Around 50 former hockey players, including eight olympians, will turn out to play in a charity golf tournament at East Berkshire Golf Club (EBGC), in aid of the On Course Foundation, on Thursday 24 May.

The day has been organised by Chris Langhorne, the 1964 and 1972 Olympian who is this year’s captain at EBGC. The charity was created to provide injured servicemen and women the opportunity to participate in golf and ultimately provide employment within the golf and other related industries. On Course was the brainchild of John Simpson who is a former Senior Vice President of International Management Group (IMG) and former manager of Nick Faldo (among many others). Simpson was inspired to found the On Course Foundation after visiting Headley Court (the British Military rehabilitation centre) in 2009 and being moved by what he saw.

The hockey olympians joining Langhorne on Thursday are Freddy Scott (1956 and ’60), Mike Corby (1964 and ’72), Alan Page (1964), Malcolm Read (1968), Keith Sinclair (1968 and ’72), Graham Evans (1972) and John French (1972). French who plays these days for England Veterans, scored the fastest recorded goal in an international hockey match. He gave England the lead against Germany at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, in April 1971 in seven seconds. It proved to be the only goal of the game.

Patrick Rowley, May 2012