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Chapter 16. The Twilight of a Professional Career
The focus of my post-war golf career was on the local scene and I
was active in the formation of the Northumberland and Durham
Professional Society (later to become the
 North East PGA), serving
as the first Chairman and Captain. The secretary was Bernard Cooke,
who became a noted golf teacher and writer on the subject. Together
we travelled around the area, mainly to golf clubs, giving lectures
illustrated by film of Bernard, myself and local pros – Bill Dixon
and Bill Waugh and followed by question and answer sessions. One
time we went to the Milvain Hall in Newcastle, which could have got
us into hot water as the hall did not have an ‘entertainment’
license.
A discussion between Bernard and myself led to him abandoning his
experimentation with a new idea - the ‘deliberate early release’
system and he wrote about this in his book: Golf: The Professional
Approach:, also saying: “ I was always fascinated by Bert Gadd’s
‘take-away’, for he seemed, like Lee Trevino, to take the club back
outside the target line when he started back”. I told Bernard that
it was actually along the target line, and his movie sequence proved
me right. Like Trevino my open stance made it appear that I was
‘outside’ the target line. It “helped to confirm my original
principles” wrote Bernard.
Our new association was instrumental in the foundation of the
Northumberland and Durham Open Championship – a difficult
undertaking. I approached the two County Unions with a view to
making it a joint effort, but neither was interested and expressed
the view that such an event would not be welcomed. We decided to go
it alone and I wrote to the Captains of every club in the two
counties, asking if they would be willing to make a contribution to
get it off the ground. This brought a fair response and we were
encouraged to make a start. It was our intention to play the event
on Saturday and Sunday, an idea that the Unions had ridiculed – who
would give up their course on a Sunday they asked? We found a club,
South Moor, who were happy to host the first event and went ahead.
The handicap limit was set at 9 and we attracted an entry of nearly
ninety – almost too many for 36 holes. Prizes were awarded for the
amateurs and cash was put up for the pros. My work in setting the
tournament up was rewarded when I took the title. It proved to be a
very popular fixture, always heavily supported and there was never
any difficulty in getting a club to take the championship. It was
good for them too!
The post war Ryder Cup matches had seen the British go down to two
depressing defeats and, in 1951, as our team prepared to depart for
Pinehurst, North Carolina to meet a team containing playing captain
Sam Snead, the US PGA Champion and that year’s Masters and US Open
Champion, Ben Hogan, I wrote in my regular newspaper column: “If
goodwill and wishful thinking could win this match, I am sure our
team would be home and dry. Unfortunately, they have to deal with a
team of tournament tough Americans, who would in all probability be
a match for a ‘Rest of the World’ team and I am afraid that our boys
are going to take a beating”. I said this after watching the
performance of ‘the chosen few’ at the News of the World Matchplay
Championship at Hoylake, where most of them went out in the early
rounds, as did I. I lost a tight third round match at the 19th to
J. H. Ballingall. It was long awaited revenge for Hamish who, with his
partner the future Ryder Cup player, Tom Haliburton, had suffered
defeat by me and Don Curtis in the 1938 Llandudno Trophy. (Two years
later Ballingall won the Northumberland & Durham Open, interrupting
a Gadd hat-trick).
Only John Panton and the finalists Jimmy Adams and Harry Weetman
were impressive at Hoylake. Apart from these three, I wrote, the
team does not inspire a great deal of confidence. The ‘backbone’ of
the side - Dai Rees, Charlie Ward and Ken Bousfield were all out of
touch. Jimmy Adams, who had been second in the tournament in 1937
and 1946, was runner-up for the third time. I was sorry to see him
come second yet again when he lost to Weetman, but Harry was
undoubtedly the golfer of the
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