The fourth Eddie Butler Memorial Golf Day took place once again at The Rolls of Monmouth Golf Club. This event had been organised for the previous three years by Prostate Cymru, the charity of which Eddie had been a supporter and ambassador. Prostate Cymru had decided not to organise the event in 2026 so Eddie’s brother Philip took over as organiser and announced before play commenced that this was the first golf day he had arranged and he was somewhat nervous in light of the presence of Fitz players who were used to such high organisational standards and that the Fitz organiser extraordinaire Colin Dunkerley was present. The charity to be supported this year was The British Heart Foundation.

As in previous years, Fitz Golf Society supported the event by fielding three teams of four, which include three guests, Andrew Doherty, Mark Lingard and Gordon Wood, all of whom had played in previous years. This year’s event was considerably smaller in scale with twenty players taking part. The format was teams of four with the best two stableford scores to count. Thankfully, given the problems some Fitz players had in previous years in finding tees on the far side of the golf course in a shotgun start, each team started on the first tee.

In addition to the Fitz teams Philip provided a team as did two of Eddie’s sons, Jacob and Seth who together with two friends were the youngest team by well in excess of thirty years. They looked fit and athletic, and the question was would youth triumph over experience? Philip christened them as ‘Team Butler’ and as they did not have official club handicaps attempted to reduce their chances of winning by restricting their handicaps to a maximum of 18. As well as the overall winners’ prize there were prizes for nearest the pin on hole 8, nearest the pin in 2 on hole 11 and longest drive on hole 17.

The first tee was at 11.00 am and proceedings started with Fitz Captain Michael Hall hitting his drive approximately 40 yards. Onlookers were too polite to laugh out loud. Later, Colin Dunkerley was so engaged in filling in the team score card that he allowed his electric trolley to proceed uncontrolled until it hit and upturned a bench.

The course was in great condition, the scenery magnificent, the weather held fair and the greens were as challenging as ever. A thoroughly enjoyable round of golf.

Proceedings after golf were casual with most not changing for the meal, although “old school” guests Andrew Doherty and Gordon Wood wore jackets and Gordon a tie! The meal was hearty golf club fare with a choice of ham egg and chips or chilli. Philip spoke after the meal and was assured that his organisation had passed the high standards expected by Fitz!

The prizes were presented and it was apparent that the attempts to reduce the chances of Team Butler winning had failed as they won with a superb score of 94 points and claimed the winners trophy. Second place with 91 points went to the Fitz team of Steve Tapping, Martin Holmes, Mark Lingard and Michael Hall. Special mention must be made of the buggy hired by Messrs Holmes and Lingard which transported their not inconsiderable weight up some very steep inclines without faltering or sliding backwards.

Feature Hole prize winners were:-

Nearest the Pin on 8 – John Steer, Christ Church, Oxford (part of Philip Butler’s team)

Nearest the Pin in 2 on 11 – Max (part of Team Butler)

Longest Drive on 17 – Michael Hall

Money was raised for British Heart Foundation by donations from all the players plus an after dinner raffle of some fine bottles of whisky

After prizegiving some headed for home while others headed into Monmouth for the night. Steve Tapping had stayed in a hotel in Monmouth the previous night and his unflattering description of it caused the colour to drain from David Williams’ face and he promptly cancelled his booking and headed back to London accompanied by Stuart Lester.

That left five who spent the night sampling the hospitality in Monmouth, mainly in the Green Dragon and Bar 125 (which had been recommended by Team Butler). Bar staff and locals alike seemed impressed by the ability of Mark Lingard to drink copious quantities of beer at some speed and still be able to walk back to his hotel.

In conclusion it was fitting that youth triumphed over experience and Eddies’ sons won the day. Philip was thanked for organising the event and those thanks are repeated here. It is to be hoped that this event carries on for many years in memory of Eddie Butler, a great rugby player, sportsman, commentator and journalist. 

Michael Hall, Captain and Fitz Match Organiser

PS. Consideration is being given to Fitz taking over organisation of the event next year in terms of us booking and running the golf side with Philip Butler providing the link to the Butler family and other guests with connections to Eddie Butler.