to all of them.

Pictured below Andrew and Tom with their trophies and also Jason with his.

The very last event this year was on 18th Oct when a team of 4 led by Andrew Lee and including Tom Dissen, Cliff Knowlden and Charles Burrows represented the Company in the golf day organised by the World Traders at Mid Herts Golf Club .  After incessant rain for the best part of a week the course was very wet but perfectly playable. Thankfully no rain on the day saw us finish a very creditable 3rd   with 103 points ,  behind the World Traders in 2nd place( on 105)  and The Bricklayers and Tilers who were worthy winners with 109.

Dates for your 2020 diaries:

North Hants  24/3/2020

New Zealand   14/5/2020

Swinley Forest   1/10/2020


July is always a busy month for our golf teams.

On 17th Cliff Knowlden, Trevor Bush, Chris Lyons and Michael Bowles played in the WC Information Technologists golf day at Beaconsfield ( a new venue for some of us).

A really nice course and traditional clubhouse.

Greens very undulating and quick ( 11 on stimp) but with slopes,  so very difficult to get length OK ........we got 80 points ( best 2 from 4 each hole)  which we viewed as Ok ish but knew we were light.

Runners up were World Traders with 82 points and winners were The Porters  on 85.   HIghest individual score on the day was 37 .

Then on 25th,  2 teams entered the annual Ray Jeffs inter livery event at Hartley Wintney.  Andrew Lee, Chris Lyons, Jonathan King and Peter Hinson were team A whilst John Treadwell,John Naish, Michael Bowles and Michael Llewelyn-Jones were our team B.  Again best 2 from 4, and the winners were the Air Pilots with 90 points closely followed by the Distillers on 88.  Our team B were close to the prizes with 84 but special mention goes to John Treadwell who won the individual event with a fabulous 44 points ( off 11 h cap).

Details for our final event of the year at Swinley Forest on Oct 3rd have recently been circulated.

We are organising the Annual Lord Mayor’s Charity Golf event this year. It takes place on 26th Sept and all is now in place. We have an excellent 22 team turnout from across the City.

A report on that event will appear later in the year but fingers crossed for a successful fund raising drive on the day.


We fielded 2 teams at the annual Golf Day hosted by Worshipful Co of Marketors at Verulam on July 1st.  Over the years this event has been a very happy hunting ground for us but it was not to be this year.

Andrew Lee ( Capt) with Tom Dissen, Mark Stevenson and Peter Hinson were our team A with Cliff Knowlden, Michael Bowles, Jonathan King and Klaus Schreiner ( 2018 winners) team B.  Winners of the event were the Brewers with an excellent 116 points (best 3 to score per hole).  Our Team B had 106 points.

Thankfully we did get a mention,  the hosts were delighted to announce that we were not in the prizes but then had to finish up having to indicate that Peter Hinson won the Lord Mayors Charity challenge which was a nearest the pin competition on the golf simulator played at Hazeltine National Golf Club’s famous par 3 17th.


On May 16th our new Captain , Andrew Lee led a team with Tom Dissen, John Nestor and Mark Stevenson in the Prince Arthur Inter Livery competition at Walton Heath. Scoring on the day proved difficult for all but the winners ( well done to The Cutlers) , but we finished 6th out of a field of some 50 Companies, thus ensuring our entry into next years event.  I hear that the bunkers were in excellent condition ( enough said!)

Our Spring Trophy meeting was held again at New Zealand Golf Club on 22nd May.  What a picture that venue presents, a beautiful course surrounded by rhododendrons, many of which are in full bloom in May. The sun was shining and the afternoon was surprisingly warm.

The morning singles saw Cliff Knowlden win the Spring Trophy with 35 points, narrowly beating Trevor Bush on countback. Trevor thus won the Keller Cup.  Runner up in the singles was Tom Dissen (34) with Charles Burrows 3rd on 32.   A good number of guests enjoyed the day, so much so that the Guest winner Phil Swanson- guest of Cliff)  had a best of day score of 39 points . Nearest pin prizes were won by Captain Andrew Lee and  Danny Mead ( another guest of Cliff).

After a super lunch, we embarked on the afternoon greensomes competition. It may have been something to do with the wine at lunch but temperatures had seemingly gone up several notches and it was very warm!  Scoring was hot too with Terry Upham’s guests, Allan Brodie and Wayne Collier scoring a hefty 30 points over the 13 holes and winning the afternoon  by 1 point.

The next 2 months will see us entering teams in a number of inter livery events- good luck everyone.

We will return to Swinley Forest on October 3rd and details for that meeting will be circulated around mid July.


The first event of our Golfing calendar is the AGM event which this year was held at Walton Heath Golf Club. Andrew Lee became Captain for the next 2 years with Jason van Praagh his Vice Captain.

A good turnout of 36 ( incl guests) saw us have good weather and some good scoring.  Winner of the Captain’s prize and AGM Salver was.........Jason with 36 points, with John Treadwell and David Roberts scoring 34 and 32 respectively.    Pete Weller ( guest of Cliff Knowlden) won the guest prize , with a best score of the day of 42 points off a 10 handicap ( impressive!).  The Ladies prize was won by Jane Thomson ( guest of David Potter).  Andrew Lee won the “seniors” prize with 32 points.

We enter teams in various inter livery events throughout the year and the first of the year was the World Traders Golf Day at Woldingham at end April. 

Our team consisted of Tom Dissen ( acting Captain in the absence of A. Lee) John Illsey, Charles Burrows and Mark Stevenson.

The course was in good condition and the weather perfect for golf with 16 teams participating in the event.

The WCIBGS team put in a commendable performance and finished with a score of 112 points, but outside the top 3 places.

The winners were The Farriers on 125 points, 2nd, The World traders on 120 points and in third place The Tilers & Bricklayers on 118 points.

The WCWT organizers thank all participating teams for supporting their day and looked forward to seeing us again next year.