History — Baltic Exchange Golfing Society

For many years it was widely assumed that our society was started in 1905 , yet in fact with the time now on my hands to delve through the various suitcases , carrier bags and boxes of fascinating paperwork , further revelations have come to light and whilst the exact date remains a mystery, it seems likely that it was formed prior to the end of the 19th century , probably around 1897/98 when the Baltic Exchange was in South Sea House, Threadneedle Street and some years before our long standing home in St Mary Axe was opened for business in 1903.

Then called the Baltic Golf Club, it was sufficiently well established and wealthy in November 1904 for the committee to agree to present a Challenge Cup to the Guildford Golf Club “ for a sum not exceeding £10”. At that time green fees nearby at Woking were 1/- and at Walton Heath 2/6d. In 1906 membership stood at 166 and by 1910 had reached 200 .

Not until 1909 was the name changed to the Baltic Exchange Golfing Society. By then formal rules had been drawn up in 1905 – “Candidates for election shall be balloted for by the Committee and one black ball in five shall exclude”. Candidates had to be members of the Exchange and were required to be formally proposed and seconded by existing club members - annual fees were fixed in that year at 2/6d. These somewhat stringent rules regarding election would subsequently be modified, but not until 1970, when it was agreed that membership could become open to staff of companies represented on the Exchange, although not themselves allowed on the floor. The Spring Meeting was held in 1905 at Cassiobury Park which became West Herts and the results were conveyed to The Times and Golf Illustrated - three months later the Autumn Meeting won by AS Johnston with a nett 88 was played at Walton Heath, with 40 players attending - rail fares and caddies were paid for by the Society.

From the records is seems likely that the first trophy given for competetion was the Baltic Golf Club Challenge Cup presented by Mr JL Clark . Not unnaturally also known as the Clark Cup, it was awarded for the first time in 1901 to Mr L Hinton as the winner of a 'running' knock out Match Play competition. Whether or not this was the first time that the competition had been played is unclear, but in any event it keeps the date of the probable birth of the Society to 1901 and the cup was the ancestor of what is known today nearly 125 years later as the Gold Cup. It was not until 1907 that any tied matches were allowed to play sudden death extra holes - prior to this they were decided by a second round of golf.

Between 1906 and 1913 W Adamson, playing off scratch, won the competition 3 times and was then given the cup to keep as his own. The following year in 1914 the question of a replacement cup was raised at the Annual General Meeting and was left to the Committee to decide .The competition continued during the Spring and the Summer, albeit without a trophy and was won by WA Hutton in the final played shortly after the outbreak of the First World War .

A start was made in 1920 to revive the Society and it's activities, although the matchplay competition was withheld that year and did not start again until 1921. It is then that we hear for the first time of the Gold Cup. In the minutes of the AGM held on April 26 reference is made to a ”New Matchplay Challenge Cup” and funds were presented by W Adamson (£10), E Head (£10) and WA Hutton (£5). The minutes further record that “ the Hon Treasurer and Hon Secretary were given discretion to spend upto £25 from Club funds in addition to the donations, if a suitable cup were procurable”. Later in November that year DH Kyle, the winner, formally acknowledged receipt of a “Gold Baltic Match-play Cup with cover and plinth in a case”. In that year's accounts it states the trophy cost £39. Sadly as with many of our trophies the Cup was stolen in 1978 and the present trophy was subsequently acquired from the defunct Baltic Exchange Motor Club - it is remarkable to ponder as we venture into another year of the competition that it was first played for in 1901. Queen Victoria had just died and the Boer War was still being fought.

After an interval of 22 years the original Baltic Cup was re-presented by Mr Adamson to the Society in 1935, for competition at the Spring and Autumn meetings, and has since been known as the Adamson Scratch Cup.

The years between 1905 and 1914 were a time of great expansion for the young Society . In 1906 matches were arranged against Lloyds G.C. played at Sunningdale, and also with 'Mincing Lane' and the Metal Exchange both held at Royal Mid Surrey G.C. The Corn Exchange match was first played in 1909 and in 1911 a match was arranged against members of the Cardiff Exchange (their Society was not formed as such until 1930 ) at Southerndown, the Cardiff team afterwards entertained the Baltic members to a dinner at the Royal Hotel Cardiff .

The return match was played in 1912 at Walton Heath G.C. on the same day as our 4th Annual Dinner, held at the Connaught Rooms. The Cardiff players were our guests at the dinner and their captain (Mr Athol Gibson) spoke on their behalf and it seems likely that the tradition of the Cardiff captain proposing the toast to BEGS members at our dinner started on this occasion . For the record the match was played over 36 holes of singles match-play and all costs for trains, green fees, caddies and hotels were covered by the Baltic . Mr JW Burness of the Baltic is recorded as having won his game by 16 up with 15 to play!

Our first Summer meeting was a midweek day trip at Deal in 1908 and by then the competitions for the Symondson Challenge & the Alexander Knight Cup were well established - both are still played for today. The Spring meeting that year was played at Bramshot Golf Club near Fleet in Hampshire - the course was built next to the railway line from London and had it's own station namely Bramshot Halt - it was noted that players, who were sat in the clubhouse, would ask their caddies to warn them when the train back to London was in sight. The course was requisitioned by the Air Ministry in 1940 and the clubhouse was used by General Eisenhower in the months leading upto D-Day - sadly it was demolished after a major fire just after the war.

Our reputation must have spread fast as it is recorded in March 1910 the Birmingham Exchange wrote requesting information and our guidance as they wished to form their own society. A few weeks afterwards our Spring meeting at Porters Park had to be rearranged after the event was postponed due to “the death of King Edward”.A year later the Auctioneers and Surveyors Golf Society requested a fixture and in 1913 we played the first of two matches against the Liverpool Exchange.

Not surprisingly membership in 1920 dramatically reduced to less than 100 of whom 40 were life members from before 1914 and who had each paid £2/10- for this category. Annual subscription was fixed at 10/- and remained at that sum until 1965! Membership numbers rose rapidly and in 1923 the Spring meeting at Hadley Wood was attended by 80 members. The winner that day of the Captain's prize for the best scratch score was D.H.Kyle (off +1 handicap) who returned 75 + 1 = 76 and is recorded as having beaten the then Amateur course record by 2 strokes.

Dennis Kyle is probably the most notable golfer to have played for the Society. A Scot, he was born in a house overlooking the 18th green at St Andrews. He played in the 1921 Open which was held at the home of golf, at St Andrews, made the cut and finished in joint 26th place on 309 (13 shots behind the eventual winner Jock Hutchinson, who won after a play off). In 1924 he represented Scotland against England (he also played in 1930) as well as making his only appearance representing Great Britain against the USA in the Walker Cup, which that year was held in New York. He only played in the singles and lost his match 3&2, with the USA running put winners by 9-3. The USA team included notable players Bobby Jones (winner of 7 Majors) and Francis Ouimet (now famous winner of the 1913 U.S. Open as an amateur beating the fancied Harry Vardon & Ted Ray in an 18 hole play-off). In 1928 Kyle reached the last 8 of the Amateur Championship and managed to defeat the then famous Cyril Tolley on the 16th green (Tolley was the captain of the Walker Cup team he played in).

It should also be noted that Donald Erlebach, who became Secretary in 1922, was elected to the Society in 1912 and remained actively involved with BEGS until his death in 1970 when he was our President. He served 25 years as Hon Secretary and 19 years as Hon Treasurer - fittingly he was described at the match against Cardiff the year later as “the guide, philosopher, founder and boss of our Society” - the Erlebach Cup remains the primary trophy at the annual match against the Cardiff Exchange and will be competed for as eagerly in 2026 - the 100th match - as it was all those years ago in 1911

His greatest regret was that the Society's records from 1927 to 1939 were sadly lost during the Blitz between 1940 & 1941. Despite this setback there still remains a very detailed history of the oldest sporting society in the City of London and I look forward to adding to this piece as we go forward.

Chris Cox

January 2023

Baltic Exchange Golfing Society

The Origins