LBGC Centenary Book - Flipbook - Page 22
Langland Centenary Book
15/2/05
6:08 pm
Page 22
was turned on in the Clubhouse all the sprinklers ceased on
the course! Some complaints arose from this; players on a
green had not noticed a stationary sprinkler, stationary because
taps were running in the Clubhouse, but when the taps were
turned off, the sprinkler recommenced, dousing the players.The
Ladies were particularly offended and so, incidentally, was one
male member who was watching his opponent putt, and
actually standing over the sprinkler when it recommenced!
The labour of laying the pipes was done by the members in the
same way as in later years, members were to dig ditches to
drain the old seventeenth fairway, and later still, to organise
“stone picking parties” when the new land came into play.
The more ambitious plan was the conversion of the living
quarters on the first floor of the Clubhouse to locker rooms
and the erection of a bungalow adjoining the Clubhouse.These
works were carried out for £400, which makes one think of
errors in the minutes, but the accounts confirm the figure.
A new staircase was built in the bar and all the men’s lockers
were to be installed in what was subsequently to become a
table tennis room, and later still part of the Ladies’ locker
rooms. As this room was of a similar size to the present men’s
bar, without the extension, and in addition to the staircase
contained three washbasins, a footbath and drying facilities, the
conditions were not only rather primitive, but decidedly
cramped! On many Sunday mornings at peak time, members
could often be found with one leg in the wrong trousers!
The bungalow was paid for by subscriptions to a building fund,
each male member being asked to contribute ten shillings. Most
of the money was raised in this manner, but it took a long time,
and the list was up in the hall of the Clubhouse for at least five
years.
took much of his attention and he played less and less.This was
a pity for he would surely have gained many honours on the
Course. However, he could not have gained more honours for
his service to the Club and apart from his great achievements
as Honorary Secretary, had been Captain,Vice-President, and
after the death of Greig Simpson he was elected President, an
office he held until his death in 1977 at the age of eighty.The
debt that present day members owe to Tom is incalculable.
A minute dated November 1938 stated that R.R. Norman, the
professional, was to retire. After several interviews Horace
Fourt was appointed as successor. Fourt was a Worcester man
and had recently left Hinckley Park Golf Club. He arrived on
the late night train at Mumbles Pier having failed in error to
alight at Oystermouth Square, with his two suitcases and a bag
of golf clubs. Relying on the conductor’s instructions that
Langland was only a short distance round the cliff path, he
climbed the steep hill from the Pier into the teeth of a
southwesterly gale, and took a further three hours to find the
Clubhouse.This was in December, too!
Fourt was apparently a competent golfer, but as a drinker had a
handicap of plus ten! This is why the contemporary minutes
continually record the issue of reprimands for not keeping
proper bar hours. Fourt once took a certain Dick Woolacott
on a course of driving lessons on the tractor, and the intrepid
learner-driver descended from the highest point of the course
to the lowest in what must have been a record time, the
tractor fortunately remaining upright.The tractor we used at
the time was a massive Fordson with spiked metal wheels.
Present day players who sometimes complain of tyre marks on
the fairway really would have complaints in the past.These
spikes did however serve as a form of tining for the fairways.
With all the stories and mishaps relating to Mr. Fourt, it is
possible to understand why he, appointed in December 1938,
resigned in September 1939.
About this time considerable ill-feeling was aroused in the Club
by card playing, and apparently heavy gambling taking place in
the bar. Card playing was therefore banned in the bar and
relegated to the Secretary’s office, where the gambling
continued unabated. Indeed it increased to such an extent that
card playing was banned in the Club, and was not allowed again
until some years after the war, and then only under fairly
stringent rules, Because of this action by the Board a number
of members resigned; they were, in general, popular members
of some years’ standing in the Club and their loss therefore
unfortunate. In hindsight the Board appeared to have made the
correct decision because the majority of members were in
favour of the ban.
Ernie Goodman remained in the Club’s services, but now as
the professional instead of assistant and was to work on the
course and be in charge of the bar in addition to his
professional duties, whilst Frank and Mrs.Venn continued to
occupy the bungalow, and Mrs.Venn was to assist in the bar
and keep the Clubhouse in order.This state of affairs lasted
until Goodman was called up in 1940.
The late Tom Evans addressing the members on his retirement as
Honorary Secretary in 1974, after 36 years of devoted service.
Sid Cooper retired as Honorary Secretary in 1938 and his
place was filled by Tom Evans who held the office for some
thirty-six years.Tom, and his wife Gladys, were enthusiastic and
very useful golfers.Tom had been coached by the well known
W.H. Booth at Blackpill Golf Course, had an immaculate swing
and a deadly short game, but after a few years of serious golf
when he reduced his handicap to nine, the job of Secretary
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History, it is said, does not repeat itself, only historians do. Be
that as it may, but for the second time in a quarter of a century
the course was under sentence of the plough. Fortunately, and
largely due to the efforts of Greig Simpson, the order was
changed from ploughing to grazing, and after lengthy
discussions as the purchase of a flock of sheep which Frank
Venn was to look after, it was finally decided to graze a flock of
fifty. These sheep were owned by Price Bros. of Neath, who
paid a rental of £30 p.a., and this continued for some seven or
eight years. One of the Price Brothers was the late David,
who until his death had his own Golf Course at nearby
Fairwood Park.