Where It All Began
The Mallards were formed by a group of senior golfers from Eden Golf Club, on Sunday 16th May 1993, at a meeting held in the then Newby Grange Hotel.The founder and inaugural captain were the late Graham Simpson, journalist and writer. Other founder members were, William Ward (treasurer), Jeff Coxon, Allan Benson and Peter Shakespeare, all committee members. A year later Peter Shakespeare left the committee and his place was taken by Ralph Ramsden. Ralph was later to become the Mallards Captain a position he retained until 2001. David Richardson, one of the Mallards at the meeting, suggested the name 'Mallards' due to the abundance of them around the course. The original membership was 16, the first gathering of the members was on Monday 24th May 1993 and the winner on that day was believed to be William Ward, but as there are no records of the inaugural event this cannot be confirmed. In those early days the entry fee was 50p on a winner takes all basis. These days the entry fee is £1.50 plus 50p for 2's. The first AGM was held on the 24th February 1994 and took place in the lounge bar at Brunton Park, home of Carlisle United football team.
The first match was played at Caldew Golf Club, known locally as Dalston, on the 17th June 1994 and the first away day, organised by Jeff Coxon, was at Peebles, the winner on the day was Jeff Coxon, the runner up being Bill Ward. The second away day the following year was at Lochmaben, the winner believed to be Jim Russell but no records of this day were kept so this cannot be confirmed.
In 1994 the first annual prize giving was held in the new club house. There were six Mallards trophies up for grabs and as can be seen in the photograph on the left Allan Benson won two of them. There are 14 trophies to be played for including the Nations Trophy, an annual event between the English and the Celts, strong rivalry in this event!
In January 1995 the Mallards Constitution was drafted and amended on the 5th February 2001. The amended Constitution decreed that there would be 5 officers of the committee plus 3 committee members. Part of the constitution being that the Captain would hold office for one year only. The five officers of the committee being the Captain, Vice-Captain, Past Captain, Secretary and Treasurer. This was later amended to 6 officers to include the Competitions and IT officer. Initially membership was for senior members age 55 years and over but later this was amended to aged 60 and over, mainly for administrative purposes.
What We’re Doing Now
Our membership at the start of 2019 is a healthy 102 and has a good turnout on competition days. Team events usually encourage more members to take part.
During the summer season the Mallards play competitions twice weekly on Monday and Thursday mornings. The competitions alternate weekly between medal and Stableford with a monthly team event thrown in.
In addition to the weekly competitions, matches against other clubs are played on a home and away basis, they currently play matches against Maryport, Penrith, Kirkcudbright, Hexham Powfoot and Workington.
They also arrange an away day to a course within reasonable travelling distance, usually within the border counties.
During the winter months, mid-October until mid-March a number of members play in a Winter League 4BBB match-play competition. In addition to this there are regular stableford competitions, a variety of team events and a monthly medal.