LBGC Centenary Book - Flipbook - Page 28
Langland Centenary Book
15/2/05
6:08 pm
Page 28
bungalow. In hindsight it was a poor decision to make and the
property was eventually sold for £1300 and its price today? No
further comment is necessary!
Alterations to the course were now put in hand to bring the
field into play and also to reduce the “mountaineering”, as at
this time the seventh and eighth holes took one from the
lowest point on the course to the highest.The seventh tee was
then alongside the tents - our present practice tee - whilst the
eighth green was alongside the present Ladies’ tee of
the fifteenth.
It is interesting to recall that on the eighth hole one could be
“out of bounds in the air”. In order to make play safe, a high
pole was placed at the top north west corner of the “paddock”
on the present sixth hole. If a ball passed to the right of the
pole it was out of bounds. As can be imagined this led to
numerous arguments among Club members and also with
visiting teams. In fact in July 1956 Lee Taylor, then handicap
secretary wrote to the Royal and Ancient at St. Andrews for a
ruling.The ruling was made in our favour and subsequently
published in the booklet “Decisions on Golf Rules”.This, if
anything, made the rule more unpopular than ever, and the
Club subsequently made the fifth fairway out of bounds from
the sixth hole and dispensed with the marker.The same rule
applied to the seventeenth hole which was then played from a
tee adjacent to the now enlarged car park and “dog-legged” left
around the marker pole to the present green.These rules were
purely for the safety of players as the course has always been
subject to congestion and has always required care and
etiquette to be exercised.This is why occasionally some
members have been suspended from playing for varying periods
of time if they have been guilty of dangerous or improper play,
a decision the Board hate to make, but must, if the welfare of
the majority is to be maintained.
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Other innovations which took place in 1956 were the
commencement of an annual cricket match against the M.C.C. Mumbles Cricket Club, of course, not that other M.C.C. at the
end of the M4. But these matches ceased some years later
when we won! That is our story and we stick to it.They were
resurrected for a few years in the early nineteen nineties but is
not now in the fixture list. A Club Dinner was also started, but
was discontinued after a few years and not revived until 1972
when it was held to celebrate the victory of Bob Pressdee and
Chris Last in the Victory Foursomes and the success of the
Club’s first team in being promoted to the first division of the
County League.
The new sixth hole into “Stroud’s Field” came into operation,
and it was arranged that an exhibition match would be
arranged over the amended course. Harry Weetman, Ryder
Cup player, played against Alf Lockley of Swansea Bay. Alf was a
great friend of Langland Bay and was at the time Welsh
Amateur Champion.Weetman was of course renowned as long
hitter and his tee shots were immense. He also had a most
delicate touch around the greens and was one of the first
players to refer to a putter as a “Texas Wedge” when used
from off the putting surface.
At around this time Jack Tickle had resigned to go to Rushmere
Park Golf Club and Weetman was asked for recommendations.
His protégé was duly appointed, and being very young and in his
first position as a Club Professional, was advanced the sum of
£150 to stock the shop.The Club could ill afford to tie up even
such a comparatively small amount of cash, as although profits
were made annually, the rate of the growth of reserves did not
auger well for the future expansion the Club was envisaging.The
Club did manage, however, to obtain planning consent for a
further 32 summer tents and the increased source of revenue
from this source was most welcome.