When I arrived in Barcelona in late 1978 there was a tradition for a group of English lads to get together to demonstrate their sporting prowess. Several present Sant Jordi members played cricket, some quite decently, others played squash, tennis, rugby and even field hockey. So it should come as no surprise that golf was also on the agenda. There was a keenly fought British Society Tournament played for many years over the old ‘EL Prat’ course next to Barcelona airport and in 1993 and 1994 we also played at the delightful Vallromanes course. In July 1994, just after Montanya opened we played the event at Vallromanes and as usual we all has a great time, earning respectable prizes off impossible handicaps.

At lunch, the subject arose between the ’founder members’ that it would be a good idea to play the tournament on a more frequent basis. Most agreed that this would be a good deal and we put it to the’ table’*… It was decided that we should repeat the experience and Graham Nash (Our Present Captain), who had been to play at Montanya as a guest of Ralph Griffin. It is he who must get part of the credit for taking us there for the first time in August 1994.

All of those present will remember the day well. Montanya was also brought to fame as the venue used in the Olympics in 92 for the cross country Equestrian event and during the lunch break, after a dampish round the heavens opened and left the course white with hail. We did finish though, unlike the second visit when rain and lightning called things to an end on the 17th hole and on the next occasion when torrential rain stopped us on the 9th. I can´t remember who won that inaugural event at Montanya, but prizes were aplenty, including an umbrella for the long drive which got me safely to the car but more importantly, the guys had a great time and thus started the tradition and relationship we have with Montanya where we have played ever since.

Our 200th tournament was played in September 2011.

* At the table were: (Of those presently actively participating in Sant Jordi): Graham Nash, Clive Callaghan, Dave Minshaw, Jerome Scannell, Brian Annandale, Michael & Freddy, Witty, David English, Kevin Livsey, Keith Babes & Manuel Sastre . (Special thanks to Ralph Griffin for inviting Graham to play at Montanya)

The Sant Jordi team played for two days against the team from the Hanslope Park Golf Society. The players that represented Sant Jordi over the two days were: Graham Nash (Captain), Derek Simes, Michael Robson, Roger Hunger, Marc Cox, Juan Maestro, David English, Geoff Brown, Simon Gordon, Richard Rose, Jonathan Goodman, Rhodri James, Kevin Ellis, Juan Sanllehy, Roy Waters, Thomas Maestro, David Collinson, Ian Robertson, David English, Mark Mills & Wolfgang Finkbeiner. The Hanslope Park Golf Society was represented by: Trevor Haigh (Captain), Alistair Rowton, Phil Canale, Bob Gordon, Mark Hammond, Roy Coombs & John Bennett. The match was very close after the first day, as only a point separated the teams, 21 points to Hanslope G.S. and 22 for the Sant Jordi G.S. unfortunately we lost to Roy midway through injury caused by an allergic reaction to a mosquito bite & John who could not play due to a possible case of 'Pacharanitis'.

Everyone awaited day two with enthusiasm. Day two dawned cool and somewhat overcast. There was a threat of lightning in the afternoon but we all managed to finish and enjoy a truly delicious BBQ lunch on the terrace before leaving for our respective destinations. There were interesting moments and many nerves on the first tee. Of the 20 players competing nearly 14 of them ended up in the trees to the right in the first "fairway", one landed in the water and only 5 in the "fairway". There were just a handful of pars and some stellar moment during the match. On the 9th hole there were three tied matches and Hanslope was up in two. At the end of the day Sant Jordi won 4 and Hanslope 2, that left an outcome of 26-23 in favour of Sant Jordi. A very close match.