LBGC Centenary Book - Flipbook - Page 27
Langland Centenary Book
15/2/05
6:08 pm
Page 27
bit hectic sometimes, especially when matches of snooker, table
tennis and darts were played against Clyne, Uplands Rugby
Club, Mumbles Cricket Club and other like-minded
organisations. However, some influential members wanted a
lounge, so the table was removed and both carpet and easy
chairs installed.The members who had petitioned for the
lounge were conspicuous by their absence, the more active
members drifted away and bar sales showed a reduction.
By now all the cups and trophies which had been destroyed
during the war had been replaced and the Ladies had been
presented with the “ Caroline John Bowl” and the “T.A. Evans
Cup”, irreverently known as the “Sec’s Cup”. Ron Cross had
also presented the Veterans Cup notably for a highly
complicated handicap system dependant upon the members
Club handicap and his age, and about this time, Dr. Leighton
Rees presented a cup in his name for the Junior Section.
The matches referred to were a feature of the close seasons in
the immediate post-war period.They were pleasant, jolly
evenings although some did get a bit hectic. Some older
members may remember when the “Muffin man” trick of
balancing a pint of beer on one’s head whilst making various
movements, was being essayed with the room under about six
inches of beer. Good for the Club profits no doubt! The
general feeling was, however, a drawing together of all the local
clubs for the good of sporting community as a whole. It was
perhaps largely due the numerous returned ex-servicemen of
similar age groups in the local clubs, which made these evenings
so popular. Many of the members of the rugby and cricket of
that era became members of the Golf Club.
1955 was one of the few years when no annual dance took
place. As recounted earlier the dance held at the Brangwyn
Hall in 1954 had been poorly supported; pleasant for those
attending as there was plenty of space to dance, but despite
booking a top London band it was a financial disaster. The
number of applications for tickets to the 1955 dance, again to
be held at the Brangwyn Hall, was so small that rather than risk
a further large drain on the Club’s already strained resources,
the dance was cancelled.
Langland Bay Golf Club celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1954 in
a variety of different ways, with dinners for past captains, a
dance at the Brangwyn Hall, which incidentally was poorly
supported, the planting of trees on the fourth and fifth fairways,
yes that tree in the middle of the present second fairway is fifty
years old now, and with the first of a series of exhibition
matches held on the course.This one featured Dai Rees and
Fred Daley, was blessed with good weather and was made
memorable by a fantastic shot by Fred Daley from the gorse
and bracken of the present eighth hole which nearly went in
for a two.
The President, Greig Simpson, was elected Captain, and in
order to deal with the many events and give honours to
others. Four Vice-Captains were appointed as follows:- C.E.
Penn and C.E. Mortimer, both incidentally Vice-Presidents, to
deal specifically with the golfing events, Courcey Penn and Bill
Richards. It is the only instance in the Club’s history of father
and son both vice-captains in the same year!
After the junketing of Jubilee Year the Club got down to more
serious business.With the lifting of restrictions on repair work,
the outbuildings were made habitable and converted to locker
rooms. Not particularly elegant but with vastly more room
than in the then existing locker rooms. At the same time a
tractor shed was built to house the equipment and the other
implements ousted from the buildings.This was the shed which
stood in the centre of the car park until demolished in 1973,
but when it was built, it was outside the car park and took part
of the garden of the bungalow. Car parking was rather chaotic
then, even with the smaller number of cars around.
With the removal of the sheep it was now possible to reintroduce sand to the bunkers. Strangely this was not a
unanimous requirement even on the greens committee,
arguments being advanced that Langland was a parkland
course, not a seaside course and that anyway sand would be
blown out. As the same members had been instrumental in
cutting down several trees and had also been against the
planting of others, it appeared to the majority that they were
anti-change, and so sand re-appeared in the bunkers.True, it did
blow out, but this did no harm to the adjoining area and could
be replaced. After continuous experiment there is now
reasonable sand in greenside bunkers, which needs regular
replenishment, and heavier sand in fairway bunkers which, in
theory anyway, are not visited as often by players and do not
require as much maintenance or replacement of sand.
One of the interesting post-war innovations was the Club
outing, when thirty or forty members would embus at an early
hour on a Sunday morning for Llandrindod Wells, or
Carmarthen, or on a couple of occasions, Abergavenny.
Complete with crates of beer they would cheerfully travel for
two or three hours, play thirty six or more holes of golf, and
arrive back, often in a somewhat bedraggled condition, in the
early hours of Monday morning.The lifting of petrol
restrictions and the increased number of cars removed the
need for a bus, and thereby, quite a large part of the
enjoyment. In addition, the boom in golf drastically reduced the
number of courses who were prepared to allow such an
invasion.This pleasant, inexpensive, and usually enjoyable day
was discontinued for a number of years, but has now been reintroduced with several clubs involved in home and away
fixtures during the season.The Ladies section have retained
their annual days outing for many years and appear to
thoroughly enjoy themselves.
A most important development now came to the Board’s
attention. Mrs. Stroud, widow of the gentleman against whom
the Club had taken legal action years ago, had died and the
bungalow and field were on the market.The field was a sore
point with Langland golfers. A slice off the fifth tee or a slice
coming up the then eighth hole and not only were you out of
bounds but you were forbidden to retrieve your ball.This even
though it could probably be seen. Mrs. Stroud would threaten
legal proceedings for trespass and had even been known
brandish a shot gun. One particular fit member of the Club
used to hurdle the top hedge, pick up his ball on the run, leap
over the lower hedge and be in the Clubhouse in time to
answer the expected phone call from Mrs.Stroud and to
promise her on behalf of the Secretary that the culprit would
be severely dealt with if he was a member of the Club.
Despite objections that the field would be unnecessary and
would entail expenditure out of proportion to its benefit,
needless to say from the “anti-sand” and “anti-tree” group, and
despite the deplorable state of the bungalow, the Board
determined to purchase the property and after protracted
negotiations completed the purchase for £2200.
An extraordinary general meeting was held to ratify the
Board’s decision which was to increase the borrowing powers
of the Club.This, the members were quick to do, but
unfortunately not so quick to take up the debentures which
were issued to raise the capital required to purchase the
bungalow and the field.The bank manager, a member of the
Club at the time, unlike his successors did not envisage the
forthcoming golf and property boom, and would not help.This
led to a most unfortunate decision by the Board to sell the
27
27