How It All Began

Sixteen golfers were on a golf trip. Fourteen travelled in a 16-seat minibus, while two travelled in a separate support van carrying the golf clubs.

The fourteen minibus passengers had agreed not to smoke in the vehicle and to look after it. In reality, everyone smoked in it. Although they tidied it before returning it, the minibus stank and had not been treated particularly well.

They expected to lose their deposit. Instead, the deposit was returned, much to their surprise.

A conversation followed: should the deposit be returned to everyone, or should it be kept and used to establish a golf society? The decision was to create the society. In 2002, the inaugural event was run as a test to see whether there was enough interest to make it work.

Where Did the Name Come From?

The name Le Tournoi came from the 1997 "Tournoi de France" football tournament. With our limited French, the group understood tournoi to mean tournament. Unbelievably, we were actually right!

We borrowed the name, and it stuck. At that time, all our overseas golf trips had been to France.