Philip Holt profiles the Law Society golf club


‘It’s just a great place to escape.’ This is what draws Alan Edgington, a partner at Warwickshire firm LDJ Solicitors, and doubtless thousands of other lawyers, to the game of golf. Playing 18 holes and retiring to the 19th – or clubhouse for the uninitiated – for a drink afterwards can be a wonderful respite, however brief, from the pressures of modern legal practice.



Mr Edgington is this year’s captain of the Law Society Golf Club (LSGC) and he is quick to stress that it is a proper ‘club’, rather than simply a society. Founded in 1962 at a meeting in Chancery Lane, the LSGC has some 150-plus members who play in its matches. They are drawn from all corners – from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Cornwall, Great Yarmouth to west Wales – and include two former presidents of the Law Society, Tony Girling (1996) and Kevin Martin (2005).



The club secretary, the indefatigable David Barker, is only the second holder of the post in its 45-year history (after John Folley). A celebratory dinner was recently held at the Royal St George’s club in Sandwich, Kent, to mark his 25 years in charge, during which he has overseen a major expansion of the LSGC’s fixture list.



The club holds two major meetings, one in spring and one in autumn (where guests are also invited) – in 2008 these will be held at Purdis Heath, near Ipswich, and Trevose in Cornwall respectively.



Alongside these are numerous matches against teams of lawyers from across Europe and societies run by other professionals. Virtually every match is played at a course that is ranked in the Golf World top 100.



The club also organises the European Legal Team Championships, which take place every three years, typically at the 54-hole, Severiano Ballesteros-designed Novo Sancti Petri golf club complex in south-west Spain. Teams are drawn from across Europe – including Scotland, Wales, Holland, Ireland, Paris and Jersey – as well as Ontario in Canada. The 2007 event (the sixth) attracted 12 teams of between 12 and 18 players, and was won by an Irish Solicitors Golfing Society team.



‘The people that you meet through the matches are all different and very nice,’ says Mr Barker, a commercial lawyer in the Midlands in the latter part of his career but now retired. ‘If you are in practice, it also helps establish useful links. Friendships can lead to business connections for the benefit of your clients.’



The Gazette had the privilege of playing 36 holes at this year’s autumn meeting, which was held at Crowborough Beacon, an excellent course in East Sussex. The popularity of the LSGC and its members’ enthusiasm for the game was clear for all to see. The club is nevertheless keen to welcome potential members – at whatever stage of their legal career.



Any Law Society member or former member interested in joining the club should contact David Barker, tel: 01889 565615 or email davidbarker207@btinternet.com.



Alternatively, email Tricia Gee, the assistant secretary, at lawsocietygc@ zoom.co.uk.





GOLF AND THE LAW QUIZ



Questions:

1 Which legendary course designer was appointed a partner in a Hastings law firm in 1894?

2 Which British major winner worked – at the start of his career – for a solicitors’ firm in the mornings before going off to practise in the afternoons?

3 Which female professional golfer and leading coach, who took time out from the game to qualify as a solicitor and became a partner in a law firm, was at the centre of one of the first cases under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, when she applied to become a club professional in Richmond, Surrey?

4. Which US amateur golfer and multiple-major winner retired from competition at 28 to pursue a career in the law in Atlanta, Georgia?

5. Which solicitor was a member of the Walker Cup team five times and later became the first person to captain the GB & Ireland side to consecutive wins?







The Law Society Golf Club – 2008 fixtures
(opposition, course, date)



Circuit Judges, New Zealand, 15 March

Bench & Bar, Huntercombe, 16 March

Valuers & Auctioneers, Ashridge, 17 March

Spring meeting, Ipswich (Purdis Heath), 28 April

Past Captains Meeting, Royal West Norfolk (Brancaster), 29 April

Scotland, Nairn, 8-9 May

Bremen and Munich, Minchinhampton; Burnham & Berrow, 21-23 May

Accountants/Surveyors, Frilford Heath, 2 June

Scottish Seniors, Tain and Royal Dornoch, 10-12 June

Dutch Bar, Burnham & Berrow, 12-13 June

Northern Ireland, Roseapenna, Donegal, 19-20 June

Magistrates, Saffron Walden, 23 June

Brussels Bar, Ganton, 3-4 July

Consulting Engineers, Ashridge, 15 July

Ontario Bar, Hunstanton, Sheringham, Norfolk, 16-18 July

Seniors meeting, Hawkstone Park, 22-23 July

Jersey, New Zealand, 1-2 August

Lutine GS, Swinley Forest, 8 August

North Italy Tour, Como, 22-30 August

Irish Solicitors, Aberdovey/Royal St Davids, 11-12 September

Valuation Office, Hankley Common, 17 September

Autumn meeting, Trevose, 26 September

Welsh Solicitors, Morfa Nefyn and Porthmadog, 3-4 October

Paris Bar, East Devon, 10-11 October





Answers:

1 Harry Colt. He was appointed a partner in Sussex law firm Sayer & Colt in 1894. His course design company had a hand in designing or redesigning the likes of Royal St George’s, Royal Lytham St Annes and Sunningdale.

2 Tony Jacklin, who won the Open Championship in 1969 and the US Open in 1970.

3 Vivien Saunders. She specialised in divorce and tax law, before deciding to return to golf.

4 Bobby Jones, who won seven majors.

5 Peter McEvoy