OOGS Annual Weekend Report 2026

***Luffenham Heath GC and The George Hotel*11 & 12 September 2026**

The weekend’s golf at Luffenham Heath Golf Club with a dinner at The George Hotel is always a highlight of the OOGS calendar. Recently, the dates were moved from the beginning of October to the second week in September, and from Saturday/Sunday to Friday/Saturday. These changes have resulted in higher numbers attending, especially for younger members prior to university term.

Another benefit has been, at least to date, good weather and a golf course in superb condition, so it was under those conditions that 32 golfers began this year’s proceedings in the rejuvenated Grocers’ Cups Foursomes, including three Oundle pupils – all single figure handicaps. The competition is stableford, with partners organised mainly by high-low handicaps. There is a subsidiary trophy for the best scores in the Par 3s.

Oundle pupils have done well in these contests recently, so it was no surprise that one of the winners was Dougal Moore, son of OOGS Committee member Steve, playing with regular attendee Alastair Gordon-Stewart. Ian Barlow is obviously very good on the short holes, as for the second year running, he won this competition, this time with Ed Dove.

Friday September 11th 2026

The Grocers’ Cups, Handicap Foursomes:
1. Alastair Gordon-Stewart & Dougal Moore* (41 points)
2. Ed Dove & Ian Barlow (39 points)
3. John Crawley& Angus Gordon-Stewart (38)

Hughes Salvers (best points scores on the Par 3s):
1. Ed Dove & Ian Barlow (11 pts)
2. James Aston & Richard Matthews (8 points, on back 9)

*pupil at Oundle School

At the Committee Meeting, we discussed, among other things, the planning for the society’s Centenary celebrations in 2030 and how to fund it. The good news is that we have already bought the wine! We also heard from John Crawley how popular and successful golf is at the school and how much the simulators are being used.

A full house of 33 sat down to dinner in the magnificent London Room, including the Head of Oundle, Dominic Oliver who entertained us with an after dinner talk about the achievements of the school.

Saturday September 12th

Another bright day greeted the early starters in the Saturday singles; the weather became somewhat cloudier and quite windy as the day went on but stayed dry. Pin positions were slightly tricky, and the wind began to make putting a bit of a challenge.

There are seven trophies on offer, with the proviso that each winner is limited to one trophy, save for the House cup, which can be won by any combination of players from the same House.

Altogether 34 players took part, ranging in age from 18 to 80.

A Challenge Cup was first competed for in 1907 at Oundle, but this competition only survived for four years, and it was not until a second trophy was presented in 1927 that competitions restarted. The original trophy then became the Scratch Cup and the new one the Handicap Cup.

This year’s best gross score was 78, which indicates the difficulty of the course – there were no other rounds below 80. Patrick, Steve and Will all had the same score on the back nine, so the countback on the last six holes came to separate the three: Patrick was 2 over, Steve 3 and Will 4.

Scratch Cup:
1. Patrick Foster (78, on last 6)
2. Steve Carr (78)
3. Will de Capell Brooke (78)

The other results were falling into place nicely until the final group arrived, with two potentially winning scores, causing some frantic data sorting on the excel spreadsheet!

The Handicap Cup was won by Bob Ellis, the oldest competitor on the day, with a magnificent 67 Net. The earliest date on the cup is 1927, confirming that there was some OO golfing activity before the official founding of the society in 2030.

Handicap Cup (gross score minus course handicap):
1. Bob Ellis (net 67, on back 9)
2. Nigel Hetherington (net 67)
3. Michael Outar (net 70, on back 9)

The Stableford Cup went to Nigel Hetherington, another society stalwart. This trophy was donated by the Dove family in 1963.

Dove Stableford Trophy:
1. Nigel Hetherington (37 points)
2. Michael Outar (36 points on back 9)
3. Shane Dodd (36 points)

The Old Boys’ Trophy was donated in 1960 by John Shaw (Hon Sec) and Peter Boddington (President 1963 – 66) for golfers over the age of 50. Along with other amateur senior events, the age qualification was lifted to 55 in 2003. It is a very fine cigarette box, now mounted on a wooden plinth. The winner this year was Shane Dodd with Net 70.

The Shaw/Boddington Trophy – Old Boys Cup (Over 55’s):
1. Shane Dodd (net 70)
2. Guy Beresford (net 72)
3. Andrew Ireson (net 73)

Donated by John Pounder in 1990, the Over 65’s cup is for the best stableford score in that age category and this year was won by President Peter Pentecost.

The J Pounder Trophy (Over 65’s):
1. Peter Pentecost (31 points, on back 9)
2. Nick Copestick (31 points)
3. Ian Barlow (29 points, on last 6)

Another competition sponsored by Peter Boddington is for young members, specifically those under the age of 25. Hamish Gordon-Stewart became a two-time winner with a score of 36 points.

The Boddington Trophy (Under 25’s)
1. Hamish Gordon-Stewart (36 points)
2. Will de Capell Brooke (31 points)
3. James Simpson-Dent (28 points)

The original House Trophy was named after Sir Ernest Stacey, the first official OOGS Hon Sec (1930 – 39). It was a very fine silver salver, and the tradition was that it would be held in the winning house at school. Unfortunately, we lost trace of it so a replacement trophy was installed. Dryden won it for the first time!

The Copestick Claret Jug for 2 Best House stableford scores:
1. Dryden: Bob Ellis (40) & Jason McCaldin (34)
2. Fisher: Richard Harris (35) & Nigel Hetherington (37)
3. Bramston: Guy Beresford (34) & Henry Duncombe (35)

After the AGM (there will be a separate article on this), proceedings closed at around 4:30 pm.

There are several people to thank for helping to make the weekend so successful:

• Shane Dodd for all his work with the Hotel, making sure we had the correct wonderful menu & the printed card on the table, ordering the wines, managing the numbers, liaising with the Head’s PA and dealing with room requirements.
• Steve Carr for making sure we keep our privileged position regarding starting times on Friday and Saturday – we are very lucky to have this connection.
• Peter Pentecost (President) for chairing everything so smoothly & efficiently and for his wise counsel.
• James Aston for photos and assisting with the running of starting times on Saturday.
• To everyone else who offered help – it was much appreciated.

Nick Copestick (Ldr 69)
Hon Sec