The English Golf Union is the governing body for men's and boys' amateur golf in England. It represents over 1,900 golf clubs with over 740,000 members and is affiliated to The R&A, which is the global governing body of golf outside the United States and Mexico.
The English Golf Union was founded in 1924 and is based at the National Golf Centre in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire. It is a non-profit making organisation and is funded mainly by affiliation fees paid by golfers as part of their club membership fee. It organises individual and team championships for all age groups from boys to seniors, including the flagship English Amateur Championship (a match play event), and the English Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship (the Brabazon Trophy). (These events are less prestigious than the equivalent events run on an all-Britain & Ireland basis by The R&A.) It also runs the handicapping system for men's golf in England and works to increase the interest and participation in golf among adults and juniors.
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“When the English have scored a goal, they think nothing more remains to be done.”
—José Bergamín (1895–1983)
“My attitude toward punctuation is that it ought to be as conventional as possible. The game of golf would lose a good deal if croquet mallets and billiard cues were allowed on the putting green. You ought to be able to show that you can do it a good deal better than anyone else with the regular tools before you have a license to bring in your own improvements.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
“My Christian friends, in bonds of love, whose hearts in sweetest union join,
Your friendship’s like a drawing band, yet we must take the parting hand.
Your company’s sweet, your union dear; Your words delightful to my ear,
Yet when I see that we must part, You draw like cords around my heart.”
—John Blain (18th century)