INTRODUCING GHOFAT!

...and whose fault was it?

GHOFAT was dreamed  up in 1999 whilst on a trip to Spain. John Mackie ( an ex pat friend in Spain ) and I thought that it may be a good idea to meet up once a year for a game of golf and a chat with other friends that we were not in touch with on a regular basis. A straw poll of old friends proved that most of them would love to meet up on an annual basis if it could be organised.

The basic idea was not to stay at hotels but to stay in each others houses to keep the cost down to a minimum. It was also a general policy that the winner of that year's event would host the following year fun and games at his golf club, or a club of his choice. This did work fine until 2003 when Dusty Miller won the coveted GHOFAT TROPHY and assumed the responsibility of the game in 2004 at Wareham Golf Club in Dorset. Dusty ( who had been a professional cricketer) advised us all of the venue and we all turned up to find that Dusty was already coming down the third fairway with no more tee times allocated. It was then decided that one person (me) should do the organising for the victorious player to ensure that this sort of cock up wouldn't be repeated. 

As an organiser Dusty made a good cricketer!

Other Trophies have been added over the years to give golfers something to play for. They all have a history and do mean something, the intrinsic value of each piece is zero, but they all are fiercely contested year after year.

It was in 2007 that the format changed to become a two day stay, and in 2008 it became aware the the general consensus of opinion was that with friends moving further away, a night in a hotel would be better than two long drives in one day, also we were all in retirement mode and a boys' day away sounded good!

The object is still the same as in 1999. meet up with old friends, who but for GHOFAT we would never see, hear all the news from extended families, listen carefully to all the latest hospital visits, new joints, latest medications, and most importantly, have some fun with a little, not too competitive, golf thrown into the mix. It still seems to be working, much to my amazement, and we are going from strength to strength. 

Obviously as time goes by, so do some of our founder members. We have lost, over the years, eight friends, but we are now inviting new members as guests to hopefully keep our numbers up. GHOFAT is not about big numbers, more about having people with you for a couple of days who will fit in and promote an atmosphere of good fun and jollity and be able to take and give the banter that is so essential for non serious people.

So, if you would like to invite a suitable guest this year let me know as soon as possible please!

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Any new guests cannot win a major trophy on their first visit, and are by invitation only to ensure that there is no conflict with other members.

So that is it!!!  Still going strong, let's hope that it continues.

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Les