History

The course, such as it was, was a nine hole one on about 32 acres of land and was endured by the enthusiastic golfers for almost twenty years. In 1916 there began a seven-year quest to purchase more land with a view to having a fully-fledged 18 hole course. Finally, in 1923, the club was able to boast of 97 acres — the current size of the course (not counting the extra 25 acres to the north of the existing course earmarked for future development).

Building 18 holes, however, continued to be an ongoing irritant: it seems that conflict and personal differences meant coming up with an agreed plan was a long time coming.

In the end, Wellington golf professional Arthur Ham produced a plan for £25, a tidy sum in those days, probably in the region of $1–5,000 in today’s money. The course measured 5550m and kept the par/bogey of 79.

As ongoing technology in both playing and greens-keeping equipment advanced, so the course underwent changes. In the 1930s, the men’s par was dropped to 75. In 1951 it continued its downward slide to 73; 72 was the value from 1966; and the current value of 71 has been in existence since 2002.

The first of these notables was Eileen Williams, probably better known (by the archaic notion of using her husband’s name) as Mrs Guy Williams. Williams was prominent from the 1910s onwards.

At the same time as Williams was tredding the fairways, a player noted as the finest iron player of his day, TH “Bill” Horton, joined Masterton. During the 1920s and 30s he held a monopoly on the club’s championships, winning ten in a row. He also showed his class on the national scene, winning representative honours for New Zealand.

Horton’s dominance at Masterton only came to an end in the mid-30s with the arrival of another great player, ADS Duncan. Duncan, who, by the time he arrive in Masterton, was past his best, still proved to be a formidable opponent.

Coming on the heals of Horton was John Hornabrook, a player who caught the eye of the great Gene Sarazen. Sarazen, out in New Zealand on an exhibition tour, invited Hornabrook back to the US. In what was probably one of life’s greatest “what ifs”, Hornabrook was unable to raise the $US2,000 (a vast sum in those days, equivalent to at least $US50,000 today!) to make the trip.

Hornabrook inspired many who followed, including Guy Horne, who was only a couple of years younger than Hornabrook. Horne won the New Zealand Amateur Championship in 1946, and represented New Zealand against Australia in 1947 and 1952. Geoff Falloon also no doubt came under the dual spell of Horton and Hornabrook. The Second World War and service overseas meant that Falloon lost a number of his best years to King and Country, but he made an impression as a player, and probably more so as an inspirational administrator: in the late 1960s he was appointed Manager of the New Zealand team that played Australia for the Sloan Morpeth Trophy in Melbourne.

As good as all of these golfers were, however, overshadowing all who have come before him and since is Sir Bob Charles. For many, many years the only left-hander to win a Major Championship — the 1963 British Open — Charles has been Masterton’s, and New Zealand’s, foremost golfing ambassador for the best part of five decades.