Packhorse Golf Society
Trophies

Welcome to our Trophies Page! Delve into the history and prestige behind each trophy. Discover our gracious sponsors and the interesting stories.

TROPHIES

The Packhorse Golf Society boasts a rich history, woven into the very fabric of the trophies awarded to our champions. Here, we delve into the fascinating stories behind the silverware that ignites friendly competition on the course.

Each trophy displayed on this page carries a unique legacy. We'll take you back in time to explore the origins of all the trophies up for grabs.

Len Eden

The Len Eden trophy is one of the society’s earliest, originally sponsored and donated by one of the founder members back in 1989. The current sponsor of this trophy is Paul Mitchell or Pascal to his mates. Most people call him Paul.

Holmar

Although now lost, this trophy has its roots deeply imbedded in the highlands of northern Iceland. During his youth, Holmar the first was an avid swimmer in the cold mountain lakes during the summer months and won many prizes for his swimming prowess, one of which was the Holmar shield. When he trained with the British olympic squad in the late 90’s in preparation for the Sydney Olympics, he lived in Stourport and joined the Packhorse Golf Society as a way to relax from the intense training regime during that time, and kindly donated the shield as a prize. Sadly he didn’t win an olympic medal, but his son Holmar Filipsson went on to become an integral member of the Icelandic synchronised swimming team before founding Thugfucker whose track Disco Gnome launched him into a global DJ star. Sadly the Holmar trophy was retired in 2008.

Load of Balls

This trophy was originally created and sponsored by Pete and Dale Horton. As the name implies the trophy was simply created by gluing a pyramid of golf balls to a wooden plinth. However, everyone who has received this trophy over the years has spent several hours of their lives repairing said trophy. There is not a single original golf ball remaining on the trophy, and its banishment to the annals of Packhorse history has come as a relief to everyone. There are still those who have furniture covering the marks on their living room carpet where errant glue covered golf balls have created an everlasting stain. One person, (who cannot be identified for legal reasons) who was not used to handling the dreaded “super glue” still suffers flashbacks from their time in Kidderminster A&E department, where they waited over 5 hours to have their balls removed under local anaesthetic.

Everfresh

Nobody knows the identity of the original sponsor of the Everfresh trophy. The gentleman joined the society in its infancy and at that time he was in transition having battled with transgender and identity issues for a number of years. However during this period they also entered a very creative period of their life partly driven by necessity brought on by numerous surgical procedures and extensive hormone therapy. If you enter Everfresh Sloggi into any of the well known search engines you will see a complete range of very practical and supportive female underwear which was originally designed and manufactured by our sponsor. It is renowned to be delicate but bold, ultra-comfortable offering absolute freedom and non skin irritating, perhaps some of our members can confirm this? When all our sponsors surgery had been completed, the committee of the Packhorse were faced with a dilemma in connection with what tee should now be applicable. This problem was debated at the very highest level with no sign of resolution. However the problem solved itself with our sponsor electing to leave the society and join a sewing circle and knitting club. The trophy was retired in 2005 when the member left with no member left.

Eastmills

Sponsored by Wayne Poulton, the Eastmills Trophy was originally named The Eastmills Flume and was the first trophy awarded at the world bog snorkelling championships. The East Mills Flume is situated on the river Avon in Hampshire and the surrounding flood plain creates ideal conditions for the sport which attracts participants and spectators from a worldwide audience. Wayne Poulton was world champion for 5 years running and was affectionally referred to as the human tadpole. He unfortunately had to retire from the sport when he suffered irreparable damage to the webbing between his toes and fingers. As Wayne had won the trophy so many times he retained it for life and he now allows The Packhorse to compete for it annually.

The Cricketer

Unusual to have a cricket trophy for a golfing event, but once you know the history it all becomes clear. We all remember Bothams Ashes and his match winnings innings at Headingly in 1981, but not all was as it seemed. Australia piled on the runs with a respectable first innings total of 401 for 9 declared and then skittled England out for 174 and forcing the follow on. That night some of the England team hit the bars lead by Botham and newly appointed 12th man Andy Benton. This was Andy’s introduction into first class cricket having only played in a couple of mixed tournaments for a Bewdley 11, where he had caught the selectors eye with resolute defence against some fiery female bowlers. The next day Ian was the worse for wear and unable to take to the field which caused havoc in the dressing room. A little known fact was that 12th man Andy funded his pursuit of sporting excellence with a stage act impersonating famous people. Most of these were in drag (those legs are meant for tights) but one of his particular favourites was an impression of Ian Botham. With his blond wig and cricket whites it was difficult to tell them apart. A confident Andy in full costume strode out to the wicket in Ian’s place and scored an unbeaten 149. Australia were bowled out in their second inning for 111 giving England the win by 18 runs. The Cricketer trophy was given to Andy by the all England club as a token of their appreciation for his magnificent effort and to this day there are very few people who know the true story of Bentons Ashes. Andy kindly donated his trophy to the Packhorse and sponsors the event annually.

Hatt Door

Originally the brainchild of local businessman Martin Hatt, this trophy was originally called the Chapeau D’or which literally translated from French means hat of gold. The original trophy was a golf cap made from nearly 2 Kg of the finest golden thread, hand crafted by 25 artisans who spent 2,951 man hours on its construction at an estimated cost of $132,000. The intention was that the hat would be presented to the winning Packhorse golfer at the Chapeau D’or event to be worn with pride at all the following golf events throughout that particular calendar year - bit like a green jacket, but a golden hat. However, when Martin saw the hat (and the cost of it) he decided to keep it for himself, and Chapeau D’or became Hatt D’or, shortly after changing to Hatt Door which was a reject Hatt kitchen door lying around at work at the time with a few cheap silver shield shapes screwed to it with winners names engraved upon them with a blunt penknife. This trophy is traditionally awarded to the winner of day two on the infamous Packhorse “Weekend Away”.

Besgolf Cup

The Besgolf Cup is a very significant trophy in the world of golf. In the early 70’s the Saudi Wealth Fund decided it wanted to invest in sport and in particular golf. It invited all the top players from around the world to attend a one off competition. One invitee was a certain young Phil Beswick who jumped at the chance to play and boarded his private jet to join the world’s elite in Riyadh. After 4 days in the searing heat, he won the competition by 10 shots and completed the final round in the lightning fast time of just under 7 hours. He was presented with the trophy - which was subsequently named after him - a lifetime supply of golf towels and a Bentley T1 - starting a passion for the marque which has endured until the present day. This competition ultimately lead to the birth of LIV golf. Phil was one of the earliest defectors from the PGA to LIV, but has been allowed under a special rule to also play in Packhorse events. He kindly donated the trophy to the Packhorse and every year sponsors the event. Due to its value and historic significance, the original Besgolf Cup is now on show at the R&A World Golf Museum, but is still played for each year by the Packhorse Golf Society.

The Dips

Not many people are aware of how the Dips trophy originally got its name. Vaughan Reid the sponsor of the trophy will spin you some story that it was to do with the name of a company he used to run in Bewdley and bore you with the development of computer software for distribution planning systems and logistics (yawn). The truth, however, is far simpler. As age crept on and memory faded, DIPS was an acronym that Vaughan came up with to assist him whenever he went out to play golf. It simply stands for Driver, Irons, Putter and Shoes. He is forever forgetting to bring his Chipper, Umbrella, Nike hat and Trolley, but luckily he couldn’t come up with an acronym for the additional equipment. Anyway, he always seems to turn up with most of the kit he needs to play.

Mug 1 & 2

Originally sponsored by Drew Clifford (of Packhorse and Mug House fame), the current sponsors Ken McCartney

and Dave Roper present these trophies traditionally for day 1 and day 3 of our Packhorse annual weekend away. Mug 1 is the day one prize and Mug 2 is day 3 because Hatt Door is day 2 and now Ken has replaced Mug 2 with McShirt and the old Mug 3 (not to be confused with the overall weekend winner) was retired to become the current Mug 2. Hope all thats clear.

Weekend Away Winner

The Weekend away winner trophy is awarded to the winner of the weekend away (bit simpler than Mug 1, 2, 3 etc.)

The Google

Originally donated by Tony Barratt, you could be forgiven for thinking that this trophy was named after the mighty Google search engine and software company, given that the word was written in the style of the giant corporation on a laptop screen and mounted on the trophy. However, it seems you would be wrong, according to the precedent set in the historic case Alphabet Inc. vs Barratt in 2018. Alphabet Inc. (owners of Google) initiated the case by sending out their signature 26 legal letters outlining their case for breach of copyright, which made headlines in July 2018. They seemed to have a watertight case. However, Nick O’Hara, our society legal adviser, made such a convincing case for the defence, it was eventually dropped, and whilst Google lost the $7.4 million legal fees, Barratt was awarded the £7.5 million costs charged by Nick. In his summing up for the defence, Nick testified that a mistake was made by the trophy maker, because Tony had shown him a rough design on his laptop, and whilst the word Google was in a different typeface on the original idea, the trophy manufacturer misunderstood what was required and took Tony literally and produced the word Google in Product Sans, making it look like the giants logo. The trophy company owner, Iver Bigcup took to the stand to confirm that this was indeed true. Nick summarised by explaining that joining the Packhorse Golf Society had a lasting effect on members, and Google in fact stood for Go On & Organise Golf Lessons Eventually. Nick produced statistics to back up his story that over 95% of members had in fact had secret lessons in a vain attempt to improve their game, even admitting to his own clandestine activities. After the laughter had died down in the gallery and the judge had wiped the tears from his face, history was made and Google lost the case. The society asked Tony to change the name of the trophy, but his suggestions of The Apple trophy or Amazon trophy were turned down by the committee and in 2018 the Goolge trophy was retired.

Gear Tech

Sponsored by Tony Perkin, the Gear Tech trophy is named after Tony’s business which specialises in the repair of automotive gearboxes. As well as playing golf, Tony is our resident biker and winner of The Lansdowne British Championship 2023 racing pre-1964 500cc Grand Prix racing motorcycles. Nice to have a champion in our midst, albeit not for golf !

November Cup

Sponsored and imaginatively named by Mike Mills, the November Cup is a cup we play for in November. Now sponsored by Tony McKenzie, although still called the November cup, after Tony’s presentation speech it is usually finally presented in December.

Spennells Cup

Sponsored and imaginatively named by Stewart Preston, the Spennells Cup was named by Stewart when he lived in Spennells. Luckily Stewart has never lived in Scunthorpe, Clitheroe, Penistone, Lightwater, Cockermouth or Shitterton. If he had I think we would have changed the name to the Preston Cup. We would like to make up a glamorous story about the origins of this trophy, but after trawling though numerous websites and local Kidderminster archives there is nothing interesting about the name.

The Great Western

Although one of our newest additions, ironically this trophy has been in existence since the 15th century. It was originally presented to John Cabot, a Venetian explorer who lived in England and was credited with the first person to discover the North West passage. In 1497, he sailed West from Bristol hoping to find a shorter route to Asia and after a month he discovered a ‘new found land’ and imaginatively named it Newfoundland. Although he never completed a successful navigation between the Atlantic and Pacific, he paved the way for those to follow. He was presented with the trophy by King Henry VII for his achievements and the trophy was named the Go West but over the years the name has been corrupted. Go West was a track released by The Village People in 1979 (and copied by the Pet Shop Boys in 1993) in a call to gay people to escape from bigotry by “going west” to California. This has absolutely nothing to do with the original trophy. Gary Mills, a direct descendant of JC, inherited the cup some years ago, and upholds the tradition of the family by naming his pub the Great Western (serving real ales, cider and fine wines, locally made pork pies and fresh homemade cobs) in honour of his forebears. Whilst many people think this is a reference to the railway, the name is deep rooted in Tudor history. We appreciate his generosity in donating this to the Packhorse, and restoring it to mint condition.

Champion of Champions

Sponsored by Chris “Herbie” Collins, the Champion of Champions trophy is presented to the golfer accumulating the most points over the whole Packhorse season annually. Each year the lucky winner receives the trophy, a bottle of brandy from Chris and a straw sombrero with matching poncho.

McShirt

The McShirt Trophy is a recent addition to our impressive list and comes with a very chequered history. Its name has changed slightly over the years from its original of Motor Cycle Shirt, later shortened to MC Shirt. Many years ago it was the trophy that was fought over annually in bloody pitched battles between the two main motor cycle gangs, Hells Angles and The Outlaws, often resulting in fatalities. The leader of the Hells Angles was Ken the Elder who was tall, mean and descended from a Celtic warrior chief who’s bagpipe playing turned many a man’s knees to jelly. Ken was a good leader, but often misunderstood as he spoke with such a heavy Celtic accent. This annual battle was phased out in the 70’s when Ken the Elder won the trophy three years in a row and an uneasy alliance was formed. Over the years the trophy has been handed down to his smaller and gentler non bagpipe playing decedents and was donated to the Packhorse by the most recent descendant of the Mc Shirt clan.

Packhorse Golf Society Trophies