THE LUCIFER GOLFING SOCIETY
(Founded 1921 & granted Royal Patronage in 1930)
Patron: Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, KCVO, CB
President: Air Marshal Sir Ian Macfadyen, KCVO, CB, OBE
Captain: Mark Dumas
December 2023
Dear Lucifers,
I am told we have had a very successful 2023. All our golf matches and meetings, the Commonwealth Tournament and our dinners were well attended and accompanied with characteristic Lucifer bonhomie.
Our year started in Australia. The tour was delayed two years due to Covid. The consequence of the lockdown and epidemic was many Lucifers and their wives heading to the warmth of Australia. Leaving freezing January conditions in the UK we arrived in Perth to 40C and an even warmer welcome from our hosts. We spent a week each in Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney. The local Overseas Lucifers brilliantly organized nonstop matches on their country’s best courses with excellent dinners and receptions. Those with more cultural interests were able to sightsee and tour locally. From our perspective the forty plus tourists were extremely grateful to David and Jenny Pettman, and Chris Bonsall, who meticulously planned our trip and ensured everything worked like clockwork. It was a Centenary Tour to remember. Michael Webster, our archivist, has written a full report on the trip that you can view on our website.
We continue to have a very full and enviable fixture list. Many matches this year were close and we had some memorable victories. Tim Kemp waited for twenty years for this year’s Lucifer victory against Lloyds! To encourage good numbers at the Spring and Summer meetings, the Society subsidises them to the tune of £40 a head; come along and enjoy the subsidy! Our thanks to all the Match Managers; I know they appreciate your support and early applications.
Mike Bourne organised a very successful Commonwealth Tournament. We hosted over 150 guests, and they all enjoyed two great golf courses. We had a memorable dinner at The Savoy where our Patron, Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, spoke so eloquently on the importance of the Commonwealth to the recently crowned King Charles. He also recalled a story where Harold Macmillan refused to give up his Scottish golfing holiday in 1963. ‘Mac’ insisted that instead of returning to Downing Street his Foreign Secretary, Rab Butler, catch an overnight train to discuss some international incident. The moral of his story was that even affairs of state should not interfere with golf! Mike Bourne thanks you all for your support over the Tournament and your involvement around the Tournament week. This is the pinnacle of our year, and we could not do it without you.
We are very grateful that Tim Luther organised a golf day at St George’s Hill for younger Lucifers. This was a first, and we hope to continue this successful formula in the future.
We enjoyed visiting Chantilly for the autumn meeting. We played three rounds of golf including a visit to Morfontaine, ranked one of Europe’s top courses. We were fortunate to play in glorious sunshine. Paul Richard’s arranged this splendid trip and next year he is taking us to Blackwell.
I am afraid we have lost some wonderful friends during 2024. William Carr and Peter Costain were great Lucifer Captains. They both travelled extensively throughout the Commonwealth and always participated in all our fixtures. Ross Graham’s sudden death in the spring, on the links at Gullane in Scotland, was an enormous and unexpected shock, especially as he had been in such magical form in Australia. Tom Corrigan, Richard Sykes, Alan Figgis, Alister Alexander and Simon Brice are also great losses, as they all loved the ethos of the Society. Our thoughts are with their families.
Jeremy Cary and Graham Lark are bringing some of their wine production to a ‘tasting’ drinks party we are arranging on 9th April 2024. This is a new event at the beginning of our year, and we hope many will want to join us at The Turf Club.
Looking forward, we are delighted to introduce a new golf competition at the Commonwealth Tournament. All the participating ladies from the Commonwealth and the UK will play one round for the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Cup. We will present the trophy at the Savoy dinner and is a great addition to our golfing week.
To keep our spouses up to date with our golfing and non-golfing calendar where they are very welcome to participate, we want to capture the ladies’ mobile numbers and email addresses. Please complete the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/Tayvb8zCUU The Intention is that communication will not be invasive and if at any time anyone wants to opt out, they will certainly be able to do so.
Derek Scott and Chris Bonsall met in Western Canada earlier this year to plan a short ‘boys only trip’ next September. The numbers are limited to 12 tourists so our hosts can raise an equal number when we visit their clubs. We are taking three ‘Rookies.’ The rest of the group mainly consists of our committee and Scribes, as well as the current and prospective Captain.
We are delighted to announce that Bryan Hamblin will be our next Captain from November 2024.
Charlie Maisey, a very active and positive Committee member is tasked with increasing Lucifer numbers in clubs where we have poor representation. If you have ‘friends’ at Denham, Worplesdon, Liphook, Huntercombe or Tandridge that might fit the bill, please contact him.
We could not run this great Society of ours without the considerable input and commitment of the Committee, and our Scribes: George Meakin, Mike Bourne, Alan Arscott and Paul Richards. We are very grateful for all they do for us.
I wish you and your families a very happy Xmas and look forward to seeing you in the New Year.
Mark Dumas
