Irby Golf Club Trophies
A.J.
TROPHY
This Trophy was presented by Arthur Jones to the Irby Club Golf
Section in 1950 and was played for until 1958. The trophy was presented to Irby
Golf Club in 1968 and the first winner of the 18 hole medal competition was
Tommy Johnson
ALAN
HOUGH MEMORIAL TROPHY
Alan Hough was a founder member of the club and
died at the age of 58 in 1984. The committee purchased a trophy and decided
that the competition should be a better ball medal played as a block-booking
on a Sunday with names drawn out of a hat to decide the partners for the competition.
This competition has been played every year as an individual match-play format with the Captain presenting his prize to the winner at the annual presentation evening.
The trophy was presented to Irby Golf Club by Noel Overend (1977 Captain) in 1976. The trophy formerly belonged to Birkenhead Cricket Club of which Noel Overend was the President in 1976.
The competition is a 36 holes best net medal played over a bank holiday weekend.
The first winner in 1976 was John Roberts followed by his brother Steve Roberts in 1977. Noel Overend won the trophy himself in 1978.
From 1999, the committee decided that the club champion would be the member with the best Gross score over the 36 holes, for which Roy Houston and Bill McLachlan purchased a new trophy. The original trophy would still be presented to the member with the best Net score. The first winner of the new trophy was Neil Houston with a combined Gross score of 146.
This trophy was first played for in 1954 with the Irby Club Golf Section and Bob E. Jones was the first winner. Seth Wright also won the competition in 1957. Bob E. Jones and Seth Wright were founder members of the Irby Golf Club and later became Honorary Members. The trophy was presented to the Irby Golf Club in 1966 with the first winner being Tommy Ellis. His brother Dave Ellis has won the competition on five occasions. The competition is an 18 hole medal and is normally played on one of the clubs away days to North Wales.
All competitions at Hoylake (excluding Greensome, Better-Ball and Winter League competitions) are used to assess the Golfer of the Year. i.e. 10 points for the winner of a competition, 8 points for second place etc. including 2 points for everyone returning a card.
Originally the trophy was a statuette of a golfer and was first won by John Clay in 1972. A more prestigious Salver trophy was presented by Keith Pilling in 1985 following his year as captain in 1984.
Jack Smith was a founder member of the club, was the first captain and later became the first President. Jack was the President until his death in 1977 at the age of 78. The club purchased a trophy as a memorial to his sterling work in getting the club off the ground. Geoff Todd was the first winner of the medal competition in 1978.
Jack smith presented a trophy to the club which was named after the initials of his name. Dave Ellis was the first winner of the Stableford competition in 1966.
Gordon Pearson of Markit Fayre presented this trophy to the club in 1994. Richard Oakman, an Irby Golf Club committee member, works with Gordon at Markit Fayre. Richard became Captain in 1998. The competition is a Stableford played in the block-booking on a Sunday. The first winner in 1994 was Bill Greene.
This Trophy was donated by John Tait (Past-President) in 1978 and was named after his home in Irby.
The Competition is played as a better-ball Stableford and played in the block-booking on a Sunday with a draw made for partners. The was first won by John's son, Ken Tait partnered by Lyn Jardine.
The Trophy was donated by John Tait (Past-President) in 1979 and was named after his birth place, Montana State in the U.S.A.
The competition is a Stableford and to be played with only three clubs, one of which must be a putter. It was first won by Eric Keegan in 1979.
Noel Overend joined the club in 1967, was Captain in 1976 and was a committee member for many years. Noel was also an Honorary Member of the club and died in December 1991. Noel's wife donated the trophy in his memory of his happy times with Irby Golf Club.
The first winner of this trophy (played as a medal competition in 1992) was Paul Houston.
This trophy was donated by Dave Ellis in 1973 prior to him emigrating to Canada. Dave requested that the trophy be an 18 hole medal competition played for an outing. The first winner was Harry Ashton in 1973.
Phil Lowe was a founder member of the club and tragically died in 1972.
The trophy has been engraved since 1984 but research through the minutes of the committee meetings found winner back to 1976. It is believed that the trophy was first played for in 1974. Originally, there may have been a black plastic plinth, supporting the trophy, with the winners names engraved on the metal band.
The President's Cup was played for prior to 1974. A new trophy was purchased by the first president Jack Smith in 1974. He requested that the winners prior to 1974 be engraved on the trophy. Unfortunately this was not done. The winners in 1974 were Alan Hough and Tommy Johnson.
The competition is a better-ball match-play.
Bob E. Jones was a founder member of the club, Captain in 1968 and later became an Honorary Member. Bob died in 1985 and the club decided to have a trophy named after him as a memorial to his enthusiasm and support of the club. His widow indicated that she didn't want the trophy to be known as a memorial trophy and was therefore called a goblet after the shape of the trophy.
This competition is played as a bogey competition. The first winner in 1986 was Stan Parry.
The Cup was named after the Irby Club's address where the inaugural meeting of the golf club took place. The Rookery Cup is normally played as an 'Away Day' Medal competition, and the first winner was Tommy Ellis in 1968.
The trophy was donated by Dave Roberts (1975 Captain) and named after the company SEMPLEX, the home brew manufacturer.
The first winner of this medal competition was Dave Murray in 1975.
SUMMER
CUP
This trophy was donated by John Tait (Past-President).
The competition is to be played for in June or July on an 'away-day'. The first
winner of this medal competition was Bill Carr in 1983.
TARA
CUP
This enormous trophy was donated by McGANN
& SMITH LTD in 1978. The trophy was named after John Smith's fond memories
of the Tara Mountains that he could see from his childhood home in Ireland.
This competition is a greensomes medal played in the block-booking on a Sunday with a draw for playing partners.
The trophy was purchased by the golf club in 1967 and the first winner was Harold Ellis-Thomas played at Rhos-on-Seas on the 10th September.
This competition is now a Stableford played over 18 holes.
In 1996 after discussions amongst members, it was agreed the the club would hold an annual match-play competition between Wirral based & Liverpool based members of the Club. The number of players in each team depended on the number the Liverpool side could raise. Wirral Team was picked from a mixture of handicaps. Some match-play games were singles and some were were better-ball doubles.
Liverpool
were the first winners. Although the competition is called a cup, the trophy
itself is actually a shield.
In 2004 the format was changed to an annual competition between teams representing
the Captain and the President. All interested members playing.
The Winter League format changed quite a number of times in the early years. The first winners in 1973 were Peter Hurworth and John Clay when it was a pairs competition. Since then it has always been a singles competition with various arrangements of four leagues, eight cards signed by different members. best eight from eleven etc. It has always been a 12 hole competition due to the block-booking on a Sunday initially being mid-day or early afternoon. The current format is still 12 holes but a Stableford with the members putting forward their best six cards from a maximum of eight. The top eight members go into a match-play competition played over 18 holes with the final in March.
The format was changed again for the 1997/98 winter season. Hopefully to encourage more members to play at weekends. The initial stages consisted of alternate 12 hole Stableford & medal competitions with points awarded similar to the golfer of the year competition. The 8 members with the highest number of points then went into a match-play competition through to a final. In the first year, the format was very successful so it was continued.