This article attempts to answer the question What is the history of Awali Golf Club?
But we need to be a little more specific, with questions along the lines of: What is the history of AGC's

1. Jebel Dukhan - first course
2. Awali Township - second course
3. Rifa'a Valley - current course
   3.1 Development over the decades
   3.2 Hole naming
   3.3 Caddies
   3.4 Weather
   3.5 Historic landmarks (not golf related)
4. Clubhouse
5. Competitions
   5.1 Internal
   5.3 Inter-club
   5.4 Social
   5.5 Major competitions
   5.6 Bahrain Open Championship
   5.7 Bahrain Ladies Open Championship
   5.8 Rules for local conditions
6. Annual Dinner Dance and AGM
7. Committee and Professional
8. Establishment

Following the discovery of oil in commercial quantities on June 2nd 1932 at Oil Well No.1, located close to Jebel Dukhan, workers arrived in ever increasing numbers. The "Jebel Camp" or "Oil Camp No.1" developed in the area for the working, accommodation and recreational needs of the employees. A facility (by today's standards, "an area" is probably more accurate) to play golf was part of this, confirmed by the following:

• Following the end of each year, the British Political Agent in Bahrain created an Administration Report to summarise important events within his jurisdiction during the previous year, forwarding this to his superior, the British Political Resident in Bushire, Persia. The report for 1933 (forwarded under cover of a letter [source] dated 5th March 1934) includes this reference [source] (see Section 15 ii) to golf being played by Bapco workers in the vicinity of Oil Well No. 1.

   

  
  Political Agent's Administration Report for Year 1933:
  Reference to golf being played by Bapco workers in the vicinity of Oil Well No. 1

   

  "There is one Golf Club in Manamah and another at The Bahrain Petroleum Company's camp".
  To date, this is the only contemporary and incontrovertible documented evidence that has been found for golf being played in the vicinity of Oil Well No.1. Here is a map of the Jebel camp as of 15th April 1933. See source for higher resolution.

A map of a course near Oil Well No.1 has never been found, nor a definitive answer to how many holes it had: we assume that it did have at least nine holes. However, two other references to the course at Oil Well No.1 are known:

• Harry Carrier, Committee member between the 1965 and 1973, produced an article at the time of his departure from Bahrain in 1977, which included the statement:
  In a cabled message to London dated 5th December 1934 he [Fred A. Davies, Socal geologist] referred to a golf game on a 3 hole course in Bahrain. From this indication ... it may be assumed that the first golf was played on a a course constructed in that vicinity some short time before the date of the cable.
  Although our current knowledge negates some of the accuracy of this statement, the importance of the above is the "3 hole" words - it is probable that Harry never saw the cable himself, but based his statement on hearsay.
• Mohammed Habal mentioned (when interviewed on 23 August 2008):
  I used to know someone who caddied for golfers at a course at the Jebel. I think this may have had 4, 5 ,or 6 holes and was in use in 1934 or 1935 [Ed. The Awali Township course opened in January 1934 - see below]. The course, and the barasti houses in which the oil explorers lived, was located near where they started drilling for oil at Jebel Dukhan.

 

More and more workers arrived with the building of Bapco's refinery, commencing in 1934. The increased need for administration, accommodation and other social facilities resulted in a decision to build a "Permanent Camp", and a location situated about half-way between Jebel Dukhan and the refinery was chosen.

• 

  Bapco Golf Section Awali Town Course
  Hole	Length (Yards)	Par (Gents)	Par (Ladies)
  1	306	4	4
  2	333	4	4
  3	132	3	3
  4	460	4	5
  5	352	4	4
  6	124	3	4
  7	504	5	5
  8	349	4	4
  9	260	4	4
  Total:	2820	35	36

  The land reservation request for an area to be reserved for a permanent camp [source] at Awali was sent to the "Political Agent" (Great Britain's most senior diplomat overseeing just Bahrain) on 7th February 1934. On 12th Feb 1934 the Political Resident (in Bushire) forwards the request to Secretary of State [source] for India in London. Of note within this message are the words: "... building has already begun".
• After an exchange of correspondence, the Sheikh approves (page 1) [source] (page 2) [source] the request, this being forwarded on 25th Feb 1934 by the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain to the Political Agent and then back to Bapco. The approval is being granted as a "special concession" as the land is not already covered under the Mining Lease agreement with Bapco.
• Within the reservation request is an accompanying blueprint scale map [source] of Awali, with the whole of the western side of the plot reserved for a nine-hole golf course. Astoundingly, the reservation request map shows the locations of the nine tees and greens.

Here is the same map with the course route highlighted. By zooming into this map, assuming tee and green positions are located accurately, it can be estimated that the course had a length of 2,820 yards, gents/ladies par 35/36.

Here is the exact location of the course overlaid on a modern Google satellite photo (use the opacity controls to make the location more obvious). Synchronization of the two maps was done by scaling the historic map to that of Google, then super-imposing two items present in both maps: the centre of the main Awali roundabout, and the Sitra Road progressing north-east from it.

 

 

 

 

We cannot nail down the precise date on which the Awali Township course opened from the documents found within the BIO Archive, as no document has been found relating to a formal course opening. However, it seems reasonable to assume the date was 1st January 1934, based upon the entries contained in The Diaries together with the BIO Archive evidence. In doing this, The Diaries need to be looked at not in chronological order. As follows...

• The Diaries entry of 9th September 1933 includes:
  Played in a golf tournament in afternoon. I played with a man called Carter, English, from the oil camp.
  Of note here is the specific use of the words "oil camp". The impression given is that the match was played in Manama on Manama Golf Club's course. However, it may have been played at a location near Oil Well No.1.
• The Diaries entry of 26th March 1936 includes:
  Played golf in the afternoon with Mrs Skinner. M [Ed: Belgrave's wife Marjorie] drove out to the course & looked on from the car, started off well & then went to bits. Went to the "movies" at the Jebel in the evening after an early dinner, quite a good film. I met their garden expert, from Kew, a young Englishman - he will find it very difficult to get things to do well out at Jebel.
  Pondering on this, we can surmise: Bapco would not be employing a garden expert for landscaping in the vicinity of the Old Camp near Oil Well No.1 - it was a rough, noisy, oil industry area enjoying a boom. So The Diaries are using the word "Jebel" to actually refer to Awali Township. This then makes more sense of going to the movies "at the Jebel": which is actually at Awali Township. We can conclude that, provided The Diaries remain consistent, any reference in The Diaries to "Jebel" should be read as "Awali Township"
• Belgrave, arriving in Bahrain in 31st March 1926, would have toured the country for both business and social reasons, and done so years before the discovery of oil in commercial quantities. In those pre-oil years, Jebel Dukhan dominated the barren scenery in this area of Bahrain for many kilometers. Understandably, Belgrave referred to the whole area as "the Jebel" and he included Awali Township as part of "the Jebel" as it is only 6km north of Jebel Dukhan. "Jebel [Ed. Awali]" is used hereon to indicate this.
• Belgrave was a direct employee of Sheikh Hamad, and a much respected VIP. His status in Bahrain society was at the highest level, as was that of the British Government's most senior diplomat, the Political Agent. For Bapco to issue an invitation to either of these gentlemen to play at a Bapco golf course implies that the course was in good enough shape for Bapco to not be embarassed. Possibly, there was a sense of pride or one-upmanship if Bapco's course was perceived to be superior to the only other course in Bahrain (that of the Manama Golf Club).
• The Diaries' entry for 1st January 1934 includes:
  "Motored out before breakfast to the jebel [Ed. Awali] where we had been invited to breakfast and to play golf".
  Unfortunately, no matching document within the BIO Archive has been located.
• Bapco issued an invitation (see source) to the Political Agent, Colonel Percy Gordon Loch, to play on the course. The invitation is dated 15th January 1934 - it includes the name of the person in charge of Bapco Club's "Golf" Section at the time - Ernest H. Smith. This was not an invitation to a formal opening event, but an invitation for the Political Agent to play any time he desired.
• Loch's reply (see source) is dated 16th January 1934.

The formal opening of AGC's current course was on 4th January 1937 (see below), and this event was given the necessary gravitas with the presence of a senior dignitary - the Political Agent. Noting this, together with the evidence shown above, it is reasonable to regard the de-facto formal opening of the Awali Township course as 1st January 1934, this being the earlier of the two dates on which either the Adviser to the Sheikh or the Political Agent had been invited to play.

As a conclusion to the subject of the Awali Township course opening date, Bapco forwarded the formal Awali land reservation request about five weeks after the invitation to Belgrave to play at the course. As with much in business, priorities are important and sometimes the paperwork has to catch up after the event.

 

 

The presence of a golf course within Awali Township is confirmed in an article by L.N. Hamilton (a lawyer who negotiated the first oil concession in Saudi Arabia in 1933 for Standard Oil, and who later became Bapco Chairman) dated 7th November 1935, called "Exploring for oil in the Persian Gulf" [source], with the text:
Unfortunately, no results for a competition being played at Awali Township have been located. However, the following is relevant:

• The oldest trophy still in the Club's possession, the "Russell Cup" (see section 5.5. Major competitions below) was almost certainly donated no later than the end of March 1935. Noting the Political Resident's statement on 12th Feb 1934 that Awali "building has already begun", it is possible that the course was available toward the end of the 1933/34 season, and almost certain that the inaugural Russell Cup competition would have been played at Awali at the end of the 1934/35 season.

 

 

Commencing in 1934, Bapco forwarded an "Annual Report" to the Political Agent, within which all Bapco buildings are listed. With the workforce continuing to expand in 1935 and 1936, the report for 1936 [source] details extra accommodation. Namely, "Building: Wood Stucco construction (Air-Conditioned) 36 x 36'10"x50'10" with 10'x13' addition: under construction - Living Quarters". These are Houses 101-136 located near the Manama gate. Thus, the Awali permanent camp golf course is literally "under construction" by the end of 1936. The move from Awali to Rifa'a occurred toward the end of 1936. The formal opening (as nine holes), on 4th January 1937, with the invite also extended to the Political Agent, as follows:

• Letter dated 1st January 1937 [source] advising Bapco staff of the course's formal opening [Ed. The discovery of this document was made relatively recently by Roy Leask/Onny Martin, towards the end of June 2016, towards midnight, towards the bottom of a whisky bottle, in deepest, darkest Somerset - and resulted in the Committee instigating yet another re-ageing of the Club].
• The Political Agent, still Colonel Percy Gordon Loch, further to the invite for him to play at the Awali Township course in January 1934, was also invited to the formal opening of this Rifa'a' Valley course. He would have been the highest ranking official at the event, and recorded his visit in a short memo [source], dated 6th January 1937.

We know a little more about the two sign-off names on the formal opening announcement:

• "H.N. Phillips" (Harold Newell) was Bapco's Chief Accountant, and thus he is likely to have been the golf section committee's Treasurer at the time.
• "Carl Pfefferkorn" was head of Bapco’s Transport Department (in September 1937), and likely to have been the golf section committee's Chairman at the time. He joined Bapco in 1935 and left in 1938. It appears the Pfefferkorns were a keen golfing family, as intimated by The Diaries entry for 4th April 1936:
  In afternoon went up to the golf course where Manama was playing Muharraq & then to a big tea party at the Skinners. Met new American woman, Mrs Peppercorn, a large showy female who knows all about golf. I rather liked her. A good party at the Skinners."
  Loch's memo details the name of the person who made the very first shot at Awali after its formal opening - Bapco's Resident Manager Mr. Edward A. Skinner. Loch highlights the "words of commendation" by Skinner for Pfefferkorn (see this document (page 7) regarding his arrival (obituary).

 

 

 

The words of commendation for Pfefferkorn implies that he was instrumental in the original design and construction of our current course. Two others are thought to have been as significant in the creation of our Rifa'a Valley course:

• Colin Pendrell-Smith: This article, on the occasion of his retirement from Bapco in 1958 highlights him as having been an avid golfer amongst many other things, whilst the earliest known reference stating that he designed the course was in a article by Committee member Harry Carrier, written at the time of his retirement in 1977.
• Dr. Robert A. Kennedy (Bapco's Chief Medical Officer): This page, produced for the 40th Bahrain Open in 2003, mentions that Kennedy helped to design our Rifa'a Valley course (see photo).

The original nine holes was laid in the area of the current back nine, but no map of it or a scorecard showing its length have been located. One can still see some steps up to one of the original tees on "Hill 69", as well as the edge of an old green about 50yd west of Hole 11's 150yd marker post. Also, prior to 2018 (when Bapco installed a buried Saudi Arabia to Refinery 30" pipeline and flattened the area), you could also see the outline of a green 50yd north of Hole 12's tee. When Mohammed Habal was interviewed (in 2008) he mentioned that there were holes in the Range area playing in the direction of the Clubhouse.

But let us back-track a little... Included within the Bapco Annual Reports (that were forwarded to the Political Agent from 1934 to 1946) was a "General map of Bahrein" showing Bapco's installations. These maps can be used to track the rise of Awali Township and our current course at Rifa'a Valley as follows (where available):

• 21st May 1934 [source]: Location of a "Permanent Camp", and the ' 8" ' crude oil line that still extends across the course (across the 12th, along the left side of the 13th, past the green of the 14th hole and beyond), and originally terminated at the Sitra pump station to the offshore loading platform.
• 1936 [source]: "Permanent Camp", "AC Camp", "Hospital" and a power line (solid single line with solid dots alternating each side of line) installed between the refinery and Awali. This is the power line that still crosses our course and gives us hassle, a few metres south of the Clubhouse. "AC Camp" refers to Houses 101 to 136, "AC" meaning air-cooled, an innovative ducted cool air system, not available to the houses built earlier at the Upper Camp. The AC Camp's location is shown to the west of the Manama Road, on top of the previous Awali Township nine-hole golf course.
• 1937 [source]: More detail for Awali, location of the "Crematorium Parcel 11" and adds the ' 3" condensed water' pipe across the course next to the power line, but shows no reference to the Rifa'a Valley golf course.
     As of August 2020, a remnant of this water line still protrudes through the fairway surface on the right side of the 9th fairway, a few inches north of the tarmac road. Also, the first two pages of the Awali Newsletter May 1987 are relevant. The very last sentence of page 2 is interesting - perhaps there was a time when this water line was fully above the surface.
• 1938 [source]: shows considerably more detail within Awali, bears the words "Golf Club" & "Golf Course" referring to our current course, but no indications of the course's boundaries.

Returning the land reservation for Awali's initial nine-hole course... The opening of the new course at the beginning of 1937 was made in advance of any formal land reservation request. To correct this, in September 1939, Bapco's GM, M.H. Lipp was the acting Chief Local Representative. He instigated a series of communications to seek formal land reservation, for "Recreational and Agricultural use":

• 24th Sept 1939: CLR to BPA (British Political Agent) covering letter [source], detailed co-ordinates [source] and map [source]. This map is not a highly accurate scale drawing, and the features on it must be regarded as being shown in approximate positions. Its main locators are "Triangulation Station B-2" and the exact distances of this from "Triangulation Station No. 1 - Origin of grid system", atop Jebel Dukhan, the sizing of 6000' x 4000' and with a northern boundary at the power line.
• 28th Sept 1939: BPA to Sheikh (via the Adviser to the Bahrain Government ABG, Belgrave) letter [source].
• 27th Jan 1940: Sheikh (via Adviser to Bahrain Government) to British Political Agent letter of no objection [source]. More than two years after play started ... but that still was not the end of it. It seems the BPA never forwarded the Sheikh's approval:
• 17th Sept 1940: Dr. R.A. Kennedy, now the Chief Local Representative, sends a letter of reminder [source] to the BPA.
• 28th Sept 1940: CLR to BPA letter; "received no reply I am proceeding" [source].

 

 

 

 

 

The General Map of Bahrein that accompanied Bapco's Annual Report (created in early 1940) for year 1939 [source] now shows the land reservation boundaries: Location of the "Parcel 23" land reservation matching the map forwarded by Bapco on 24th Sept 1939. The land reservation plot was far larger than that needed for a nine-hole golf course. It is unknown exactly what "agricultural use" was made within the plot, or exactly where. However, if you wander through the scrub east of Hole 15's fairway, you can discover the remains of the several date palm trees.

The expansion of the course from 9 to 18 holes is recorded by John Gornall, a long-serving Bapco employee who retired in 1965, and who was also the Club's President. At that time he wrote ""Some memories of Bapco", which contain the statement (page 27):
To formally document this course expansion, a second (somewhat belated) land reservation request was made by M.H. Lipp, the Acting Chief Local Representative, this time addressing only "recreational" usage:

• 2nd Feb 1941: CLR to BPA (British Political Agent) covering letter [source], detailed co-ordinates [source] and map [ source] showing the new Parcel 28 north of the previous Parcel 23.
• 13th Feb 1941: BPA to Sheikh (via the Adviser to the Bahrain Government ABG, Belgrave) letter [source]
• 3rd July 1941: Sheikh to CLR (via ABG) letter of no objection [source]
• 5th July 1941: BPA to CLR letter of no objection [source].

 

 

 

 

 

The General Map of Bahrein that accompanied Bapco's end-of-year Annual Reports for year 1940 through 1946 now bear the limits of the land reservation for both the land south (Parcel 23) and north (Parcel 28) of the power line: the land for our 18-hole course.

• 1940 [source]: this extends the boundaries of the golf course reservation, showing a new northern boundary. The reservation now includes the land north of the power line, extending to the Awali-Sitra Road.
• Maps for 1941, 1943, 1944, and 1945 add no further golf-related information. However, the map for 1946 [source] is reproduced with the best quality.

If we overlay this 1946 map on top of a contemporary Google Earth satellite photo, we see that the extremities of the "recreational" reservation extending well beyond the current limits of our course, especially to the south and east.

Our Rifa'a Valley course has seen many design changes since 1937. Back then, it was a flat and barren. Since becoming 18 holes, some significant changes have been the:

• Abandoning the holes to the right (west) of the current 10th and 11th fairways, and the reversal of the original front and back nines to the current back and front nines. It is not known with certainty in which year these two changes occurred. However, there are a couple of clues for the nines-reversal. The picture here was included in the 21st June 1956 edition of The Islander, with a caption stating:
  MAKING GREENS - desert style. At work on the new green which will lengthen the 18th hole on Bapco Golf Course by 50 yards or so.
  The photo was taken looking towards the current 9th green and the south-west, and shows the road, power lines and tree line to the left of the current 10th fairway. Following later is the tantalizing entry in The Islander of 11th September 1958, which may relate to the course front/back nines reversal:
  The new golfing season opens on Saturday 27th September with a new course layout.
  Putting these two together, is seems reasonable to deduce that the nines were reversed at the beginning of the 1958/59 season.
• Planting of trees. All the trees are hand planted. The oldest tree is likely to be the one nearest the clubhouse entrance, probably planted in 1952/53, and the oldest on the course likely to be those on the left side of the current 10th fairway.
• Lengthening or shortening of holes: revised tee and green locations (e.g. our current 6th green moved further and upward). These changes were not only attempts to make the course more interesting, but also to meet the requirements of the R&A with regard to lengths and pars. We have no accurate records of hole lengths prior to 1966, which was the first year where the Bahrain Open programme included a course map.
• Filling-in of off-fairway bunkers. In days gone by, there used to be sand bunkers constructed outside of fairway lines. These were filled in to become depressions with ridges rather than sand bunkers (e.g. current 5th, 9th, 10th, 13th, 17th, 18th).
• Addition of bunkers to add challenge (e.g. that at the front of the 5th green was added for the 1965/66 season).
• Change of playing order for the front nine in September 1967 - before this, our current 7th used to be the 1st.
• Cancellation of "Ladies Tees", decided at the AGM of June 1982. Probably, this is one of the biggest decisions ever made by the Committee, and one that has caused discussion and disagreement ever since. Rita Field (March 2008) advised:
  The reason for this change was that two men, Ian Denver and Barry Potter, argued and convinced the Committee that the Gray Mackenzie match play Knockout Competition was flawed when a pair of men played a pair of ladies, as each pair of players was playing a different course. It is believed that this may have been due to the fact that Ian Denver and Barry Potter were beaten in the final of 1977/78 by Sheila Farrelly and Lilias Picken, and again in the final of 1978/79 [by Sheila Farrelly and Lilias Picken], and again in the final of 1980/81 [by Paddy Goodwin and Moira Thompson].
  
     We have only one example of the ladies scorecard for the dedicated ladies tees, dated 10th September 1977, which shows that all holes except 4, 10 & 14 had ladies tees. The ladies course length was 5063m (5537yds), whilst the gents course length was 5745m (6283yds) at that time.
     The location of the ladies tees is still evident in many locations today - for example, at the beginning of the 13th fairway, to the left of the path rising to the 14th tee etc. Here is an aerial photo from the early/mid 60s showing the ladies tees of (current) Holes 8, 9 & 16.
• Abandonment of internal out-of-bounds in favour of "lateral water" at the beginning of the 1988/89 season, and the subsequent reversal of this at the beginning of the 2003/04 season.
• Raising of "Jackson's Folly" Hole 6 green (in 1992) so that it was visible from the tee. Previously it was a blind shot, assisted by an aiming pole.
• Introduction of additional Championship Tees for use in the Bahrain Open - our current Championship Tees commenced with Hole 3 in 1994. The abandonment of the old "Eagle's Nest" tee happened at the beginning of the 1965/66 season, moving to its current Hole 5 tee location. This location was built as the Championship Tee for the 2nd Bahrain Open in 1965.
• Repositioning of Hole 14's tee from half-way up the path to the top of the path (1993). Previously, the tee location created a blind shot over the ridge, assisted by an aiming pole (the photo here is dated 1st April 1966).
• Removal of fairway bunker ropes during 2018/19 season for those bunkers further than 100yds from the green. The argument for this was safety, albeit that no reports of an actual injury were known.
• Removal of internal out-of-bounds between the 10th and 18th, to the left of the 11th, and to the left of the 13th. Tightening of the out-of-bounds line beyond the 18th green in the 2018/19 season, advancing it forward from the roadside to the near side of the practice greens.
• Installation of on-course toilets (for the beginning of the 2015/16 & 2019/20 seasons), and on-course groundsmen's huts.

See the history of course hole length changes since 1966 (the year they first appeared in the Bahrain Open programme) here.

 

 

 

 

 

Although not universal, at AGC we choose to both number and name our course holes. Names are known to have been in use since at least November 1961. Here is an explanation:

1. Good Fore - Consider yourself good at golf if you can routinely hole-out in four. Spelling was never our forte, sorry forté.
2. Needle's Eye - The green of this par-4 has close bunkers to the left and right. Big hitters may go for it, especially with a favourable wind. So are you feeling lucky? Enough to reach the green from the tee? Well are you? You have got to drive very accurately, to avoid the bunkers.
3. Long Carry - The direction of the hole is the same as that of the north-westerly prevailing winds, providing an enhanced carry distance in the air and roll distance on the fairway. In The Islander of November 15th 1961, there is a reference to a previous name of "Good Carry".
4. Cardiac - After completing Hole 3, in summer 45C temperatures, one may be perspiring. It does not get easier, as one is faced with a steep path and steps up to Hole 4's tee. Previously, the Hole was known as "Cardiac Hill" (in the 1960's), and one reference to "Cardiac Arrest" has also been spotted. It is unknown when the current shortened name became prevalent.
5. Eagle's Nest - So named because of the position of the original tee high up on the outcrop, a player able to survey the whole course from this altitude. The tee occasionally comes back into service for the social cross-country. During the 2014/15 season, the first on-course toilet facility was built a few yards forward of the old tee. Although not formally named, "Eagles Rest" comes to mind.
6. Jackson's Folly - The Hole's name honours George Jackson (winner of the 1955/56 Kingsbury Cup). There is a reference to Jackson's Folly in the February 6th 1963 issue of The Islander. It is believed that the name comments on the original position of the green, which used to be lower down and couple of metres closer to the tee, resulting in a blind tee shot and the need for an aiming pole. Perhaps Jackson was instrumental in choosing this original green location.
      However, in the summer of 1992, the green was elevated a couple of metres and located a couple of metres further from the tee, bringing the green into view from the tee.
7. Old First - As mentioned above, there was "a new course layout" was initiated on 27th September 1958. For this layout, the first hole was a par 5, from a tee located about 10yds to the west of our current 6th green. This layout lasted until the 1966/67 season, changing in the 1967/68 season when the old 1234...9 became the current 7891..6. To acknowledge the change, the new Hole 7 was renamed (previous name unknown) to "Old First". Initially, Hole 7 remained as a 518yds par 5 with the tee on the ridge top. The tee location moved to its current location and became a par-4 at the beginning of the 1985/86 season.
       Additionally, a palm tree, donated by member Ian Mann, was planted on the location of the old Hole 1 tee during the summer of 1986. The palm tree prompted the Committee to reconsider the Club's logo, and decided on the current logo so as to hint at the history of the course - if you know it. The tree trunk of the new (current) logo is colored black as a hat-tip to the original reason for Bapco's and the Club's existence. But the 1986 tree died in about 2013. The Captain orgainized a replacement soon after, but this second tree died in 2019. The 2020/21 season Committee decided to not try a third tree, instead re-incarnating the location's original use by installing a Championship Tee for the current Hole 7.
8. Lewis's - The Lewis family (Bill, his wife Queenie and daughter Sandra) were frequent winners of Competitions in the late 50's, 60s and 70s. Bill was also a member of the Committee through these three decades. Barry Potter provided the following (in July 2009):
   Bill Lewis was an electrician with Bapco - he had many theories about the game of golf & a phenomenal memory! One of his theories was that the 8th tee (current) would be brought down to grade level (currently it was about 4-5 ft higher) 'this will tend to eliminate slicing. Unfortunately this didn't happen & the tee was reinstalled to its original position & the name of the hole changed to "Lewis's".
9. Long Drag - Not the pose smokers take before choosing their club at the tee, it is simply named through being the longest hole on the Course at 541 yards, 574 yards from the Championship teeing ground, and into the prevailing wind usually.
10. Scarff's - Edward A. Scarff was a prominent member of the Committee in the 40s and 50s, as both Chairman and President. He won the Kingsbury Cup in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953 and 1955 and donated the Scarff Cup in 1956. It is unknown when the hole was named in his honour, but it was probably at Ed's retirement in May 1961 after 20 years service with Bapco.
11. Hill 69 - There is a ridge at the elbow of this par-4 dogleg. Hearsay (2010) from members has it that it is either named following a Bapco mapping survey, or because the ridge's shape reminded someone of Hill 69 in a wartime campaign (but an internet search reveals two World War II campaigns with a "Hill 69" - in Italy and in Japan).
12. Twin Sisters - Designed to irritate those who cannot pitch their tee shot beyond two parallel ridges across the width of the fairway. With a distance of 160 yards, this hole encourages accurate use of mid or long irons. You can easily land in bunkers at the side of the green, to make things even more entertaining.
13. Parker's - The Hole was renamed in July 2020 to honour the memory of and contribution to the Club of John Parker, who died whilst playing on the course in May 2020. At the time of the renaming, a large flower container was sited on the exact location at the hole's tee. John served as Sponsorship Member for two years, and entertained with voice and guitar on many occasions. Prior to this renaming, the Hole was named "Baker's Dozen" (this was mentioned in The Islander of 13th February 1963), obvious to those educated in U.K. But do you know the origin? In 13th century England, there was a law for bakers on short-changing customers. To ensure severe punishment was avoided, loss of parts of one's anatomy etc., bakers provided 13 loaves for the price of 12.
14. Missile Creek - Originally known as "The Creek" due to occasional running water following flash floods, the Committee considered that the Hole should be renamed more appropriately for the beginning of the 1991/92 season - due to installations that appeared close by in late 1990 during the first Gulf War.
15. Graveyard - Avoid a draw with your tee shot, as you may land in the small out-of-bounds graveyard which is especially troublesome when teeing-off from the 15th Championship tee. Yes, this is a real graveyard. One Member, who was cremated in Bahrain, is known to have his ashes scattered there (Mr John Gaunt, in July 1966).
16. McGregor's - Peter McGregor was a past Captain, winner of the Bahrain, Saudi and Kuwait Opens in the same year (1967), and a member of the Committee at various times from 1955/56 to 1971/72. He retired from Bahrain in March 1982, and to pay tribute to his more than 25 years dedication to the Club, the 16th hole, (previously name unknown), was renamed to "McGregor's". Ex-Captain Mike Cowell mentioned (19/3/09):
    The choice of the 16th probably had something to do with the fact that he visited the 16th in the night and built a new bunker close to the green on the right. This was done during the season, I think the 1971/72 season when he was Captain, and was quite a surprise for players in the next Competition.
    Almost without doubt, he was the most prominent golfer in the Club's history (and in squash too, being a Bapco Squash Section Champion). Certainly he would have been a fount of knowledge for this tome, but he died around 2003.
17. The Moat - Decisions, decisions: The green is protected by a large water hazard (becoming a "penalty area and no-play zone" as of 1/1/2019), often resulting in a tactical choice for attacking the green with your second shot - lay up or go for it?
18. Khalas - Arabic word: Stop-it! Enough! Early articles in The Islander spell it "Khalos".

There are no caddies available for hire at AGC now, but there used to be. One gets the impression that, in the 40s, 50s and 60s, no player would dare be seen carrying his own bags (this was before the invention of golf trolleys). A specific mention of absence of caddies appears in the second edition of The Islander, May 1954: The photo here was taken in the 1940s, looking west from a location on the Clubhouse side of our current car park exit. Of note is the 3" water pipe and the power line from the Refinery to Awali Township.

It seems that, prior to 1957, players would choose a caddy and pay him direct, paying a sum the player considered reasonable. This was then tightened up: from The Islander, 21st November 1957: The Gulf Rupee (Rs or Rps), at the introduction of the Bahraini Dinar on Saturday 14th October 1965, as reported in The Islander of 29th September 1965, had a value of 100 fils. Some players had their favourite caddy, and made attempts to reserve them in advance. This led to problems and was stopped. From The Islander, 22nd January 1959: Also, there is a reference to caddies in the 30th Bahrain Open review article:
Sultan Ahmed reminisced (on 4/5/08) about his time as a caddy (as amended by the Author for clarity):
Caddies were still available up to the late 1970s. Ali Musbah remembers a slightly different reason for the demise of the caddies:
Whilst on the subject, AGC was the location of the first ever motorized golf buggy in Bahrain: from The Islander of 25th August 1965:

The Club advertises itself as "open every day except December 25th". However, during the cooler months - November through to April - the vagaries of Bahrain's climate means the course sometimes suffers closures due to rain. The heaviest downpour that can be remembered was in late 1988 with rain continuing over many days and causing the course to be closed for 6 weeks. The flooding extended from the left side of the 3rd, unbroken all the way to the Range. This event is commemorated by the "high water mark" attached to the rear side of the 9th's tee box.
   On occasions, members of the Club have asked the Committee To explore the possibility of doing this, the Course Member (in 2017) laid out a grass test green next to the Range. However, this proved difficult to maintain, with a resultant decision to not proceed further with the course. However, difficulty is not the only reason. After heavy rain, the greens tend to recover/dry-out first. But the course is still left with a flooded 3rd fairway for a couple more days.
The following is a list of historical items on the site of our current course, but were not created for the purpose of golf. This list is certainly not complete... it's just waiting for you to stumble across the remains of something else:

• Evidence of the area's arable farming history:
  The area of the current course was once used for arable wheat farming. In seasons where there is continuing rain, the wheat reappears in the rough, and is seen most abundantly between in the rough separating the 10th and 18th fairways. In the 2006/07 season, during the Captaincy of "washout Watts" where 14 playing days were postponed due to rain, there was enough ears to see it rippling in the breeze for some weeks.
• The farm in the days before Bapco arrived:
  Member Abdulla Al Ghatam (on 30/6/08) provided the following insight into days before oil was developed:
  My Great-Grandfather owned a farm in the area of the current 5th fairway. His big house was on the elbow of the fairway. The house fell into ruin after his death in 1904, and now only the rubble remains, causing us golfing problems. The remains of the wall that demarked the north boundary of the farm can be seen crossing the 5th fairway. If you follow this line into the rough (on the left side of the fairway), you may see some more stones – these are the remains of the servants quarters, and any dark coloured stones are the remains from the kitchen cooking area. The depression on the left side of the fairway (at the elbow near the big tree) is the location of the well which provided the farm with water.
     In the 1930s there was the "Bahrain General Survey" which was to survey and register land ownership throughout Bahrain. Bahrainis were given a period of 10 years in which to make a land claim – people could say they owned the land without any prior documented proof (provided no one else argued). Unfortunately my family did not make a claim within this 10 year period. However, we tried to claim ownership from Bapco in the 1960s, but this was unsuccessful without the registration from the General Survey.
     The graveyard of hole 15 (Graveyard) is for the Al Fadhala family (distant relatives of the Al Ghatam family), who had a house on the top of the ridge behind hole 14 (Missile Creek).
• Rectangular excavations of various sizes:
  There are at least 12 rectangular excavations, with side lengths varying from about 2m to 10m and which pre-date the course. These can be most easily seen by zooming in to the two digitized aerial photographs. The most obvious of these are on the 7th fairway – on the right side about 100 yards beyond the fairway start line, and on the left side 50 yards before the left-hand water hazard. They appear as dark shadows, as the excavation has been filled with looser sand (darker than fairway rock) which collects water and promotes vegetation growth. Local hearsay and other evidence provides three possible explanations for these... are they
  1. Farm plots where a specific type of crop was grown or where livestock were coralled, not needing a large area?
  2. Gun placements constructed during World War II to provide protection to the Bapco refinery, or possibly to the nearby airbase north-east of the course on the rim rock?
  3. Water storage structures? The November 29th 1967 issue of The Islander includes a photo of a rectangular excavation of about 10m x 6m with the explanation:
     " ...the remains of the huge water well which served the inhabitants of the ancient buried city found last week in the desert."
  This author believes water storage is the most likely explanation. By the way, click on the photo here to see a wealth of interesting features from the early 1960s - for example, the "volcano crater" design of the 18th green, in the days when there were no adjacent bunkers or entrance gap.
• The old Awali – Sitra Road
  On the left side of the first fairway there are various patches of tarmac. This was part of the original Awali (starting at the main roundabout) to Sitra road, in the days before the new road (used, for example, before Isa Town was built in the 1960s).
• The Bapco Crematorium
  Looking to your left from the 5th tee, about 20yds beyond the road is a flattened area. This is the site of the Bapco crematorium, present from 1937 to 1988.

 

In common with every other golf club, AGC's clubhouse is where, having got steamed-up on the course, one lets it off. At Jebel Dukhan, and at Awali Township, the "Bapco Club" recreational facilities were adjacent to the course (it is thought there was no specific clubhouse building at either of these two locations). However, from 1937 to the end of 1966, players needed to be of a more placid, heat-tolerant character as there was no air-conditioned facility for post-golf recovery...

• The earliest recorded document that includes a reference to a construction at the present course is the map that accompanied Bapco's Annual Report for 1938 [source]. Providing you have an eagle eye seeing beyond the lack of clarity, a small blob with the words "Golf Club" above it is visible (at the intersection of the north-south road and the east-west power line).
• However, this "blob" does not represent the presence of a palatial building, and the average golfer would also be disinclined to afford this a description of "club house". The installation was a storage shack for groundsmen equipment, with a covered area where refreshment cool boxes/water was stored (the photo here was taken in 1952 at the start of the survey for the first "proper" clubhouse).
• The storage shack was replaced towards the end of 1952, with a more substantial building (the colour photo here is from 1957). The design (drawing dated 8/6/1952) was U-shaped: (looking west) the left side was dedicated to gents locker room/toilet, in the centre was a small lockable bar area, and the right side had a the ladies locker room/toilet (⅔ the size of the gents) with a greenkeeper store at the front of the right side, its access door being on the outer north wall. But no air-conditioning. This building forms the west half of our current clubhouse building.
• The first enhancement to the clubhouse was by the addition of a shaded terrace area, supported by metal poles, towards the east/18th green - the design drawing is dated 26/8/1958. This terrace area is now the main internal area of the Clubhouse. With the lack of air-conditioning, players were still required to exercise more patience than today's players. On occasions this was alleviated though, as described in The Islander:
  (12th December 1957): The Christmas Hamper competition – intending competitors are asked to make their own arrangements regarding partners and play-off. Following completion of the competition a "19th" hole will be set up in the Awali Hall from 5 to 7pm.

   

  The photo here was taken in September 1963, at the season-opening President vs Chairman team match play.
• Towards the end of 1966 (design drawing dated 10/10/1966) there was a major enhancement, including air-conditioning. The shaded terrace was blocked-in, with 4 full-width and 1 half-width window each side of a solid white door on the east wall. The locker rooms and greenkeepers store were replaced by a kitchen and an office, the greenkeepers store door now becoming the clubhouse's main entrance. The photo here is from the mid-1960s - an extract from an aerial photo - with the aircraft located over the bunkers of the current 15th fairway approximately.
      These major improvements, just about 30 years after the course was opened, now provided an air-conditioned environment for post-golf activities, as indicated by the programme of the 3rd Bahrain Open (March 1966) including:
  Thursday 3rd March 1966 – 1800 – "19th hole" Bapco Club
  whereas the programme of the 4th Bahrain Open (March 1967) includes:
  Thursday 2nd March 1967 – 1800 – "19th hole" Golf Clubhouse.
  But two steps forward, one step back: there was now no external shaded area.
• The next addition was a rear extension that enlarged the bar (in July 1968), and provided a back door on the west wall. Next - after a hiatus of nearly 3 years - a shaded terrace was added (design drawing dated 13/8/69), complete with an elevated "balcony" row of viewing seats. Meanwhile, those that could only afford the cheaper tickets were catered for in the stalls with an unshaded area nearer the action.
• Further changes were the filling in of the half-width window and nearest full-size window on either side of the white wooden door, and the change to a glass-panelled door. This enabled the display of some additional Honours Boards either side of the door. It appears that the original Honours Boards were installed at the same location (that is where they were in 1977) and were thus hung in front of the window curtain.
     To allow a greater number of players and spectators to enjoy the terrace, the fixed seating was removed, and the whole terrace construction made more permanent with a change to cement archways rather than the previous scaffold poles.
     A later addition (date unknown) was the entrance lobby and accompanying store/electrical room, as it is today.
• The unshaded part of the terrace was doubled in size and its concrete floor replaced with tiling in September 2017 as part of the preparations for the Club's 80th Anniversary celebratory event (27th/28th October 2017). The photo here is what it looks like today (Sept 2020).

• (12th September 1957): For the time being a Golf bus will run in the evening only, leaving Awali at 5:15pm and returning from the Club house at 7:00pm. Normal bus schedules will be resumed nearer the end of the month.
• (8th January 1959): The Golf course bus service will be discontinued from Saturday January 10 because little use has been made of the facility recently. Golfers requiring transport during normal working hours can use the Awali-Refinery Circular bus. There will be no service at other times.

 

Competitive play is at the heart of every golf club's formal activities. Singles play, team play and inter-club play have been regular events on AGC's season's fixture list throughout its history, as well as a variety of social competitions, some of which are played distant from the words of the R&A. Things have not always been the way things are done nowadays.


One of the biggest differences in the early decades was as a result of many players being shift workers. The downside of shift working was the inability to attend a competition at the weekend. To accommodate this difficulty, players would be required to play within a fixed period of about a week, organising their own partners, as described in The Islander:

• (October 1954): One other thing: as an experiment it was decided to alter the times of starting and finishing of competitions and accordingly the qualifying rounds of the Deacon Shield and the Whitbread Tankard Trophy Competitions are arranged to start on Thursday and end on Wednesday. If this arrangement seems satisfactory, it will be extended.
• (17th January 1957): Now that competitive golf is restricted to the weekends...
• (10th July 1958): The Golf Club AGM was a huge success ... Among the main items passed ... All stroke-play Competitions will be over a seven-day period.

Because of the quality of amateur play in the typical golf club, including AGC, competitive players are allocated to a grouping or flight, all in the interests of sharing prizes amongst a greater number than just the competent few. Originally, there were three flights, but divided as Gents Flight-1, Gents Flight-2 and Ladies Flight. In 1960, the handicap upper limit for Gents Flight-1 was 15. The use of a dedicated Ladies Flight remained in place until the 1962/63 season, as reported in The Islander of 19th July 1961:
   In recent years, players have become accustomed to lavish prizes at most of our weekend competitions, courtesy of our generous, external sponsors. This was not always the case.
   In the early years, with the records the Club has, external sponsors were limited to BOAC(BA), BMMI (Whitbread Tankard Trophy), Careras (Piccadilly Putter), Foster Wheeler, Parfum Carven, Schlumberger and then Kanoo in the 1960s. Part of this was due to the restriction that sponsorship could not be accepted from a beverage-only company. BMMI were thus acceptable due to their greater range of operations.
   However, it was in the 1970s that external sponsorship became noticeably more prevalent, the Club gaining long-term sponsorship from African & Eastern (White Horse Trophy 1972), Middle East Airways (1972-82), Ahmed Mansour Al Ali (1973-82), Gulf Air (1975-94), Alba (1975-98) and Chrysler Zayani (1978-90). These were joined in the 1980s by Airmech (1981-2018), Regency Hotel (1982-95), Hempel Paints (1988-2014) and A.A.Nass (1991-2016).

The majority of competitions that we hold are stroke play format, with "medal" and "Stableford" scoring format over 18 holes dominating. Accuracy of handicap is essential for a fair assessment of "record" holders. Assuming this accuracy, the current medal/net record is held by Greg Barlow with net 55 in the 1988/89 season Consolation Bowl. The current Stableford record holder, from available records, is Isa Borshaid - 48 points in the BDF Desert Challenge in the 2001/02 season.

Inter-club matches have always been on the Club's annual calendar, typically with a home and away venue scheduled either each year, or alternating annually. The earliest record found for this form of play is from The Diaries:

• (Wednesday 19th February 1936) ...In afternoon we had a tennis & Bridge party augmented by the twenty or so people who had been playing in the Golf tournament, the club against the Jebel.
• (Friday 3rd April 1936) ...and then we drove up to the golf course to see the match between Manama & the Jebel - which ended in a draw.

Later, the Manama "Club" expanded with the addition of tennis courts to become "The Gymkhana Club", and matches were still on the calendar: from The Islander:

• (27th November 1958): A very enjoyable and closely fought match between Bapco golfers and The Gymkhana Club took place last week and resulted in a Bapco victory 6-2. A return match is planned for later on in the season.
• (22nd January 1959): ...At home, Bapco's 2nd team defeated The Gymkhana Club 8-3.

However, in more recent times, the one rivalry that stands out is that between AGC and Bahrain Golf Club. BGC's early players were often caddies at AGC, and opened their course in 1962. It was not long before a match ensued between the two clubs, making front-page headlines in The Islander on 20th June 1962: (See here for the names of the players in this photo). The event received external sponsorship in the 1977/78 season and was renamed to the "Crown Prince Cup", this leading to a succession of trophies. on the occasion of the announcement of a new Crown Prince. With the format being off-scratch match play, BGC's top golfers, themselves forming the Bahrain National golf team, have outshone the abilities of AGC's players over the decades. Except on two occasions that is, with AGC achieving a win in the 1991/92 season and the 2017-18 season where glory was achieved, playing at home, on the first play-off hole.

 

National pride is something that seems to affect the natives of some nations more than others. Perhaps it was due to this that another match play contest was inaugurated: the "St. Andrews Challenge Golf Shield" against the Bahrain Caledonian Society, a.k.a. the Callies, as reported in The Islander of 12th April 1956: The inaugural event was won by Bapco 11-to-6.

International inter-club match play has been seen on our events calendar from the earliest days of our current course. The earliest reference to this is to be found in the "Some memories of Bapco" by John Gornall: Visiting an overseas club and hosting a return match was well under way in the 1950s. An example is that of competition with Umm Said (becoming Mesai'eed) Golf Club in Qatar. The Islander includes the following:

• (April 1954) A team of 8 players from Qatar were entertained at Awali last Friday... singles were played in the morning and foursomes in the afternoon. Qatar proved themselves worthy opponents, defeating Bapco by 6 games to 4.
• (May 1954): An invitation was received from Qatar Petroleum Company's golf club to send a team from Bapco on 14th May... caddies were not available because of Ramadhan, but some of Bapco's team were lucky enough to have their bags carried by friends of their opponents. Match drawn.

The social aspect of international inter-club matches was always the priority. This was enhanced due to the tradition of the hosts accommodating the visitors at their own homes, with some long-lasting friendships as a result, despite (or because of?) "nobbling" being an integral part of the proceedings. However, exchanges were limited to overseas Clubs that themselves had sand courses. With the arrival of grass courses in the Gulf region, the interest in sand-course play has, quite reasonably, declined: AGC's last international inter-club match play was in 2017.

Other international rivalries have come and gone too: against Ahmadi (Kuwait), Al-Ghazal (Abu Dhabi), Aramco (Saudi Arabia), Dunes GC (BAe, Saudi Arabia), Das Island (UAE) and Dukhan GC (Qatar).

Inter-club match play associated with international travel has been a source of memorable events. Two good examples of this (that someone has been brave enough to document) may be found in the history of the Gunn-Law Trophy and the February 2017 Hindmarsh Trophy.

Social competitions are an integral part of AGC's events calendar, allowing the serious to be a little less serious, or the shy to be a little less shy. With the format being at the whim of the organiser, they have been the scene of some strange "golf". Here are a few examples:

• "Cross-Country": To relieve the boredom of going round the normal course yet again, the Cross-Country has given players an opportunity to see things from a different angle (assuming your normal play is something approaching handicap-worthy). Pairing different tee locations with not-the-normal green, some of the holes are quite daunting.
     There is a "standard" cross-country course comprising 12 holes, with their own stroke indexes. The only hat-tip to the route is that a mat may be used in the rough. The route proceeds in a clockwise direction and, teeing off from the old Eagle's Nest tee location, may even provide an opportunity for your longest ever drive (towards the 8th green).
• "Zallaq Beach to 18th Green": Knowing the modern Bahrain, this is probably the most eyebrow raising of social event formats... a cross-country with a direct length of about 11,600yds, for those with real stamina - none of this molly-coddling with a cross-country around a silly little golf course of 6,300yds. It is known to have run in at least three years (1960, 1965, and 1968). This started with a tee-off at Bapco's beach at Zallaq in the days before the land was re-allocated for the Sofitel hotel - the event thus saw the first ever tee-off from grass in Bahrain. Here is the Conditions of Play for the 9/5/68 outing of this competition-and-a-half. The Islander subsequently reported on the event on 15th May 1968, as follows:
  Last weekend, sailors and sun-worshippers on their way to Zellaq must have been reminded of the old ditty, "mad dogs and Englishmen..." as they past teams of golfers brandishing hickory shafts and generally their oldest clubs as the ball was blasted all the way from Zellaq to the 18th hole of Awali Golf course. The teams (consisting of 3 golfers each) chose a divergency of routes, all except one, heading for the north side of Awali. The exception to this rule was Messrs Smyth, McKerracher and Clarke, who aimed for the incinerator through Sakhir and Tank Battery 2. This was the wrong way, as was later proven. The first team home was Nielson, Davis and Jones, who took 99 strokes and they were followed by the aforementioned "wrong routers", who shot a 96. Other groups arrived with higher scores until McRae, Turner and Elks came in with a staggering 84, and that was that, everybody thought, conceding victory to this trio. Penny Martin and her partner then arrived with too many strokes to count, but a special mention must be made of this team as one Member had to retire thereby disqualifying the side, but the other two carried on and finished the course. Well done! Only one team was out in the gathering gloom.
     Then they were spotted approaching The Lodge, Bowler, Carrier and Potter, and on reaching the 18th green found themselves left with a 15 foot putt. Bowler stepped up and stroked it towards the hole, and it travelled 3 feet! Words failed him, which is surprising to say the least. They finished the winners with a 79 ! Phenomenal ! What else could be said?
  Sadly, a re-run is not expected any day soon.

 

• "Day-Night": Yes, one can play golf at night on a course that is not floodlit. And the average participant has found it a great deal of fun, the self-illuminating balls achieving a good impression of tracer bullets. Even as much fun as witnessing those that have lost the plot, impersonating an apoplectic parrot when their ball suffers a malfunction and goes out.
• "John Gunby 3-Club Golf Classic": This is a competition for members of the Awali Football Club, AFC Mubadala. Members of AGC are invited to play as well. It is a three club competition – a putter plus a player’s choice of two other clubs - and was first played for in the 1985/86 season. The record is 35 (par on every hole) on the back nine, achieved in 1990, using a driver, 9-Iron and putter. This record was equalled in 2019, using a driver, pitching wedge and putter, with two birdies (on holes 16 & 18), five pars, and two bogeys. With some players not world-shatteringly good, the nine holes may sometimes take more than 2-1/2 hours.
     In recent seasons, one or two players have chosen to not only attempt to break the record for the John Gunby, but also have played with just a putter so as to make an attempt on the 9-hole putter-only record. This was the case in the 2017/18 season, when a player crashed through the long standing record of 54 strokes, with a score of 45 strokes, and then to beat his own record the following year with a gross 43.

Awali Golf Club – military visitors

Awali Golf Club has always provided hospitality to military personnel visiting Bahrain for a temporary stay. These were most common in the 1980s and 1990s due to the first and second Gulf wars.

Some military-related reminiscences were provided by Richard Field on 28/08/08:

The "major" competitions that are still competed for today have been on our calendar for many decades. Most of the were in place by 1961, as follows:

• 1935 - Russell Cup: [Date based on circumstantial evidence] presented by Bapco's Chief Local Representative on the occasion of his departure from Bahrain. Originally awarded for aggregate 4-out-5 net scores, then changing to gross scores, then finally to aggregate over 36 holes, the format still used. The current record for the competition is held by Nasser Yacoob, with 134 (68/66 Day1/2) in the 2019/20 season (interestingly, Nasser’s net score was also 68/66 too, which won him the Memorial Trophy).
• 1938 - Kingsbury Cup: Presented by J.A. Moffett, a Socal Vice-President and Bapco's Chairman, to commemorate the surprise death of Socal's President, Kenneth Raleigh Kingsbury, whilst on vacation on a cruise liner in the Panama Canal in November 1937. It has always been awarded to the winner of the Gents Flight-1 off-scratch match play, the winner being lauded with the title "Club Champion".
• 1939 - Deacon Shield: Presented by Bapco to commemorate Charles Wetmore Deacon, who rose through the ranks to become Bapco's Resident Manager in 1937. He had to return to USA due to illness in 1938, and died in 1939. The Deacon Shield was retired and replaced with the Pinhey Cup on the departure of the Club's President, Louis Pinhey, in 1957.
• 1944 - BOAC Cup: Presented by British Overseas Airways for an annual handicapped match play, running near-continuously from 1944 to 2014.
• 1954 - Clemitson Cup: Donated by Richard "Dick" Clemitson on his retirement and departure from Bahrain. Originally there were two Cups - Clemitson Cup for Gents and Clemitson Cup for Ladies. However, the ladies competition was rolled into a single Clemitson Cup for the 1966/67 season. The format has always been aggregate net score, originally based on a points system before becoming simply aggregate net score. Noting that scores are totally dependent on handicap accuracy, from available records (since 1996/67), the record holder is Phil Morris scoring 465/66.4 average in the 1985/86 season.
• 1954 - Ayto Cup: Presented by Arthur Ayto, who joined Bapco in 1938 as an Assistant to the Personnel Manager (Producing). For its first two years, the Trophy was presented to the winner of the "Novices Competition". In the 1956/57 season, a third gents flight was created for match play only, and the Trophy re-allocated, as reported in The Islander:
  (4th April 1957) The Ayto Cup was in previous years the trophy awarded to the winner in the Novices Competition, which was abandoned this season. It is now open to players with handicap 20 to 24.
• 1955 (and earlier) - Foster Wheeler Bowl. It is not known when this Trophy was presented to the Club, only that it has always been presented for gents handicapped match play. The earliest known result is for the 1955/56 season, but it is thought that it was played for in earlier seasons.
• 1956 - Scarff Cup: Donated by Ed Scarff (well in advance of his retirement from Bapco in May 1961), and often referred to as the "Ladies Cup" due to its inscription including the words "Ladies Championship Annual Competition". Since its inception in the 1956/57 season, the trophy has been awarded for ladies handicapped match play.
• 1957 - Pinhey Cup: Beyond the existence of the trophy, "Pinhey" is only mentioned once in the records the Club possesses: namely "L. Pinhey" being the Club's first President, commencing in the 1956/57 season and being recorded on the Honours Board. Louis Alexander Gordon Pinhey, a.k.a. "Lewis Pinhey" was the Assistant Political Agent in Bahrain in 1957. He is believed to have donated the trophy on the occasion of his final departure from Bahrain. The Pinhey Cup replaced the Deacon Shield as the trophy awarded to the winner of the Gents Flight-2 match play.
• 1957 - Bapco Inter-Departmental Trophy: Presented by Bapco and first played for in the 1956/57 season.
• 1958 - O'Sullivan Cup: Advance references to the O'Sullivan Cup were made in The Islander:
  (4th April 1957): The Ayto Cup was in previous years the trophy awarded to the winner in the Novices Competition, which was abandoned this season. It is now open to players with handicap 20 to 24. The ladies will be competing in their own cup for the first time this year.
  (14th April 1958): ...O'Sullivan Cup. This new trophy is open to all the lady golfers only, it is strictly a scratch-play competition, being played from April 16th to 18th.
  The O'Sullivan Cup was donated by Miss Maureen "Paddy" O. O'Sullivan, nurse then matron at Awali Hospital, and retiring from Bapco in 1960.
• 1959 - Memorial Trophy: The Memorial Trophy was originally commissioned as the Hayward Memorial Trophy. It was donated in February 1959 to commemorate two Club members who died in an air crash in October 1957. The format has always been 36 holes net stroke play and the record is held by Bob Bever, with 128 (66/62 Day1/2) in the 1992/93 season.
• 1960 - Watson Salver: Noel Watson, a British chemist who joined Bapco in 1937, donated the "Watson Trophy", later to be referred to as the "Watson Salver" on the occasion of his being posted to work at Caltex in London in October 1959. The competition has always had a bogey format. For many years, the handicap allowance was ¾ and, with this, the record is held by Derek Taylor with +7 in the 1963/64 season. However, nowadays full handicap is used and, and Taylor's record was effectively equalled by Dave Bailey with +9 in the 2013/14 season.
• 1961 - Consolation Bowl: Lieutenant Colonel William Joseph Moody, OBE, MB, BCH, FRCSED, had a very interesting career. He joined Bapco in 1953, donated the Trophy in the 1960/61 season and retired in 1963. He was even the Chairman of The Gymkhana Club for one year.

Four further trophies, regarded as "major" were subsequently inaugurated:

• 1968: Gray Mackenzie Salver: Fourball handicapped match play had been played for many years, but it was only in 1968 that a trophy was awarded to the winners.
• 1987: Bahrain Ladies Open Championship Trophy - presented since the inaugural event, 11th December 1987. The record is held by Emma Boyd, scoring a gross 153 (72/81 Day1/2) in the 20th Ladies Open in December 2007. Emma's 72 is also the Ladies gross record for our normal course.
• 1988: McGregor Award: Inaugurated as an honour to Peter H. McGregor, the award is the gross equivalent of the best aggregate net Clemitson Cup series. The record for this aggregate-best-seven gross scores is held by Bill Finlay (1989/90 season) with 495/70.71 average, and equalled by Ali Musbah and in the 1994/95 season.
• 2003: Bahrain Open Championship Trophy - presented for the first time at the 40th running of the event, 7th March 2003. The competition record is held by Abdulla Sultan Al Hakam (BGC) with a gross 130 (65 each day) in the 31st Open of March 1994. The 18 hole record for the Championship course is held by Daniel Owen with a gross 61, this score being even more amazing as the weather was foul - high winds and rust colored dust - on the day in March 2013.

The Bahrain Open Championship, inaugurated in March 1964, was the first open competition for individual players in the Middle East. The origins of the competition and the excitement of the lead group battles of 1964 and 1967 are highlighted in this article published in Awali Magazine in February 1971. A comprehensive description of its history was published within the Programme for the 25th event in 1983 - see here.

The initiation of the Bahrain Ladies Open Golf Championship was announced in The Gulf Daily News, 2nd December 1987 by Lou Scott, PR Representative: An article about the competition's history was published within the Programme for the 20th event in 2007.

Liz Finlay remembers (on 31/7/08) one highlight of a Ladies Open she took part in as follows:

A visitor, used to playing on a normal grass course, would immediately spot two anomalies on viewing the course: the rock fairways and the oiled-sand "greens". As Club members have a history of actually playing golf, so as to feel a little more entitled to indulge in the facilities of the 19th hole, some rules have always been needed in addition to those of the R&A to make play fair. The Local Rules have developed over the decades, but have always been dominated by rock and sand related entries.
   The Club has no Local Rules from the very early days. The earliest reference known comes from the committee meeting minutes of "The Club" of 11th March 1940. Perhaps, with our course known to have expanded from nine to eighteen holes in that year, the AGC committee wanted the benefit of Manama golf club's experience to create a more appropriate version of the rules.
   The oldest Local Rules that we still possess are for 1963/64 season, just about recognizable as an ancestor of our current rules. Here are a few of the changes that have happened:

• The Islander 18th October 1956: Fairway local rule revision: The attention of all players is drawn to the following revision of Local Rule No. 2, which is effective immediately: To improve a lie on the fairway, the ball may be moved with the club head only, not nearer the hole and not exceeding one club's length, keeping in the same line of flight to the hole.
• 1973: Introduction of AstroTurf mats, 12" square or 12"x24" rectangular allowed, followed in 2001 by a mandate that mats must be circular to stop its use as an alignment aid.
• 1984?: Removal of oiled lines to define the limits of fairway water hazards (the 1972 Rules include it, the 1984 Rules do not).
• 2013: Introduction of "single entity" for the pipelines at the rear of Hole 14, along with associated mandatory drop zones.
• Since 2013, a definition of the teeing ground's location and many other amendments to improve compliance with the R&A's Rules of Golf, or obviate a Committee ruling.

 

With the building of Awali Township, and its "Awali Hall" venue, an end-of-season "Annual Sports Dance" was held. This really was a big bash, as the event acknowledged the sporting achievements of the best of the Bapco Club sporting sections, not just the Golf Section, as described in The Islander:

• (16th May 1957)... "over 1000 people attended the annual sports dance held last weekend in the Club Terrace. The season's sporting trophies were presented ... Clemitson Cup for Ladies Mrs Jean Hayward, Clemitson Cup for Gentlemen: A.N. Hocking, D. Hughes.
• (11th May 1960)...Kingsbury Cup presented to Peter McGregor at the Annual Sports Dance which honours the year's best in sport – Bapco sportsmen and ladies.
• (15th May 1963): For the first time since 1959, the Sports Dance, Bapco Club's main social event of the year, was held in the open air.
• (13th May 1964): Thursday's Sports Dance – prizes presented for badminton, tennis, sailing and golf (O'Sullivan Cup and Kingsbury Cup).

But the Golf Section also held its own Annual Dinner Dance at which the majority of its season-long competition awards were presented:

(12th June 1958): The Awali Golf Club dance held last Thursday at Awali Hall … over 150 golfers and friends were present. For the prizes, Miss M. O. O'Sullivan, President of the Golf Club, presented the season's trophies.

(25th May 1964): Attended by some 300 people, Awali Golf Club held their Annual Dinner Dance and presentation of trophies at Bapco Club on Thursday evening. The popularity of this event as being one of the highlights of the social calendar can be measured by the fact that most of the tickets were sold on the first day of issue.

However, in 1965, all end-of-season AGC awards were made at the AGC Dinner Dance event: the 12th May 1965 edition of The Islander reports on Bapco's Annual Sports Dance and mentions 7 sports, and does not include golf.

Another more recent change is the Dinner Dance's venue: up until 2003, the outside terrace at the Bapco Club was chosen. However, on the afternoon of the appointed day in May 2003, a dust storm developed and tables were hurriedly moved inside. And inside, with air-conditioning is where it has been ever since.

The Annual Dinner Dance lauds the best of the Club's players, with trophy and prize award concentrating on competitions run over the whole season, and even acknowledges those lucky you-know-whats that achieve a hole-in-one. On occasions, an in-perpetuity trophy winner has been presented with a memento to keep. Bill Finlay mentioned in 2008:
The Annual General Meeting formally wraps-up the Club's season. Sometimes, attendees have become as animated as when a six-inch putt is missed, an example of this being eloquently described in the report for the 1965/66 AGM in The Islander of 13th July 1966:

 

The Club has existed, from the first days that Bapco employees started playing golf, by volunteers serving on the Committee, ensuring the interests of the members are met. The oldest document the Club still has and was originated by the Club, is the announcement of the opening of our current course, dated 1/1/1937. It is signed by "H.N. Phillips" known to have been Bapco's "Chief Accountant", on behalf of "Carl Pfefferkorn". These two persons are believed to have been the Club's Treasurer and Chairman at the time. The remaining posts were the "Secretary" and other "ordinary members". The above structure, possibly in use right from the start of Bapco golf at the Jebel in 1933, was in place until 1956. Subsequent changes have been:

• 1956: Addition of President and Captain.
• 1966: Addition of Equipment Member.
• 1968: Chairman replaced with Vice-Captain. Ordinary Member posts cancelled, replaced with 7 specific post titles: 2 x Handicaps & Comps Members, House Member, Course Member, Social Member, Publicity Member, Guest Members Rep.
• 1985: Guest Members Rep. post cancelled.
• 2013: Addition of Sponsorship Member.
• 2018: Addition of 3rd Handicaps & Competitions Member.

Beyond the volunteers forming the Committee, other members of the Club have stepped forward on many occasions, to assist the Committee in providing the expected facilities and services. The most prominent of occasions is to make the Bahrain Open Championships a success. Additionally, the tutoring of beginners is central to the longevity of any golf club. In the early days, this was also performed by members, Ed Scarff taking the lead in the 1950s. Eventually, the Committee decided to add a professional touch, the presence and costs of Bahrain's first ever visiting professional reported in The Islander of 4th March 1959:
A significant change in the Club's modus operandi took place in March 2020. Up to this date, administration of the Club had been performed near-exclusively by volunteers. Of course, some of these volunteers were press-ganged but in the main volunteers had been adequate - even enthusiastic.
  However, in preparation for the season-end 2019/20 AGM, the Committee found a dearth of volunteers for the forthcoming season's Committee. The Committee came to the conclusion that the employment of a Club Manager was necessary, so as to take some of the workload that had previously been shouldered by volunteers on the Committee. Rory Young, the Club's golf professional who arrived at AGC on 14th September 2017, was appointed on a part-time basis. [Ed. update 6/9/22: The post of Club Manager was cancelled by the Club Committee with effect from 1st August 2022].

 

"When did you start?" is a common question. Based on the evidence, the answer to that is "Bapco workers organised a golf club sometime in 1933 at Jebel Dukhan, possibly even as early as 1932". However, the Club has never used this as the answer to the question "When were you founded?" or "When were you established?", due to a lack of supporting documentation. The answer to those two questions has varied over the years, as follows:

• (February 21st 1957) Will members please make an effort to come along to the Awali Hall next Sunday February 24th at 8pm when an extraordinary general meeting is being held to discuss the Constitution of the Awali Golf Club.
• (August 1st 1957) At the AGM... the Chairman... thanked Dr P McGregor and his sub-Committee for the immense amount of work they had done in compiling the new Constitution.

Returning to the subject of "our chosen Establishment date"...