The Elders were set on their way at lunch in Royal St George’s clubhouse on Easter Monday 1994. William Seabrook, our Founder, had been playing with Nigel Gardner, and they went in to lunch and joined the club’s secretary, Gerald Watts. Nigel and Gerald had recently failed to find success in The Seniors ballot and were moaning about that, but Will (as he was known) said there was to be no moaning at Royal St George’s and suggested that the three of them should set up a new society.
Over the next three years, they arranged several times for friends to meet and to play golf with the new society in mind; the group grew and in 1996 they put the question of a new society to a vote, and The Society was formed with 17 members by the end of its first year. The Society prospered and grew rapidly.
The Founders were members of many clubs, but with large contingents from Royal St George’s and The Berkshire. These two clubs remain an important part of the Society having been from the start and still the venue for the Autumn Meeting plus AGM and for the Spring Meeting. They have always felt like “home” to The Elders.
Roger Newman was particularly important in setting the Society on its way and managing its activity for the first 15 years. Roger was present when the founding decision was taken and it was then that he agreed to take on the considerable responsibility of being the first Secretary and Treasurer. This involved drafting our Rules, arranging the first set of matches against our early opponents and helping to recruit many of our founder members, as well as many more later. Roger, who died in 2018, was our only Honorary Life Member.