ON THE GOLF COURSE
EXERCISE - FUN & FRUSTRATION
From a very early age I fell in love with the game of golf, my father influencing me very much.
He would go to a large paddock, owned by our milkman, where cows grazed. With a bucket of balls he would hit them to me at the other end and I would try to catch them with a baseball glove which belonged to my father. When he had finished, I would hit them back to him. Before I every played on a golf course I would have hit hundreds of balls.
When I was in England during the war I played golf on many occasions and on many different courses. Returning home I was introduced to a chap who like me was also keen on golf so we started to play each week at the public North Adelaide course. He told me that it was possible to join Glenelg Golf Club, so we applied and were accepted.
This gave me an opportunity to really get involved with the sport and very soon I was hitting the ball a long way and chipping and putting like the best. After only a few rounds, one day, I played the last nine, one over, resulting in my handicap being reduced to 16.
Playing on four consecutive Saturdays for the Captains trophy, I turned in great scores and won, the trophy now standing on a shelf in my dining room. For winning my handicap was reduced to 11/8.
I played for several more years before I had to resign because my business as a photographer required me to work on all week-ends. Until my son got me once again to be a regular golfer I only played once or twice a year.
I eventually joined Marino Golf Club (Now the Vines of Reynella) in the early eighties, and starting on a handicap of 22 gradually saw it come down to 11. But a little leg trouble affected my game and eventually I blew out to 28, but a couple of good games brought me back to 23.
I became a member of The South Australian Veteran Golfers Assn soon after joining Marino (The Vines of Reynella).
Was the Vice Captain for 10 years 1994/2004. My achievements in recent years at The Vines, a hole in one, and a mid-week monthly medal. Also in 1998 I won the Rotary District 9520 Golf Tournament at Victor Harbor, my first ever cup. Age has now caught up with me and my handicap is the reverse of my age (28) and the rather hilly course at the Vines saw me resign and now I am a member of the Westward Ho Golf Club that plays at Adelaide Shores.
