All,
It is with huge sadness that I write to tell you that Tim Bebb passed away shortly before Christmas. Tim is to be cremated at 2:00 p.m. at Woking Crematorium on Monday 14th January.
As David Wybar writesÉ
“Tim Bebb was a complex man and a natural Wykehamist – very intelligent, if eccentric, and with a sharp wit which he aimed at anyone and everyone including himself but excluding the revered Murray Lawrence. While working in the City, he lived the disciplined life of a respectable commuting stockbroker midweek, living in Woking with his mother, and he spent most of his weekends at his beloved Worplesdon Golf Club playing golf, bridge and backgammon (all to a very high standard) and drinking vast quantities of gin.
His golf mirrored his personality – in spite (or perhaps because) of his self-deprecating comments about his game, he was a very good and intelligent golfer whose eccentricities often meant that opponents underestimated him at their peril
He was an outstanding Wykehamist golfer, both generally in OWGS meetings and fixtures and, in particular, as a Halford Hewitt player who played in 71 matches over 32 years from 1958 – 1991. His Hewitt record (65.5%) is very good, behind only Murray Lawrence of those who have played in 50 or more matches
He always said that Murray made his record what it was as they won 28 out of 35 matches played together (80%, the mark of an outstanding pair) as he regarded Murray as the stronger player but the truth is that they made an ideal partnership complementing each other both temperamentally and as golfers and they beat several very good opponents
Tim continued to attend the Hewitt following his retirement as a player and supported the team fervently if critically
His final flourish was to make a toast at a Hewitt dinner in the early 1990s expressing a wish that the ÔminorÕ public schools had enjoyed their evening – amusing but embarrassing at the same time and rather typical of Tim, a man with impeccable manners ordinarily, and his contradictions
Impossible not to love Tim and many others will have their own memories and anecdotes, all of which will bring a smile to those who knew him”
One of which Andrew Tusa shared with us last week:
ÒMy own came from my second OWGS fixture at Rye where I found myself sitting next to Bebb. He enquired what my surname was and on confirming that I was the nephew of John Tusa, with whom heÕd spent his National Service, said Òyou canÕt possibly be a Wykehamist!Ó He was then seriously charming throughout lunch, insisting that my grandfather had described the topography of a certain golf hole as being a Ôleg-dogÕ (which as a Czech by birth he just might have done..!). Dad played golf with Bebb once at Ferndown and remembered very clearly him completing his scorecard with a gold propelling pencil.
I know he didnÕt always get it right, but he was certainly memorable and a great character.Ó
In addition to his achievements with the OWGS he was a remarkable golfer and presence at Worplesdon Golf Club.
Tim was Captain in 1976
He features on the boards over 50 times, second only to David Frame
He won the Scratch Gold Medal 3 times
He won the Military Cup in 5 consecutive decades from the 60’s