Faye Payne / Gloria Fish (Ipswich) / Pam Langford - Indooroopilly / Wynnum Ladies / Nell Harvey - Keperra / Noelene Lancaster - Keperra
Faye Payne
Faye started golf at the McLeod Golf Club. She lived next door to professional Tony Raeburn who worked at McLeod. She won the Club Championship at McLeod many times, and also at Headland where she was a country member and later a full member.
Faye joined Indooroopilly and was successful in winning the Club Championship there 9 times, the first in 1977 and the latest in 1995. Faye has also won the Foursomes Championship an amazing 16 times.
The Queensland Mixed Foursomes championship was held at old Indooroopilly in 1976. Faye won the event with John Thomas from McLeod. They scooped the pool by winning the AM, PM and aggregate net events, as well as the other major title, defeating Joan Fletcher and partner by one shot.
Faye won the 1984 Queensland Foursomes Championship with 17 year old Karen Pearce, now a profesional.
In 1992 Faye was runner-up to Lorraine Lambert for the State Title at McLeod, and was again runner-up to Lorraine at the Champion of Champions at Pacific. She then travelled to Kooyonga in South Australia with Margaret Davies as caddy, to contest the Australian Amateur Championship.
Faye finished runner-up to Jane Leary (now a professional), along the way beating Lorraine Lambert and Edwina Kennedy.
Faye won the Australian Seniors Championship three times in succession, in 1994, 1995 and 1996. and has represented Brisbane and District five times in the annual Meg Nunn event.
Faye currently still plays off a low handicap and is employed at Indooroopilly as a Course Marshall.
Gloria Fish (Ipswich)
Mrs. Gloria Fish has been a continuous member of Ipswich Golf Club for 62 years. She has seen many changes at Ipswich over these 62 years, firstly as an Associate and now as a member. Gloria Nolan joined in 1948. In 1953 she married Mervyn Fish and they had four children.
She has been a Club Champion and won both the mixed and ladies championships, single matchplay Championships.
Gloria was captain/player of the B&DLGA pennants for many years. During this 30 years’ service she drove the ladies to and from their games.
Every year Gloria has been a trophy donor to the Ipswich Golf Club lady golfers and is a generous supporter of fund-raising ventures.
Gloria Fish still plays regularly at Ipswich on Tuesdays in weekly competitions.
Pam Langford - Indooroopilly
Pam has been a member of Indooroopilly since 1957. At that time golf was still considered an older person's game and as a teenager at the Indooroopilly Golf Club she was a rare breed.
Her parents were A Grade golfers in the club (her mother being Club Champion in 1949) and Pam was given every encouragement.
Pam remembers she was in awe of Miss Gertrude McLeod who was the then President of the Queensland Ladies Golf Union (QLGU) and a member of Indooroopilly.
Miss McLeod made sure that young golfers like Pam knew how to behave both on and off the golf course.
Pam won her first Club Championship at the age of 18 and, with Gail Corry, represented Queensland and won the first Junior Interstate series to be held in Australia,
Later Gail and Pam donated the Junior Jug, a matchplay event between the 7 districts of Queensland, to commemorate their win. Pam's lowest handicap was 5.
She continued to represent Queensland, as well as getting married and having a son.
She represented Indooroopilly at Pennants for many years, and remembers the wonderful Club spirit providing the backbone of our Pennant teams and being the envy of other metropolitan clubs.
Almost twenty years of golf administration culminated in Pam being President of the QLGU in 1996. During her time with QLGU Pam was State Captain 5 times and Captain of the Queensland Junior Jug Team several times.
Although her mother caddied for her in her early years, Pam has very fond memories of Vesta Trobe who was her support through many tough matches.
Another of her earliest memories is of being called to the tee by Bunny Wing and other members of the ladies committee from the terrace at St Lucia. She recalls that the members bar was "out of bounds" for the Associates and that she would have liked to have had her 21st birthday party (in 1961) at the Club but the men's committee would not permit it.
Pam won the Club Championship 10 times and the Foursomes Championship 5 times.
Wynnum Ladies
History of Women’s Golf Wynnum, the third oldest golf club in Brisbane, formed in 1922. The official opening day by the Governor, Sir Matthew Nathan on the 26th January 1925.
During the first 75 years of the club Mrs W. (Minnie) Bell served as Associate Honorary Secretary for 29 years consecutive years until she retired in 1958 and was the first women to receive life membership in 1953.
Mrs A.H Smith was a very prominent Associate member in the club’s formative years, she was the first associate Club Champion and held the title for five consecutive years. In 1929 she shared the handicap mark of honour among Queensland Associates with that year’s club champion Mrs G. Middleton and was President of the Queensland Ladies Golf Union.
Mrs R.(Kath) Duthie was the longest serving Associates President, from 1936 – 1939 and again from 1949-1956 a total of ten years. She also served on committee in 1935, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, & 1944 and a Four Ball Match Play Honour Board Event is staged each year in her memory. Her husband Bob was also Club President for three years.
Mrs. Kath Duthie died 19th April 1967, and in memory of his wife, Bob Duthie notified the Associates’ Committee that he wished to donate a memorial trophy in her honour. The Committee unanimously decided that this trophy should be an Honour Board Event played approximately 19th April (Anniversary of Mrs. Duthie’s death) and to take the form of a 4 Ball Match Play Event for mid week players.
However, at the Associates’ Annual General Meeting on 17th November 1967 it was moved and carried that the 4 Ball Match Play Knockout Event would be for all Associates. As we no longer have weekend players, it has reverted to a mid week event with a qualifying round of Fourball Stroke Play, 16 pairs qualifying.
The event was first played in 1968 and continues to this day, it is keenly contested by all participating Associates. It is one of our most popular Honour Board events.
Grace Hughes was born in 1903 and had her first game of golf at Victoria Park Golf Club in late 1945, she soon joined Wynnum Golf club for ease of transport from her home at Morningside. Her husband Jack soon joined her and together they spent time watering the greens, raising money and spirits with singing around the piano on Saturday nights.
Grace was a stickler for the rules and etiquette on golf, any questions just ask Grace she will tell you the rule and the page it is written on.
Grace was on the Associates committee for six years, three years as President and received life membership in 1989. Grace was a tower of strength and support for her husband Jack who had a long and distinguished term as Honorary Secretary and as the club’s first Secretary Manager.
The Jack Hughes Memorial Day is played each year in memory of her husband’s work and Grace never failed to attend the club on this day to present the trophy. Even when she was no longer able to play herself, she still attended the presentation of the trophy. Grace continued to played golf after a hip replacement at Bulimba Sporting Club up until the ripe old age of 96. At 100 she entered a nursing home and died just short of turning 103.
Gertrude Olds was a long time member of the Wynnum Golf Club in the 1940’s and 1950’s. She was the Associates captain from 1945 to 1954 and Club Champion in 1950, 51, 52, 53 & 54 as the honour boards will attest, she played off 7. Although her husband (also long serving club member) Clarrie passed away in 1981.
Gertrude can still swing a club and was honoured at the opening of the Kaley Golf Club in 2002.
Nell Harvey - Keperra
A Leader to be Remembered
A member of Keperra Country Golf Club 1942/43 to 1963, Nell Harvey was not an elite player and whilst she enjoyed her many games of golf, she also felt that course and management could be improved.
By taking a whole committee of her own choice for nomination – and succeeding one year after joining – her ideas and interests were welcomed by the ‘founding fathers’. After years of lessened activity there was much to be done and after persuading members to employ a gardener, both the course and the clubhouse benefited with displays of colour.
Club finance was very scarce so fundraising was necessary. The ladies organised raffles and lamington drives and it was a persistent effort. All the baking was done by Nell and other members who had time to spare and over that extended period Nell provided all the ingredients at her own expense. Over the years, these funds were preserved by the Ladies Committee for permanent improvements, resulting in the building of the halfway house and the barbecue.
Maintenance of the course was done by many willing hands who had some time to spare with the men operating the heavy gang mowers, etc. Nell participated in all working bees which were every Sunday during the season and provided morning teas and lunches with her committee as the waitresses.
Work seemed always constant and the challenges ever-present, and whilst the processes sometimes may not have run smoothly, they were always completed.
Nell’s personality was such that her committee were willing allies in all her activities – not only fundraising – but also scrubbing, rubbing down furniture, painting and cleaning, making curtains and generally caring for their clubhouse.
Nell richly deserved her recognition afforded by Keperra Country Golf Club and her name and dedication is perpetuated in the annual award of the Nell Harvey Memorial trophy for ladies and the visual reminder by her name on the Club’s honour board.
Information provided by Gwen Osterlund, Member, Keperra Ladies Golf Club
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Noelene Lancaster - Keperra
Noelene Lancaster was born in 1926 and in 1958, at the age of 32, commenced playing golf at the Waratah Golf Club in NSW. This is where she had her first dabble in being on the Ladies Committee and was elected to Captain from 1961 to 1963. A few years later and a move to settle in Brisbane found her and her husband joining Keperra Country Golf Club in January 1967.
It was not long and she again took up the challenge of being a committee member and if you take a look at the Honour Board she has held the office of both Captain from 1969 to 1971 and President from 1974 to 1976 here at Keperra.
Not only did Noelene play both weekend and weekday golf, she also represented the Club in pennants. With the appointment as Captain she automatically became a delegate on the Queensland Ladies Golf Union (QLGU), a position she would hold for 31 years. During this time she continued to play golf with all her friends here at Keperra.
Whilst at the QLGU one of her early positions was on the Junior Golf Committee with a small grant of $200 and the assistance of fellow committee members they conducted the first of the Junior Camps for young junior girls at Redland Bay Golf Course, and she proudly spoke of three of their first protégés Corinne Dibnah, and Ann and Elizabeth Wilson who later went on to become professional golfers. This program is still going today and our own Rachael Thomas attended these camps as a junior.
During her 31 years on the QLGU, she was Chairperson on the Finance Sub-Committee and the Match Committee. She was Handicap Manager from 1979 to 1986. She was also on the Uniforms Committee and later on the Scratch Score and Course Rating Committee where she remained until she resigned from the QLGU in the year 2000.
Noelene attended and worked at several Country and City championships commencing in Bundaberg in 1969.
In the 1980s golf clubs were undergoing big changes. Golf Clubs obtained Government and Council grants. Money was spent upgrading courses. They were busy times. As the clubs altered their courses they wanted them rated. It had been many years since anyone had visited Queensland Country Clubs for the purpose of course rating. Over the ensuing years Noelene rated most courses throughout Queensland. It was hard work, but enjoyable, trying to equalise the Course Ratings and make the handicap system more workable on all courses. She met and stayed with Lady Committee members throughout the state, many of whom remained her very good friends right up until her death in early 2010.
In 2000 the then Prime Minister awarded the Australian Sports Medal as a one-off medal to coincide with the Sydney Olympic Games. Noelene was awarded an Australian Sports Medal for Services to Women’s Golf in Queensland. The citation was signed by John Howard Prime Minister of Australia and William Dean – Governor General on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen.