Page 19 - Cornwall_Issue 3_2022

LIFESTYLE

IRENE 110 years of golf and more...

COUNTRY BY N I C O L E Z E R W I C K • P H O T O G R A P H S BY I VA N M U L L E R

CLUB arly Irene was very rural, residents were

far from town and thus entertainment
was a home-made affair. Villagers had
Etwo community places to meet: the
town hall and the golf club.

The idea of a golf course at Irene was conceived
at about the time of Union in 1910. The first
committee meeting, under the chairmanship
of J.A. (Bertie) van der Byl, was held in 1911
when it was resolved to establish a golf course
of nine holes costing roughly £500. Bertie, the
club’s first chairman, though not a keen golfer,
played occasionally. His “sport” of choice was to
disturb the concentration of players by whistling
suddenly from some nearby point of concealment
just as the ball was about to be hit! His son Henry,
and daughter-in-law Evelyn however, were very
keen golfers and Evelyn’s particular claim to
golfing fame was an ‘albatross’ (three under par)
at the old 9th hole.

Among the vice-presidents nominated were
General Smuts and Sir Percy Fitzpatrick. General
Smuts, after a brief affair with the game,
pronounced that he didn’t see the point of
chasing a little white ball across the veld. He was
nevertheless often seen striding over the course
on one of his long walks. The golf house was
at first a 30 pole boma with a
thatch roof set in the shade of
blue gum trees at the corner
of what is now Nellmapius and
Highcloud Streets. In 1920, this
structure was replaced with a
larger rectangular club house
of two rooms, offering a
tearoom and changing
facilities.
shake and its noisy rhythm for close on sixty years
Anecdotes from those of use earned it the nickname “klonkety-klonk”.
early years of golf refer
to the distracting noise In 1914 the club resolved to build two tennis
of “klonkety-klonk”. courts near the present 11th tee. According to
The machine that Diana Lenson, in her entertaining book Dear
pumped water from Irene, tennis players would at times arrive to find
the borehole near the the lawn tennis courts neither rolled nor marked
river to the reservoir and thus they would get stuck in and do the job
(now the scouts hall) themselves before commencing with games.
for household use was
situated between the As the club grew, further expansion became
present 5th and 6th necessary and in 1922 it was decided to extend
golf course holes. A the course to 18 holes and to convert the
huge noisy farm pump, old Government Forestry Station offices and
it made the ground nurseryman’s house into a club house.
Di Dyason, left, was the first female golf
captain ever to be appointed at the club. Cornwall View • Issue 3 2022 17