Golf army soldiers on

TWICE every week, men from a range of backgrounds and ages gather at Murray Downs Golf & Country Club for their traditional nine holes.

Rain, hail or shine, the group has hit the green every Monday and Wednesday afternoon for the past 25 years, allowing older golfers the chance to continue playing golf.

The men are a part of Dad’s Army golf team, a group which pre-dates the course they play and who love the sport for the camaraderie that it brings in their community.

Last week about 15 members gathered at the home of former team co-ordinator Jim Mayhew to peruse the collection of memorabilia stored in the Mayhews’ home.

Jim Mayhew has been a key figure in the Dad’s Army ranks through the decades, ensuring even those who can’t walk a round now can get around the course.

Now 90, Mayhew still takes to Murray Downs in a golf cart, as do a number of other men who have given up the sport – but not the social aspect.

Team member Barry Ingram said while he had been part of the team for close to 15 years, his tenure was “still nowhere near as long as some of the other guys”.

“Dad’s Army says it all,” Ingram said.

“We’re a group of older men who want to play golf who may not be confident they could get around 18 holes all the time.

“With our guys being over that 70 mark, I feel we’ve kind of got passed that really competitive stage.

“We go out there, and if we’re having a good day, we come back and talk about it – and if we’re having a bad day, we come back and talk about it.

“We talk about what we could have done, what we should have done and what we didn’t do.

“But at the end of the day, it’s all about fun.”

Ingram said that the round’s scores took a backseat to the session of “chin-wagging” that followed the afternoon’s play.

“We just go out there for our own entertainment – we aren’t playing for sheep stations,” he said.

“We go out, then go upstairs and have a coffee or a soft drink, maybe even a hard drink or two.

“We have people from all walks of life as part of Dad’s Army and that’s what makes it interesting – we’ve got fellas who have owned businesses, there are former farmers here.

“In conversation upstairs we’ve totally rebuilt Australia, we’ve changed the government 20 times, we’re absolute masters of fixing these problems.

“If local council were to come along, they’d hear a lot of ideas.

“They might not be able to pay for them, but we’ve not got a lack of ideas.”

While the game’s social side takes precedence for Dad’s Army, the team do go head to head when they compete for two major events each year.

The first is a Masters event in which they maintain ranks with the British Open or the US PGA over three days for the year-long ownership of their prestigious green jacket.

The second major event is more festive, when the men gather for Christmas lunch with their spouses and crown the team’s golfer of the year.

Golfers over the age of 60 are invited to join the team each week.

As Ingram explains, the team currently includes men from their 70s up to the age of 90.

“At the moment our youngest is around 70,” he said.

“We had a pair who recently retired who were both knocking on the door of 90. We’ve got guys who are jokesters and we’ve got guys here who in their everyday lives are a bit more serious, but if you see them out here with us, that changes very  quickly.

“One of the men was 94 when he decided to give it away and was still capable of playing a reasonable game of golf.”

Dad’s Army is extending an offer to older men across the region to go along and join the team to continue playing golf with a friendly group.