FRED CARÖE TAKES OVER AS EGU PRESIDENT
Fred Caröe was installed as the 74th President of the
English Golf Union at the Annual Meeting at Woodhall Spa this
week, knowing that his travel schedule should not be quite
as great as many of his predecessors.
The duties of EGU President involve huge amounts of mileage
at home and overseas, flying the flag. But Fred has the advantage
of knowing that the coming tournament schedule sees three
key championships being played in his native Cheshire.
The English Amateur is at Bromborough, the Mid Amateur at
Delamere Forest, and the Seniors Championship at Prestbury
and Lymm, while the European Men’s Team Championships
is scheduled for Hillside, just an hour’s drive away.
"That is a bonus but I’m also looking forward
to getting around the rest of the country over the coming
months," he added as he set off on what will be a busy
year.
A former president of Cheshire, and a long-serving member
of Heswall Golf Club, Fred admits that cricket and hockey
were his first loves. But golf has been the major part of
his life for the past 40 years, and he has served the Cheshire
Union, his club, and the EGU with distinction over that period.
Born in Liverpool 69 years ago, Fred’s family moved
to Cheshire in 1945 and his working life was spent in the
grain trade in Liverpool. Before that he completed his National
Service in the Royal Air Force in Aden then went to university
in Cambridge.
Back in Liverpool the grain business beckoned and he eventually
became managing director of a company of grain brokers, becoming
President of the Liverpool Grain Trade Association in 1978-79.
During that time, in fact from 1972-79, Fred also became the
Honorary Consul for Denmark in Liverpool, a post previously
held by his father.
Fred’s early sporting ventures were with a larger ball,
playing hockey and cricket in the Liverpool area. He spent
around 25 years with the Oxton Hockey Club and eight with
the cricket club as a batsman and occasional off break bowler.
He took up golf in 1963, joining Heswall with a handicap
of 16. That was eventually reduced to four but he now confesses
to be back to 12. Made Captain in 1976, Fred has served the
club’s council on and off for 30 years and is currently
a Trustee of the club and a life member.
The duties with the Cheshire Union began in 1980 when he
was elected to the Executive. He was made county Treasurer
in 1985 a post he relinquished only last year. He is now a
trustee.
He was made Cheshire President in 1988 and the following
year was elected to the EGU’s Council representing Cheshire
until 2004. He joined the EGU’s Finance Committee in
1990, serving as its chairman from 1995 to 2000, and was a
member of the Executive Committee from 1995 until 2002. Since
2001, Fred has been a member of the Golf Services Committee
until appointed President Elect. He is still a member of the
Tournament Panel.
Married to Sue since 1959, they have two sons, Christian
and Mark, and a daughter Elizabeth, as well as eight grandchildren.
Two of them, Michael, 18, and 15-year-old Justin, are keen
golfers.
Fred lists his hobbies as gardening, philately and meteorology.
He has been a Fellow of the Meteorological Society since 1957
and keeps rainfall records for the Met Office at his house
in Cheshire, which is an official Met Office Rainfall Station.
"It is a hobby I picked up from my father who kept records
since 1940", he says. "What attracts me to the weather
is that no two days are the same in this country".
Fred is particularly proud that he hasn’t missed a
day recording the rainfall since becoming an official observer
in 1967. When he has not been at home he has what he describes
as ‘trained cover’, his wife Sue or a neighbour,
to take the reading, something that will prove doubly vital
over the coming year.
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