Any golf bursary candidate must meet the academic
and social qualifications expected of all entrants,
in addition to golfing promise.
‘How does the concept of the good life relate to sport? It is
arguable that we are more fascinated by sport than at any
time in our cultural history, and that the concept of the
good life has something to do with that fascination. The
values upon which physical team games are based make
them more than pleasant diversion and recreation. If
exercise can help us blow off angry steam, soothe jangled
nerves, push along bulky food, teach us to respect and
co-operate with others, and smile at the limits of our
bodies, then we can call exercise a faithful friend…’
Those are the Head Man’s words. During the eleven
years of Ralph Townsend’s headmastership the master
theme has been the reconnection between the modern
School and the Founder’s intentions. Winchester was
founded for the purpose of educating boys to exercise
service and leadership in society. The Governing
Body’s vision is that any boy should be able to benefit
from a Winchester education, irrespective of his parents’
financial circumstances. In achieving this aim, bursaries
are of fundamental importance. The Governing Body
has declared concerning bursaries that ‘we want to
ensure that Winchester is able to continue to train the
quality of capable young men (whatever their parents’
means) which Britain needs in order to flourish in
the modern world.’ The provision of bursaries at
Winchester reflects a commitment to the pursuit of
excellence and the meritocratic nurturing of talent,
across a range of disciplines and activities. Currently
there are 125 boys (representing 18% of the School)
receiving bursaries to the annual value of £2.9m.
Twelve boys are in receipt of full financial support.
Winchester does not award sporting bursaries as a
matter of policy, but because of its nature in requiring
particular disciplines in the individual player, disciplines
38 The Wykeham Journal 2015
of mind and body which can be seen as Wykehamical
in character, the Governing Body has allowed a unique
exception in respect of golf. In 2012 two members
of the Old Wykehamist Golf Society, father and son
John and Richard Sanders, established a Golf Bursary
Fund to provide financial assistance to academically
able boys demonstrating significant golfing talent and
commensurate commitment, who would otherwise
not have been able to study at Winchester. The first
recipient of this bursary was Jack Keating of Cook’s.
The School has subsequently maintained the bursary
and has worked closely with county golf unions and
the Royal & Ancient at St Andrews in order to identify
suitable candidates. Any golf bursary candidate must
meet the academic and social qualifications expected
of all entrants, in addition to golfing promise.
It was agreed, as a term of the donation, that there
would in future always be a Master-in-Charge of Golf
who himself had both a low single-figure handicap
and the necessary experience to instil in the recipients
of the bursary the values of a successful sportsman;
that is, to win within the spirit of the sport. Robert
Moore, who is a member of both Hockley and The
Berkshire golf clubs and plays off a handicap of three,
was accordingly appointed. He brings valuable insight
into how to compete and win, having represented
Great Britain at hockey in three successive Olympic
Games. To date four boys have been bursary recipients.
Jack Keating was already at the School and completed
his final two years under the benefit of the scheme.
The second recipient, introduced by the captain of
the Royal & Ancient, was a second-year-entrant
from Serbia with (then) limited English. When he
arrived his handicap was seven and is now four.