Balfour & Houldsworth
Golf Challenge Cups
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Balfour & Houldsworth Golf Challenge Cups |
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THE Balfour and Houldsworth Golf committee are one of the
oldest and most respected golf organisations in the North West. They organise five top-class competitions for amateur golfers each year, drawn from clubs within a 20-mile radius of Manchester Town Hall, the limit set by the founders way back in 1897. The B and H committee has no permanent home and relies on the hospitality of various clubs in the area to stage its competitions. The venues are usually decided at the AGM, usually held in November, when invitations received from clubs are considered by the committee made up entirely of volunteers. It is considered a great honour to host a B and H event and clubs are invited to send representatives to support their bid. The two premier trophies the Balfour Cup and the Houldsworth Trophy are both magnificent examples of Victorian craftsmanship and have few equals in any sport. They were presented in 1897 by the Hon A.J. Balfour and Sir William Henry Houldsworth with the idea for the competitions being drawn up in the Manchester Reform Club where the two regularly met. Mr Balfour, MP for East Manchester was Prime Minister from 1902-5. |
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Rt Hon A. J. Balfour |
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He was a very keen golfer who played the Lyme Park course,
Disley, whenever he was in the North. Originally the handicap limit for the Balfour Cup was five but this was increased to 12 to make the event more popular with the average golfer. This move proved to be so popular that is frequently necessary to ballot for the 170 places available for the male singles stroke-play competition. |
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Sir William Henry Houldsworth, was also an MP representing
North West Manchester and much of the Houldsworth area of Reddish is a great
legacy to the distinguished man who was a well known businessman with golf
as his major hobby. The competition format is foursomes against bogey which has also proved to be extremely popular with the bogey game allowing a larger field to enter the competition. In addition to holding the magnificent trophies for a year the winners of the Balfour Cup and Houldsworth Trophy are presented with a Balfour and Houldsworth tie, a coveted possession of all the past winners of the trophies. |
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| Sir William Houldsworth |
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The growing influence of ladies and mixed golf saw a new
competition introduced in 1927 as Mr G.S. Lancashire presented a cup for the
mixed foursome competition. The trophy was stolen from the premises of the winning club a few years ago and a replacement cup was obtained. The Balfour Junior Challenge began in 1954 and at the other end of the age spectrum the Balfour Seniors was introduced in 2005. |
