David and Deanna Deighton have presented a new cup to Bridgnorth Golf Club to be played for annually by members over the age of 80.
The cup is called The Octogenarian Cup and is played for over 9 holes in a stableford competition off the yellow and red tees.
This year it was played on June 19th in poor weather conditions but it didn’t stop 20 over 80 members braving the elements, although Deanna did worry that the club’s over 80s would be decimated by pneumonia after playing in the rain.
The first winner of the competition was David Deighton himself, scoring 18 points, the runner up was Bryan Nelson with 17 points and David was the only player to get a two.
All the participants were invited for a light lunch in the clubhouse after the competition, which was followed by the Club Captain Colin Turner presenting The Octogenarian Cup to David Deighton.
As can be seen from the presentation photo the cup is a wonderful piece of silverware and David said that he searched the internet to find what he considered to be suitable cup and found the cup on e-bay and watched the last hour to make sure his bid was successful.
The trophy came with provenance. It was originally put up by The Scottish Timber Trades Association for a golf competition and played for in Edinburgh in May 1914 and was won by a John Martin.
John was a solicitor who worked in his dads firm in Edinburgh. Later that year John joined the Gordon Highlanders just after the start of WW1 with a rank of Captain. Captain Martin won the Military Cross In January 1917 but was sadly killed at the Battle of Arras in April 1917 and is buried at the Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery in the Pas de Calais France. It’s assumed that John Martin won the cup outright, as his was the only name on the cup, but then if he had gone off to war, perhaps it was kept by default.
Hopefully, The Octogenarian Cup will be played for annually for many years to come and the story of Captain Martin will live on.
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