Golf was being played in Armidale and Uralla by the early 1900s but this did not impress one Armidale resident who wrote in 1906: “The columns of the Armidale papers are now taken up with reports of golf and tennis, in which few but the elite take any interest, to the exclusion of real sport.”
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The earliest report of organised golf being played at Walcha was in the form of a brief comment in the Walcha Witness of July 13, 1903 that read: “Golf is now played at Ohio.”
Nothing more is known about this club other than the fact that the first Walcha Golf Club, which was formed in 1907, used the Ohio course for a brief period.
Golf was a popular event at Round Swamp from 1931 until the early years of the Second World War.
Willie often neglected his duties on the wood heap and instead spent his time practising golf until James was forced to gain his attention with loud cries of, 'More steam Willie! More steam Willie!'.
The late Roy Chandler said the nine-hole course commenced opposite the church and, in the absence of a clubhouse, the members had the use of a room in the Round Swamp School of Arts hall.
Roy also said his golf tees were often the small cardboard tubes in which wax matches were sold.
Marauding crows were common enough but it seems that hawks could also be a problem.
A report in the Sydney Sun of June 26, 1936, said: “A Round Swamp golfer, after congratulating himself on a perfect drive, was disgusted to see a small hawk alight on the ball and, after many attempts, secure it in its claws and fly off. A number of balls were found secreted under pieces of bark and in heavy tufts of grass.”
The Woolbrook Golf Club was also quite active in the 1930s.
Edna Drage said there was a nine-hole golf course opposite Fred and Jessie Henry’s Belgravia house.
Edna also said that Belgravia was the “honorary” clubhouse for the local golfers.
In the early 1900s, a local golf addict, Willie Steel, was responsible for keeping up a good head of steam to the engine that powered the shearing machinery at Craigend while his brother James was in charge of all other woolshed activities.
Willie often neglected his duties on the wood heap and instead spent his time practising golf until James was forced to gain his attention with loud cries of, “More steam Willie! More steam Willie!”.
Willie was also well known for making golf clubs using bulbous wattle roots weighted with lead.
The Walcha Local History Centre is situated in the Walcha Library, near the post office, in Derby Street.
The Local History Centre houses the Walcha and District Historical Society’s collection of paper records including family histories, local government papers, photographs, books and maps.
