Another look back in time by means of an old Golf Monthly magazine, this time to February 1947, less than two years since the end of hostilities in the second world war.
What has happening on the golf scene and how was golf progressing?
Golf Monthly has long been a staple of the golfer’s reading matter and here comes up trumps again.
Links mentioned during the video:
Golf Monthly from August 1967 – https://youtu.be/7AWWyzpNZck?si=R4eLC0DPMcX0AKbQ
What happened to the Small Ball? – https://youtu.be/zlAtP1yT03A?si=0aCRDkle5SSvuL8O
Nicoll Pinsplitter Irons – https://youtu.be/RTE-odsAgrw?si=eUbhdAdBpHwKG6gO
9 Comments
Some things haven't changed 😂
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.
An interesting snapshot as we emerged from WW2. By the early 1950's amateur sport was beginning to turn a corner just as professional team sports were starting to see a decline in attendances after an immediate post war boom. By the late 1950's, a new age of consumerism was sweeping the United Kingdom and we begin seeing a boom of municipal golf courses across the the country that lasted until the late 1970's when a lot of courses began looking at semi-private options either in partnership with investors or realizing a raised premium could be played by daily players while encouraging the steady income of yearly membership. Under the first Sports Minister, Dennis Howell, a lot of towns across England wanted to have an accessible golf course and there were tax incentives for municipalities to build such facilities or further develop existing ones. Sadly in 2023, it seems as if these ideals have been forgotten in an ever increasing race to the bottom to charge as much as you can get away with. I fear golf may be becoming a sport for the more well-heeled and connected once again. Thankfully, I am now in that category but I remember a time when I was not and how hard it was then to get into golf especially if you were raised in an area of the country where municipal golf was not readily available.
Good stuff. Thanks.
A fascinating look at a period in golfing history. Here in America professional golf was enjoying a boom in popularity, with quite a few attractive stars like Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson and Jimmy Demaret, among others. Almost every family was touched by the war in one way or another, some by the loss of family members, but as a whole America, and Canada, did not suffer the wholesale destruction that Europe and the Far East suffered.
Interesting to see a New Zealand serviceman with the lemon squeezer hat on in the post war pictures. In the situations vacant calling for young pro's to head to New Zealand for jobs, I think in the 50's and 60's immigrants from England were referred to as £10 poms because it only cost them ten pounds to get a passage to New Zealand for work.
Very interesting thanks. I never knew that rationing carried on so long.
In the early 80's I was fortunate enough to meet and play with an old Scottish gent J. C. (Jimmy) Wilson who in 1947 won the Tennant Cup,the oldest open amateur golf tournament in the world,he also played in the '47 Walker Cup at St. Andrews where GB faced a star-studded US team with the likes of Frank 'Muscles' Stranahan,Willy 'The Wedge' Turnesa and Dick Chapman who became known as 'The Ben Hogan of Amateur Golf'.
Over post golf refreshments (G&T summer,whisky with a splash in winter) Jimmy would recount tales of these characters particularly Stranahan and Hogan (Jimmy qualified for the '53 Open that Hogan won).One of my favourites was of Willy Turnesa who demonstrated his wedge skills by hitting checking shots on the carpet in the R&A clubhouse!
JC was selected to play the Walker Cup again in '53 in the US when he acquired the MacGregor persimmons and Colokrom irons that he was still playing in 1982 at 70+ years.
I spent many happy hours in his company,a real character with a wonderful amateur record.
Nick,I'm so pleased you mentioned rationing something that's rarely spoken of these days and I would urge people to check out exactly what the allowance was to see how little food was available.
With A.D. "Bobby" Locke entering his Prime (from South Africa), I can see that the Open was in good hands! I'm Canadian by the way! 😀 …to be able to go 12-2-2 in 16 Matches with Sam Snead at that time (late 40's when Snead was still in his Prime, was a good way to prove capability! Locke had a mild repeatable hook and hooked his putts over the Bermuda and popularized the primarily "draw-base game" from tee to hole! Even Ben Hogan had to back off to a POWER FADE to escape the higher chance of a tournament wrecking DUCK HOOK. Max Faulkner admired his terrific attitude! Nobody else could "hole a putt over 60' of Peanut Brittle"!