Chapter 5 - The Associates

THE ASSOCIATES
The first meeting of our Associates was held in the Kogarah School of Arts on 8th July, 1941, chaired by Mr W. Corry. At this meeting it was resolved to form an Associates' Club and to elect a Provisional Committee.
The results of this election were as follows:­
President: Mrs G. Willis Captain: Miss A. Carry
Treasurer: Mrs J. Bourke
Secretary: Mrs Markey
Ass. Secretary: Mrs Meara
Committee: Mesdames A.Bigg, Young, R. McKerrow, Molloy, Halliday and Misses D. Hatfield, Mostyn, Davis, Mitchell and Byrne.
This caretaker committee held its power for one week while awaiting the Associates First General Meeting which was held on 14th July, 1941.
The enthusiasm of the ladies was exhibit­ed by holding a competition that very afternoon, (8th July, 1941). It was a nine hole competition with fourteen ladies participat­ing and was to be the beginning of their own section of the club.
On 14th July, 1941 at the Associates first General Meeting, 21 Associates and 11 members met their Provisional Committee. It was resolved that Miss Byrne be elected Assistant Secretary and also act as Captain of the Weekend Business Girls, Mrs McKerrow become Vice-Captain, and that a six-penny levy for the Trophy Fund be imposed on each member each time they played.
The formation of the Associates came exactly one month after formation of the Club itself.
Three months after their first meeting, 30 Associates attended their next General Meeting on 13th October, 1941 in the Kogarah School of Arts, to elect their official office bearers for the coming year. Those successful at this election were:­
President:                  Mrs G. Willis
Secretary:                  Mrs R. McKerrow
Captain:                     Miss A. Corry
Treasurer:                  Mrs J. Bourke
Committee:                Mesdames A. Bigg, R.Rutter, E. Barnes and E. Hamilton.
Social Committee: Mesdames D. Zealander, I. Rutter, Young, Misses Mostyn, Bang, Williams and Davis.
Advisors from the Club, Messrs James and Hodgson were also in attendance.
Two weeks later, on 28th October 1941 further appointments were made to the elected committee:­
Vice Captain: Mrs R. Rutter
Handicapper: Mrs E. Barnes
Games Committee: Mesdames R. Rutter, R. McKerrow, Miss A. Corry
It was then resolved that a Club Championship and a Foursomes Champion­ship be played in the coming season, and that there were now sufficient players to play three grades:- Grade A, Grade Band Grade C.
At their meeting on 6th January, 1942 the Ladies announced that their Associates had been accepted by the ladies Golf Union on the 31st December, 1941. As a result of this they were eligible to be represented at the meetings of the Union. An election took place with Miss Corry and Mrs McKerrow being nominated as the delegates of the Beverley Park Golf Club Associates to attend the meetings of the ladies Golf Union.
Enthusiasm grew and on 7th April the Associates declared that an open Four Ball B.B. Vs par would be held at the Beverley Park Golf Club and invitations were to be sent to The lakes, Cronulla, Carnarvon, Cabramatta, Bonnie Doon, New Metropolitan, Strathfield, Chatswood, Northbridge and Marrickville.
The Second General Meeting of the Associates took place on 4th November, 1942 with 43 in attendance. and trophies for the season were presented by Mrs Willis.
Over the years the number of Associates has continued to increase.
There was ample cause for the celebra­tion of their twenty-first anniversary on 19th October, 1961 not only because they had reached this milestone, but also because they had defeated Kogarah, Woolooware and New Brighton in the inter-club competitions.
In 1962 Mrs Dot Flynn, was made a Life Member of 'the club in recognition of her many years of service both as President of the Associates and Publicity Officer. In all she served in the capacity of President for seven­teen years, resigning in 1969.
Mrs Dot Flynn re-elected as President of the Associates on 26th October, 1967.
In congratulating Dot for her fifteenth term of office it was announced that there is a 'medal of medals', 'champion of champions' but in the case of Beverley Park, we have a 'President of presidents', something to be extremely proud of and indeed it has been a pleasure for all of us to have known and respected the contribution and expertise that Mrs Flynn has made to Beverley Park.
From 1941 until 1970, there had been only three Presidents, the Founding President Mrs Grace Willis, Mrs Dot Flynn and Mrs. Rube Barnes.
In January 1963 a meeting was convened between presidents, captains and secretaries of Cronulla, Kogarah, Woolooware and Beverley Park clubs to discuss and formulate an Annual Competition Match involving 32 players from each club over the four courses on a match play-off handicap basis, to be known as the Monomeeth Salver, to be played for on the Monday after Easter. Cronulla won the first annual Salver and Beverley Park, the second.
A fashion parade and hair styling demonstration for the ladies raised £250 for the installation of their own Honour Board.
A revolution in course dress occurred in 1963 when Associates were allowed to wear slacks to play in the winter competitions, Today dress is more flexible, but the rules state firmly that Associates are not permitted to wear ski pants, short shorts, bare top sun-frocks or backless frocks in competition, neither thongs nor short shorts are permit­ted in the clubhouse, and dress must be respectable at all times.
ASSOCIATES COURSE RECORD
The course record for the Associates was, set by Mrs I Mitchell in March 1965 and equalled by Mrs H. Coombs in June 1965, both with rounds of 77. Mrs Coombs' game winning her the Ladies Golf Union International Cup. Indeed an honour for Mrs Coombs and for the Beverley Park Golf Club. Their record was beaten in 1966 by Mrs N. Toyer who shot a round of 75.
The Associates first golfers' dream was recorded by Miss K. Hatchett in 1964.
THROUGH THE YEARS
The 1969 Associates' Charity Day raised $203 for the Retarded Persons' Fund, and $108 for the Red Cross.
On 29th October, 1970 Mrs M. Bowler was installed as the new President and a vote of thanks was given to her for her contribution over the past thirteen years in the capacity of Secretary.
Associates' President, Mrs M. Bowler opened the thirty-seventh Annual General Meeting on 25th October, 1977 with an attendance of 134 members, the largest attendance ever recorded since their 1941 inauguration.
1977 hailed the introduction of the 'Sadie Mather Memorial Trophy', still an annual competition, donated by Mrs Betty Winter in honour of her mother.
In 1983 two of our Associates, Mrs J. Bartlett and Mrs M. Taylor, together with their husbands won the Autumn Bowl at Blackheath, and Mrs H. Bulgin won the T.B.S.S. & A Cup at Ryde.
In 1984 the Womens Weekly Perpetual Trophy was played for at Beverley Park, and won by Mrs M. Holt from Beverley Park and Mrs M. Moffatt from Cronulla. This trophy was on display, alternating between both clubs during the following twelve months.
With the introduction of Grade 3, Beverley Park won the inaugural event and the Bronze 1 and 2 Pennants.
1984 also returned the Monomeeth Salver to the club, for the third time, the previous wins being 1964 and 1966.
Beverley Park Associates continued their triumphs into 1985 on the representative scene by winning four major events - the Monomeeth Salver, English Womens Weekly Trophy, Katoomba Salver in the Bronze Division, and the Ladies Golf Union Bronze Medallion.
In 1986, it was with regret that the Associates accepted the resignation of Mrs C. Melville from Committee. She had served as Captain for 5 years, Vice President for 3 years and Treasurer for 3 years - indeed a great contribution to the club!
Mrs Joan Bartlett, as champion of Beverley Park, represented the club at Manly Golf Club in the Champion of Champions Match in 1988 and was successful in winning this event with Mrs Joye Nelson as her caddy. The following year, Joye, in her role as the Beverley Park champion accomplished the same feat with Joan as her caddy. This was certainly a very distinguished achievement for these ladies and for the club.
The round best remembered by Joan Bartlett is the 77 she had in the final round of the Championships. Starting the last round six shots behind the leader Joye Nelson, to have 77 and to take the Championship for 1988. It was one of those days when everything Joan attempted came off.
Charity Day was again held in 1989 for the Calvary Hospital, raising the magnificent sum of $4725, certainly a very creditable effort and more than $1300 above that raised the previous year.
LOFFIE AND THE VETERANS
In 1989 there was one addition to our dignified ranks of Life membership, this accolade was bestowed upon a very loyal, long standing member of the Associates, Mrs Evelyn (Loffie) Lofberg. Her contribution to the sport and to the club in its pioneering days and in the later years have been greatly appreciated by all who have known this fine lady.
Loffie (who joined the Beverley Park Golf Club in 1944), and nine of her Associate golfing friends, were in the clubhouse playing the poker machines in 1952 after a competitive round of golf in a tournament when she suggested that they join the Veteran Women Golfers' Association. In high spirits, these ten women, all aged 50 years and over, unanimously agreed and held their first meeting right there and then. The motion to form the Beverley Park Veterans was put forward, seconded and carried. All that was left to do was to elect a delegate to represent the Beverley Park Golf Club in the Veteran Women Golfers' Association. A middy of beer was knocked over and on replacing it with a schooner, Loffie was duly appointed as their official delegate. A phone call to the Veterans' Association Secretary confirmed that the meeting had been official (the Secretary asked why the Veterans had not joined them earlier) and Mrs E.M. Lofberg was elected as the first Delegate of the Beverley Park Golf Club to the Veteran Women Golfers' Association in 1952, a position she held for thirty seven years until her retirement in December 1989 at the age of ninety years young. She was succeeded as delegate by Mrs Iris McIntosh who took up the post in January 1990.
It was Loffie who organized golfing fund-raising tournament days to support the Situm-Gorari school in the district of Lae in New Guinea. The Victoria Cross Medal which had belonged to the late Pte. Richard R. Kelleher was purchased by members of his unit, the 2/25th Battalion, when it came up for sale, they then donated, it to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. With the money left over they built a school class­room at Situm-Gorari, a native settlement outside Lae. Later during an official visit to New Guinea, Sir Ivan Dougherty, a former Commander of the 21st Brigade, noted that there was little in the way of memorials to the fallen of the 7th Australian Division. He took this matter up with some ex-7th Division Unit Associations, and after much discussion, it was decided to build two more classrooms along side the original one, each room being named after the three Brigades of the 7th Division - viz 18th Bde, 21st Bde, and 25th Bde. A First-Aid post was built, an Aid Post Orderlies Cottage and several teachers' cottages were also built. The whole complex is known as the 7th Australian Memorial School, Situm. All of the funding, facilities, equipment and material for the school was supplied by these returned soldiers and their loyal supporters. In 1973 the school was handed over to the Government. Prior to that, a great deal of the money for the school was raised by the dedication of our Associates Mrs Evelyn Lofberg, Mrs Edna White and Mrs Iris McIntosh.