The following history of the game in Leeton and its various locations includes events recorded by AE Bowmaker MBE, in the book A Brief History of Leeton.
The Leeton golf course occupies Reserve No 75463, a reserve for “public recreation” gazetted on 21st November 1952. A further gazette notice of 21st August 1953 appointed Leeton Shire Council as the trustees thereof with the power to lease. This area of land adjoins the Showground and Racecourse on its southern side and on its northern side borders on Maiden Avenue. The main entrance to the clubhouse and course is from the Acacia Avenue boundary. The total area of the property is approximately 94 acres. Since 1933 the Club has been permitted to use approximately 17 acres of the adjoining Racecourse reserve.
For a period of about a year preceding the formation of a golf club a few devotees of the game, belonging to the staff of the Water Conservation & Irrigation Commission (WC&IC), set up a makeshift course of six holes which traversed across the McCaughey Park reserve to the vicinity of the present filtration plant on Acacia Avenue. Logs, stumps and trees had to be negotiated and the “holes” consisted of jam tins surrounded by a patch of sand.
At a meeting held in the Officer’s Club on 19th June 1913 it was decided to form a golf club, to be named Yanco Golf Club, and the following committee was appointed:
| President | Mr JB Broach |
| Vice Presidents | Messrs Bell & WJ Quodling |
| Hon Treasurer | Mr AC Fletcher |
| Hon Secretary | Mr AE Steane |
The Club secured the occupancy of Portions 527 and 528 Parish Yarrangery (substantially the current site). A temporary galvanised iron clubhouse was erected on Acacia Avenue and a nine-hole course was set out extending from Acacia Avenue, around the showground and racecourse reserves, down to the Leeton water supply lake at Lake Paddock.
The course was officially opened on the last Saturday of July 1913 by the President, Mr JB Broach, who was the Business Manager of the Irrigation Area, and the first Club competition was held on 23rd August 1913.
In March 1919 the Club changed its name to Leeton Golf Club. Office bearers at this time were:
| President | Mr WM Melville |
| Hon Treasurer | Mr AC Fletcher |
| Hon Secretary | Mr S Macgillivray |
The original galvanised iron club house was replaced in 1924 by a timber building 30 feet x 18 feet, the cost off which was met from a one hundred pound donation by Mrs Charles Ziele of Toorak Road, who officially opened the new club house on 23rd August 1924.
In 1930, proposals were made for the Club to amalgamate with the golf club which had been formed at Yanco. The Yanco Golf Club had an 18-hole course south of the Yanco railway station which traversed 6,000 yards and occupied a strip of land stretching from the Narrandera Road westward along the railway line.
This merger became effective from the end of 1930 and the Club was named Leeton-Yanco Golf Club. Play was concentrated at Yanco and was discontinued at Leeton.
The Club had engaged the services of a Sydney professional to lay out the course. He was here for a week as the guest of the then brand new Yanco Hotel and apparently was much fond of the wares of the hotel and only carried out his planning in the mornings. Consequently when play started it was found that 10 of the 18 holes were right into the sun in the afternoons.
The layout of the Yanco course with its east-west aspect and the consequent interference from the sun was unsatisfactory and in June 1933, Mr MJ Gleeson, acting for Leeton-Yanco Golf Club requested a lease from the WC&IC of the original Leeton Golf Course together with approval for the Club to make six greens on part of the aerodrome and racecourse reserves. This, together with the Coursing Club (President Billy McKlellan) moving their boundaries to allow the old 13th hole, made it possible to extended the golf course to 18 holes. In 1933 the area at the corner of Acacia and Maiden Avenues formerly occupied by the Leeton Lawn Tennis Club was added to the golf course reserve and lease.
On 1st July 1933 the trustees of Leeton-Yanco Golf Club, Messrs MJ Gleeson, WR Cater and Allan Ross-Reid were granted a 15 year lease of Leeton Golf Course and the Yanco course was abandoned from July 1933. A new clubhouse was built on the Leeton course and officially opened by Mr GJ Evatt on 1st June 1934. Also in 1934 the Club held its first Riverina Tournament.
In 1947 the club changed its name to Leeton Golf Club and commenced a series of considerable developments. At this time the President was Mr JJ Thurgate and the committee comprised Messrs LA Nolan, D Suttie, WA Ward, HT Fahey, M Humphries, F Busby, T Conway, F Foran, J Frazer, ARL Gordon, J Green, HJ O’Brien, J Harris, AD Smith and Dr Weeks White.
In 1957 Portion 742, on which the clubhouse is located, was excised from the reserve and purchased by the Club with title being granted on 22nd October 1957 to the Club’s trustees Messrs ARL Gordon, Arthur S Payne and Leo A Nolan.
In 1963 a spray irrigation system was installed. The system was officially turned on by Sir William Hudson, Commissioner of the Snowy Mountains Authority, at the Golden Jubilee Tournament, held by the Club to celebrate 50 years of existence, on 21st September 1963.
The Story of Golf in New South Wales 1851-1987, David J Innes, Published by the New South Wales Golf Association in 1988, includes the following reference to Leeton:
“The Leeton Golf Club commenced in 1913 when a 9-hole course was laid out and officially opened by JB Broach. In 1930 Leeton amalgamated with Yanco to form the Leeton-Yanco Golf Club, and play was discontinued at Leeton. However the layout at Yanco proved unsatisfactory, so a lease of the original ground was obtained and a new clubhouse built in 1934. Since then an extensive watering system has been installed and big alterations have been made to the clubhouse.”
In 1968 the clubhouse was extensively altered and in March 1968 the Murrumbidgee Irrigator reported:
“The building was erected at a cost of $50,000 excluding furnishings and is of brick veneer construction with ‘clip lock’ roofing. The window design features exterior timber framed shutters which match the western cedar facia boards. The entrance has a glassed in alcove which opens into spacious hallways surrounding an attractive centre court yard which features indoor plants. The mixed lounge and bar has many modern amenities with concealed lighting and carpeted floor and air conditioning. The bar is constructed from jarrah timber and aluminium fittings and includes refrigerated cabinets, glass washers, glass chillers and two temprites. Cool room allows for beer to be drawn direct and is thus icy cold. New tiled toilets, wash rooms and showers have been provided for both members and associates.
The building includes an enquiry office and managers office together with strong room as well as a large meeting room which also serves as a games room. The design has allowed for the retention of the old mixed lounge which can be served from the new bar and will allow for large crowds to be catered for when socials and other functions are held.
The building was constructed by Mr Dick Arnold of Leeton and Mr J Tyler, of Wagga, was the architect.”
Tenders for the current clubhouse building extensions closed on 4th October 1976 and the quote of R Arnold $80,039 was accepted 14th October 1976. Official opening was set down for 12th November 1977 and final payment was made August 1978
About 1960 there was a strong move from within the Leeton Shire Council and the WC&IC Lands Branch to resume the golf course and the race track for residential purposes. This information was bought to the attention of members of the Golf Club by Frank Meerabeli, who was a member of Council at the time. The drive from the Council was led by the President Mr Brian Maguire – the chief proponent from the WC&IC was Mr Alex Peattie. Plans for subdivision were well advanced within the local office of the Commission. This, I understand to be without the knowledge of the local member Mr George Enticknap (who was also the Minister for Conservation) and the three Commissioners – one of whom was Mr Corbett, who had been principal engineer at Leeton and knew the town and many residents.
When I first approached George Enticknap about my concerns about the resumption of the two reserves he assured me that “the Commission has no plans to carry out such a resumption”. During a later discussion I reminded him of this statement and when I told him that drawings for the new subdivision were well advanced in the Leeton office, his reply “the bloody fools – when I say the Commission I mean myself and the three Commissioners, no one else can make these kind of decisions”. This really stirred things up and bought to a head a couple of years of behind the scene deals and cover-ups.
About 1961 a meeting was called and took place in the old council chambers. The Shire President (Mr Maguire) had the responsibility of organising the meeting and made sure that all those organisations who were likely to support him were invited to attend. They either stayed away or supported the golf and race clubs. The meeting was attended by the Minister (Mr Enticknap) Commissioner Mr Corbett as well as 4 or 5 from the Commission head office, local relevant Commission officers also attended including Mr Alec Peattie who appeared to be advocating the proposal on behalf of the local WC&IC office.
There were about 50 or 60 Golf Club members, representatives from the Jockey Club and various organisations that were generally expected to be unsympathetic to the two Clubs – this proved not to be the case. Maiden Avenue residents also opposed the proposal.
Mr Maguire called on Mr Albert Stengart, President of the Farmers & Settlers Association to start the ball rolling. Mr Stengart surprised us all. After a long speech he discussed alternate sites for the golf course;
A surprise supporter for the golf and race clubs, Mr Stengart was the farther-in law of Ray Hillman, who was the Golf Club greenkeeper at the time!
Maiden Avenue residents were also well represented and were very forceful in their opposition to the proposal. One of the residents of Maiden Avenue was Mr Alec Buckom, a former Leeton Shire Engineer and at the time was doing consulting work.
The Leeton Shire Council and WC&IC engineers had over the years consistently condemned any development at Willimbong. “Impossible to drain, would be a disaster in wet weather”. I doubt that they ever made a professional assessment of developing Willimbong. They wanted the golf course and blocks along Maiden Avenue would be immediately available.
Unbeknown to the Council and WC&IC Alec Buckom did a survey of the Willimbong area. When I got up to speak I produced Alec Buckom’s plans, drawings and survey which demonstrated that the Shire Engineers and WC&IC were talking a lot of baloney. Mr Corbett and the head office engineers asked for the meeting to take a recess so they could study the plans. After about half an hour the meeting reconvened and Mr Corbett said “I can see nothing wrong with Mr Buckom’s proposal and the matter will be further considered”. The council and WC&IC had misled the Minister and I can tell you that he didn’t like it. After the meeting Mr Peattie said to me “Lin you won this round but houses will be built on the golf course”. Lucky for him that George Enticknap didn’t hear him.
The Commission had shifted the Griffith golf club to make way for a residential subdivision. It proved very costly – they did not want to do this again. It was demonstrated that a residential subdivision on the golf course and racecourse would have very significant drainage problems – as all golfers know.
The WC&IC and Council would have had no problems in revoking the golf and race club reserves and then classifying the land as residential. I think it would have been done by regulation. The Minister simply tables a regulation in parliament which “lays on the table” for 30 days. After that time the Minister simply moves the motion and as he has the numbers it is carried. The opposition has the opportunity to object and force a vote but this rarely happens.
The golf course is Crown Land (a recreation reserve). The Leeton Shire Council are trustees. The showground has a private trust made up of nominees of the members but appointed by the Minister – generally for a definite period ( I think 5 years).
In my opinion the Council has abused this trust in that drainage water from the Gralee subdivision finds its way to the golf course. The WC&IC consistently and vigorously opposed any action of the Council to use their drainage system. The subdivision of Parkview went ahead with Council assuming that it could use the Commission’s Southern Drainage System. This leads to the river and to enlarge this would not only involve considerable earth works, commission structures such as bridges were also involved. The Shire engineers at the time completed a design to divert town water on the western side of the town (Church Street, Coolibah Street, Boree Street, Acacia Avenue). The Council put in the drain in the showground (probably no consultation with the showground trustees) adjacent to the golf club car park. They took this down through the showground and racecourse to the Lake Paddock where it was to connect with the Commission South Drain. NO consultation with the commission. When the Commission realised what was going on they hit the roof. They already had more drainage than they could handle and would not agree unless Council came across with the money to enlarge the Southern Drain which was already causing flooding to several farms (Ronfelds was one). Council did not agree to this. This was in the early 50’s. When the heavy rains and floods came in ’56 water flowed down Boree Street into the gate of the golf club and did finish up in the Lake Dam and then backed up into the racecourse, showground and golf course. By this time the Club had bought a mobile pump and motor plus pipes for irrigation. There was a small dam in the right hand side of the present 11th fairway. Water was pumped back through the supply channel which was located in the present position. Norm Robinson, who some members will remember, oversaw the operation. The pump went 24 hours a day until the residents of Maiden Avenue objected. After about ten days it was realised that the water flowing up to the drain across the present 10th tee and across the present 3rd fairway and into the drain which Council had mistakenly constructed, thence to the Lake Paddock, which was overflowing with drainage from Parkview. Our water was going around the circle and back to us. The Leeton Council engineer at the time was Mr Corbin and I think Bob McGee was the Commission engineer.
When I became Minister the WC&IC vastly improved the Southern Drain. I understand it now accepts the town drainage from that area. The water that comes through the front of the golf course now goes to Fivebough.
The surface was as hard as iron. A strip 1-meter long by ½ meter wide and 10 cm deep was hacked out of the clay – pick and shovel work. Red sand mixed with sump oil was filled in the cavity and smoothed over. This permitted the use of conventional peg tee. Numerous designs of rubber tees were also used. Many members made their own from ½ inch hose.
The first buggy to grace the Leeton course was introduced by Dr Weeks White (who lived where Dr Tom Smith now lives). He bought it from the US. It was made of sturdy aluminium and folded well. I don’t think the present day buggies are as well constructed – except that it didn’t have a seat. This started a real trend. The major output from the Commission and Cannery workshops became golf buggies of numerous original designs. The basic materials being pram wheels and electricians conduit (which in those days was a one piece tube and much stronger and heavier than the later styled conduit which was not joined).
There was no local professional at Leeton when I joined the Club. The most recent one being Lou Kelly who was sometime before 1940. Narrandera had two golf pros, Perc Deverall and ? Kennedy.
A golf pro came periodically once or twice a season. He stayed for a week or two depending ion bookings. Two names which come to mind were Bill Bolger who worked for Mick Simmons and Fred Popplewell who had been the pro at Royal Sydney golf club.
The last visiting pro was Len Thomas who came on and off for 3 or 4 years. He came 3 or 4 times a year and made many friends in Leeton. He originally came from Western Australia where he had, for many years, conducted a session of golf lessons on TV. He was a good player and spent a lot of time playing in the islands north of Australia. His best Australian effort was a third place to Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus in Sydney – at The Lakes I think.
Norman von Nida and Bobby Locke also played an exhibition on the sand greens.
During the early days of development in the 1950’s and 60’s the course was “home” to countless hares. In the days before the Second World War there was a live hare coursing occupying the area which was approximately where the MIA Club is today, and extending to the Lake Paddock. Early attempts to plant trees on the course were frustrated by the hares who simply ate the young trees off at ground level. Club member Darcey Jones and I decided to rid the course of hares. Darcey was the shot and I was the ute driver. In the course of 2 or 3 weeks Darcey eliminated about a thousand hares. One day (at dusk over about 2 hours) Darcey shot 130 hares – often getting 3 at one shot. 128 in one evening was our best score. The trees were replanted and surrounded as tree guards by hundreds of old sanitary cans. Not a pretty sight bet it beat the hares who were now greatly reduced in numbers.
In the early days of the Club (30’s or 40’s) Mr Jim Harrington a WC&IC employee who lived in a Commission house opposite the golf course used to oversee the golf clubhouse and the surrounding lawns.
Prior to the Club gaining a liquor license the premises were not sewered. The septic system was hopelessly inadequate. Sewerage was available on the opposite side of the road. Council’s view was that the golf clubhouse was too far below the level of the sewer main for connection. On the advice of the club’s friend, Alec Buckom (former Leeton Shire engineer and now a consultant engineer and surveyor) we installed a septic tank between the clubhouse and 10th tee and sewerage waste was pumped into the main.
The watering system (fairways and greens) was completed under the capable guidance of John Darnley-Naylor. This was opened by Sir William Hudson who attended with his wife. Sir William was the engineer in charge of the Snowy Mountains Authority. His wife played off a handicap, I think, of 6.
Prior to and during the war social clubs – golf, bowling and social – traded illegally selling beer, spirits etc and most of them had poker machines. None of these clubs were licensed. This was always a source of contention. The hotels that were paying licensing fees objected. Little or no action was taken by the government or the police. After the war (1946) the government decided to license clubs. They were operating anyway and the hotels had become generally unpopular with patrons during the war.
At that time there were three clubs in Leeton who could be expected to apply for a license. The Soldiers Club, the Wade Club and the Golf Club. It was generally expected that the number of licenses to be granted in NSW would be limited with preference going to RSL Clubs. Leeton did not have an RSL Club. During the couple of years prior to the amendment to the Liquor Act to permit licensed Clubs, clubs carried on selling liquor and operating poker machines. There were no licensing fees and there was continual conflict between the clubs and the police. The police imposing their own rules from town to town and changing frequently.
The Golf Club, along with the two other local clubs, indicated that they were going to apply for a license and engaged one of their members, Mr Dave Clarke. A local solicitor, to act on their behalf. The Leeton Soldiers Club, although not an RSL Club, was regarded as a certainty to secure a license. The rumour that the government would restrict thew number of licenses issued in NSW to one thousand was a source of concern to the Golf club. It was assumed that one of the Clubs, Golf or Wade, would miss out. It was a matter of further concern to the Golf Club when it was discovered that Mr Viv Ryall, the senior partner in Ryall & Clarke, had given the Wade Club, of which he was an active member, an undertaking that his firm would not act for any other Leeton club until the Wade Club’s license was granted.
The Golf Club then engaged Mr Greg Dalton, another Leeton solicitor. It was evident from the beginning that the Golf Club premises would not meet the requirements of the Liquor Act. The licensed premises could not be on a Crown Reserve – as it had always been. The Club applied to have an area (I think one acre) excised from the Crown Reserve and held on a freehold or leasehold title from the WC&IC. The Leeton Shire Council (Trustees of the Reserve) wanted to hold the title and lease to the Golf Club. Luckily Mr Enticknap was the local member and Minister and supported the Golf club who secured freehold title to the land to be paid off to the WC&IC over 20 years, I think the interest rate was 3%. To have elected a leasehold title would have been a disaster for the Golf Club. A lower rental for the twenty years at the end of which time the land would be revalued and the rental adjusted accordingly, would have been 10 or 20 times higher.
All of this took a long time and the Club, being unlicensed, could not pay a license fee. Mr Enticknap arranged for the Club’s fees to be paid into a trust fund under the control of the Chief Secretary – to be paid as license fees when the Club was eventually licensed.
The first appearance at the licensing Court at Narrandera saw us granted a ‘conditional license’ for 12 months. The main condition being fencing of the licensed area and fairly extensive improvements to the building.
Eventually the license was granted.
For 4 or 5 years the work in the bar was almost 100% done by members of the committee on a voluntary basis. The first permanent employee was Mrs Rene Ward who was Honorary Secretary of the Associates Committee and spent a lot of her time down at the Club House. She was cleaner, manager, barman and active in all Club affairs for many years. She at first volunteered to do the whole job in an honorary capacity, the Club could not accept this and a wage was agreed. Rene worked far in excess of her agreed hours as she always had the welfare of the Club in mind.
At each Court representative we had 15 or 20 members and supporters of the license and had a solicitor and barrister to represent us. The Court called only the President (L Gordon) to give evidence but there is no doubt that he noted the show of support. This support was necessary, as we were by no means certain of success. There was always plenty of opposition especially from hotels and the general ‘do-gooders’ who come out of the woodwork on occasions.
When it was proposed that a record of office holders and the time of actual establishment of the Leeton Golf Club in order to organise a celebration of this event (90 years, 100 years etc.) the intent of the proposal was just that. Some how or other the common expectation was that a history would be written. This was never the intent of Don or myself, however I have relented to the extent that I write this brief summary.
There are many more talented people in the Golf Club who are far better qualified than I to undertake such a project (History of the Leeton Golf Club).
This summary of information given to me still may well be a start for such a project especially if it is distributed to the members and various additions and corrections by them are included with it.
Mick Roberts, Lin Gordon and Bruce Rodely are my main sources, plus a few of my own recollections having been a member since 1959.
I have not approached any women members but expect there will be some who wish to contribute. I should point out here that Mick always maintained that the women carried the Club for many years.
Mick’s recollections start shortly after the Second World War when there were many recently returned ex-servicemen in the Club.
The course was well established by then being an 18 hole sand green course with golf being played on a seasonal basis much the same as sand green courses around the district still operate.
Lin Gordon describes how the course would have to be prepared for play for the new season after the summer recess.
Golf was played in those days much the same as a tennis club. You played your game, came into the clubhouse and had a cup of tea, sandwiches and cake, applauded the winners. What happened after that was dependent on your life style, you went home or maybe went to the Soldiers Club.
Mick and his ex-servicemen mates decided they could organise things better and obtained an old ice chest and stocked it with a few dozen bottles of beer. This was considered much more convenient by Mick and his mates but disapproved of by many of the older members. There were still a considerable number of non-drinking, non-gambling people making up the population in those days.
However Mick and his merry men prevailed to the extent they purchased a temprite from John Ross-Reid, on twelve months time payment, and started serving beer out of a keg. They did not have a license; indeed no sporting clubs had licenses. The keg was purchased from the Soldiers Club.
At this time the government was being predicted to bring in licenses for sporting clubs so Mick suggested that the committee draw up a constitution that would be acceptable for a license application should these come into being. A fellow committeeman advised the meeting that it was widely accepted in legal circles the license proposal would not get past the first reading in the government, so the proposal lapsed.
Shortly after it was publicised that the first reading had got through, so once again Mick moved that the Club draw up a constitution acceptable for a license application. This time the fellow solicitor member was even more emphatic that the proposal would not get through the second reading in parliament so once again the motion lapsed.
What happened however was that the reading passed through the second time and so Mick once again proposed the constitution preparation.
This time the solicitor member announced a conflict of interest and resigned from the committee, apparently the firm he was part of was anxious to obtain a license for the Wade Club and didn’t want too many applications in as it was widely thought there would be a limited number of licenses issued.
None the less Mick’s proposal was adopted by the committee and Mick approached another solicitor in the town to draw up the constitution. This particular man readily agreed to draw it up and when Mick suggested he could go easy on his charges for the service the solicitor replied that “it would be his pleasure to do the service for no charge”.
The Golf Club got it’s license with Lin Gordon presenting the application on behalf of the Golf Club in court.
I will give more detail of this with Lin’s information later in this summary.
When one sees the determination of Mick and his mates to make the Golf Club prosper and their love of the game of golf it certainly contrasts with the attitude of members of today of the age group 25-40 who seem to think they should be enticed to play.
Everybody knows that Lin Gordon’s contribution to the golf Club was immense. The fact that he was so long not a life member is a mystery to all. Speaking personally it’s a mystery to me that Mick Roberts and Bruce Rodely are not life members.
Lin says that he owes his political career to his interest in the golf club. His involvement in saving the Golf Club from Council’s plans to claim the golf course for housing blocks, his eventual election to Council office and then his election into the NSW parliament and finally becoming a minister of the government, was triggered by his interest in the Club.
Lin recalls the Clubhouse in Acacia Avenue was a one-bedroom cottage from Joe Gleeson’s farm at Brobenah. The membership when he first came to Leeton was mostly W.C. & I.C. officers, (ie salaried people not wage earners) bank people, Doctors, Solicitors, professional people and farmers. The make up of the occupation of members gradually became more generally spread throughout the community.
When Lin first joined the Club “opening day” was generally the first Saturday after Easter. “Closing day” was early October. They simply closed the clubhouse at the end of the season, vandalism was not such a problem in those days, and left the course.
A few weeks before opening day they had a working bee to prepare the course for the new season. The sand greens would be covered with weeds as were the bunkers which were far more numerous in those days. They had a Berrigan mower which was horse drawn. They borrowed a horse from a farmer at Wamoon. The greenkeeper/groundsman rode his pushbike to Wamoon and led the horse back. The idea was to have the horse for three or four days mowing. However the fence along Maiden Avenue was in such poor repair the horse generally took itself back home ahead of schedule so the man would have to collect him again.
Sometimes the fairways were simply burnt to get rid of the long grass. This was usually carried out by the local fire chief and once Don Letheren almost burnt Maiden Avenue when the fire got away from him. Burning left numerous tufts of rye grass etc. and they were smoothed out by dragging a section of curved railway line down and up the fairways. The watering was left up to the winter season rains. When it rained the fairways were better for a few weeks but then became too long.
Gradually more plant was added such as a tractor, mower etc. Town water was provided at most tee areas. Flood irrigation was introduced to some of the lower holes, the existing 1st. 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th. Some “fanatics” as they were regarded then, could play eight holes through the summer, they were still all sand greens.
John Darnley-Naylor, at the time of the establishment of the full course spray irrigation system, said that if this flood irrigation had continued for any length of time we would probably have lost these fairways to salt contamination. The layout of the full course watering system was carried out by Benny Thorman with the assistance of Bluey Vincent.
My own recollection is that an experimental green was set up between the Clubhouse and the existing 9th green. When this proved to be a success it was resolved to install grass greens which comprised the existing 10th to 18th greens. The permanent watering system had been installed previously and opened by Sir William Hudson in 1963. Lady Hudson officially opened the new works by hitting off the first tee.
The greens and tees were installed to a plan provided by Sloan Morpeth, a very respected golf architect, who had been commissioned by the Club. We are fortunate to have a copy of Sloan’s original proposal in our possession provided by Bruce Rodely along with a good many financial reports prepared by Bruce during his extended term as our Treasurer.
We played for one season with ten grass greens (one being the original experiment) and eight sand greens. The following season the final nine grass greens were installed to Sloan’s plan with the experimental ninth being removed and the planned nineth installed.
It appears there have been quite a few course changes over the years and once again we are fortunate to have a copy of a plan of the course as it was before the St Francis College came into existence, also courtesy of Bruce Rodely. There was a hole and tee on the now college grounds.
The Club was sustained by its social activities as well. Once again at the time shortly after the war the Club held regular dance nights usually at least once a month. This helped raise money to run the Club. The musicians were Ben and Mick Roberts, Bob Harrison and Ken Demelwick, who gave their talents for the nights. The dances were an important source of income and were fairly well patronised by golfers and other locals. Ron Crowe used to organise bus loads of golfers from Griffith to attend.
As I stated previously in this summary, beer sales had been introduced and once again Mick was to the fore with a poker machine. One of Mick’s customers was a poker machine salesman and while getting his hair cut he mentioned he had sold a new poker machine to the Soldiers Club. He had traded in one of their old machines. Somehow the conversation got around to what the trade-in would be worth. Eighty pounds was the amount mentioned. It was a Silver Jubilee one shilling machine. Lin, Norm Roberts, Ben Roberts, Leo Nolan, Clive Terry, Jack Scanlan, Percy Stevens and others put ten pounds in each and paid for the machine. At the end of three months each had received back their ten pounds plus the Club had three hundred pounds profit.
All this happened with the Club still not having a license. During this time it was apparently common for sporting clubs to engage in these activities and was a source of contention with the police and existing licensed premises (pubs).
The government decided to license the clubs, they were operating anyway and hotels had become unpopular during the war.
At the time there were three clubs in Leeton who could be expected to apply for a license. The Soldiers Club, the Wade Club and the Golf Club. It was generally expected that the number of licenses issued would be limited with preference going to R.S.L. Clubs. Leeton did not have an RSL Club (the RSL Branch was separate to the Soldiers Club). During the couple of years prior to the amendment to the Liquor Act to permit licensed clubs they carried on selling liquor and operating poker machines. The Golf Club, along with the two other local clubs, indicated that they were going to apply for a license and engaged a local solicitor (Mr Dave Clarke) to act on their behalf. The Leeton Soldiers Club (although not an RSL Club) was regarded as a certainty to secure a license.
The rumour that the government would restrict the number of licenses issued in NSW to one thousand was a source of concern to the Golf Club. It was assumed that one of the clubs, Golf or Wade, would miss out. It was a matter of further concern to the Golf Club when it was discovered that Mr Viv Ryall, the senior partner in Ryall and Clarke had given the Wade Club (of which he was an active member) an undertaking that his firm would not act for any other club in Leeton until the Wade Club’s license was granted. The Golf Club then engaged Mr Greg Dalton, another Leeton solicitor.
Not only did the constitution of the Club have to be in order the building had to comply as well. Mr Les Jack was a great help in this regard Lin says. Also the immediate club grounds title was converted to freehold once again to assist with the obtaining of the license.
During this period when the Club acted as a licensed club but did not have a license Mr G Enticknap arranged for the Club fees to be paid into a trust fund under the control of the chief Secretary to be paid as fees when the Club was eventually licensed.
The first appearance at the Licensing Court at Narrandera saw the Club granted a conditional license for 12 months. Conditions included the fencing of the licensed area and fairly extensive building improvements.
For the first four or five years the bar was almost 100% done by members of the committee on a voluntary basis. The first permanent employee was Mrs Rene Ward who was the Honorary Secretary of the Associates Committee. She was cleaner, manager, barman and active in all Club affairs. She at first volunteered to do the whole job in an honorary capacity. The Club would not accept this and a wage was agreed to. She worked far in excess of her agreed time.
There was, in about 1960, a strong move to have the golf course sub-divided into house blocks. Lin’s report makes it clear just how close the course almost suffered the same fate as Griffith and again shows what an active and determined membership we had in those times. We could have been travelling out to Cudgell Sandhills for our golf.
Lin’s recollections of the first paid greenkeeper is Joe Erickson from Deniliquin. Others that I recall are Reg Barnes, Ray Hillman, Bede Makem, ? O’Leary, Mark Hennessey, John Berthon, Stuart Moore and Fred Robertson.
Lin talks of different professional golfers who were associated with the Club.
Lou Kelly- sometime before 1940, Perc Deverall and ? Kennedy visited from Narrandera. Other pros that came periodically included Bill Bolger from Mick Simmons, Fred Popplewell who had been the pro at Royal Sydney. Len Thomas who came for 3 or 4 times a year and made many friends in Leeton. Norman von Nida and Bobby Locke played an exhibition during the sand green era.
My own recollection of pros include Hughey Dolan, Vic Twadelle, ? Allcock, Andy Carreas, Gary Begg, Craig Grant, and now Greg Gow.
As I said at the beginning this is only a summary of what we have collected. Our information will include a list of people who have held various positions in the Club, AE Bowmakers “Brief History of Leeton” section relating to the Golf Club, Sloan Morpeth’s proposal and copy of Lin Gordon’s experience of the threatened sub-division.
“In 1922, it must be said, conditions were very rough.
At this time the Club did not have much money, so was unable to spend any great amount on the course, the biggest outlay being the huge amount of ten shillings per week which was paid for years to Mr Tom Stafford who swept the greens on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
To make things more interesting, instead of bunkers on the long holes, at a range of about 150 yards on the so called fairways, a fence of 18 inch bird netting was erected to stop the grubber shots; it was surprising how far a ball would bounce back.
The classic piece of improvisation was on the 135 yard fourth hole. Here at 100 yards from the tee, was a 12 foot high chicken netting fence, which one had to go over to get on the green; the number of shots which got stuck 8 to 10 feet up, was amazing.
Around 1932, the first attempt to top dress the fairways with soil was made. Until then, owing to the stones, it was not possible to do any kind of mowing, so when in good years the grass got too long, the only way to keep it down was to put large mobs of sheep on agistment. To protect the sheep from dogs at night, a high netting fence was built by the Club. One Saturday afternoon, however, when the course was full of players, a pack of over 20 dogs arrived. The slaughter commenced before they could be stopped. The dogs ran the full length of the course, killing as they went; the tally of dead and maimed was over 70. Some of the dogs met their just fate at Helson’s orchard. He saw them coming, grabbed his gun and shot eight or nine of them. While all this was going on, first aid had to be rendered to several associate members who had fainted.
Another feature in those days was the garden; this was a show piece made and maintained by Mr Tim Harrington, one of the members.
In earlier days, great interest was taken in inter-town matches. These were held on Sundays and there was very keen competition among members to be picked in the teams. The Clubs taking part in these matches were Griffith, Narrandera, Wagga, Barellan, Coolamon and Ardlethan.
The team we all had an ambition to be selected for was the Jolley Cup team. In those days it was a team of nine and the matches were played off the stick, so one had to be quite a hot golfer to be chosen. This trophy was donated by Dr AF Jolley.
A fact which should be remembered by the present day members is that prior to 1946 the only income the Club had was from subscriptions and competition fees and but for the work done by both members and associates to build up the Club by self help, things would not be as they are now”.
I first became a member in 1951 and played on the course as it was originally designed. The inside nine was numbered 1 – 9 and those holes remain much the same. The outside 10 – 18 had the 12th as a par 4, the 14th a par 5 with the green close to the present 6th green, the 15th was a par 3 with the green being where the quadrangle is in St Francis College grounds. The 16th tee was nearby and the hole was a straightaway par 4, unlike the 7th dogleg of today. The 17th was a par 4 with the green inside the fence near the Maiden Avenue bus shelter.
Leeton at that time had ten lawn tennis courts, yet the golf course had sand greens with only the lower fairways being flood irrigated. The golf course curator worked the winter months at the golf course and in summer looked after the tennis courts.
Golfers yearned for grass greens and watered fairways, however it was only a dream as the Club was in debt for 5,000 pounds ($10,000), a great deal of money in those days.
It was not until 1961 that Mark Fitzsimons (President), John Naylor and I were elected as a sub-committee, came up with a scheme and appointed an architect to re-design the course incorporating grass greens and fairway watering.
Rene Ward had been employed to be in charge OF THE ClubHouse and Ray Hillman was appointed Greenkeeper. Much of what happened in the next few years was due in no small way to their efforts. Both worked extraordinarily long hours for no extra pay.
John Naylor also spent an enormous amount of time working on the course and how he was able to run a farming property at the same time was beyond us.
As Treasurer, I worked closely with Rene Ward. She was very excited about the plans as she was a golfer as was her husband Bill. Bill assisted with counting money, banking and paying accounts – he was paid a small retainer for his work.
Rene was a remarkable woman. She had a personality that was appreciated by both members and associates and she would never miss the opportunity of making money for the Club. People who dared play golf before paying their green fees would soon have Rene on their trail as they made their way up the first hole – “have you paid your green fees?”. She was extremely strong and it was nothing to see her carrying big logs to put on the beautiful open fires that were a feature of the Club. She was a good cook and on Ladies golf days would make up scones for afternoon teas, popping them in the oven as the first group would hit off the 18th tee. Rene soon built up a regular clientele and she would keep the Club open whilst ever money could be made.
The results were almost immediate. The monthly income and expenditure statements were placed on the notice board showing comparisons with the previous year. These figures helped enthuse the members and further improved the position.
It wasn’t long before a start could be made on the watering scheme. The scheme took about 12 months to install at a cost of some $15,000 and was officially switched on by Sir William Hudson, the Commissioner for the Snowy Mountains Hydo Electric Scheme, in October, 1962.
The $15,000 was a huge amount for the Club to make and although we had guarantors, we found it was not necessary to take up the funds.
The scheme is much the same today as it was when it was installed 40 years ago. The pump and the electric motor were purchased through the Murrumbidgee County Council and to my knowledge have operated without any major problems for the 40 year period.
I was able to negotiate for the electricity to be installed on a guarantee of consumption basis which saved funds being spent – funds which were very precious.
John Naylor and I worked in close co-operation, with regular meetings and long phone calls, planning the purchase of pipes, fittings and other gear together with the employment of trench digging contractors and all the other associated works as and when finances allowed.
As previously mentioned, I worked closely with Rene and Bill Ward and visited the Club each morning to assist and oversight the counting of poker machine money, balance the previous day’s takings and set up the float for the days trading.
We started early in the morning so as not to interfere with my work. At first it wasn’t too much of a chore, but this went on for years.
Rene had a remarkable constitution and not only did she have the early starts, but on many days each week, she would not get home until late at night.
The Club was running so successfully that as soon as the watering scheme was completed, work on the grass greens commenced.
The grass greens were designed and installed under the supervision of Mr Sloan Morpeth, a golf course architect of noter. A large amount of soil was carted from the river by local carriers. I don’t recall the exact amount of soil used however it required several hundred truckloads.
The grass greens were installed over a two year period – nine each year.
The whole project took some 4 years to complete and it was so successful that at the end of the period, the total expenditure on both the grass greens and the watering scheme had been paid for.
It was a tremendous effort.