Kay writes: When I joined the club in the early 1960's there was no resident
professional but ladies were fortunate as Bert Dedman, the Royal Winchester
professional, visited the club to give lessons. Later Ron Crockford
became our professional much to the delight of most of the ladies!
When you look back it seems that the sun always shone, but I recall one
Sunday when our Mixed Team was due to play at Salterns there was a terrific
downpour at 11 a.m. and the Salterns secretary rang to say that the course
was unplayable.
Corhampton, as usual, soaked up the deluge, hasty phone calls were made,
and the match was switched to our course. The ladies provided the teas,
as they did on many occasions. In those days there were not so many two-car
families. Husbands and wives arrived at the club together and the mixed competitions
were always well supported.
Our friendship with local clubs is legendary and particularly with Waterlooville
who have always enjoyed their visits to Corhampton.
After matches were over the evenings developed into real social occasions
with music, games and singsongs. Many will remember the late night challenge
by the madhatters who played the first hole lit by car headlights parked in
a row in the semi-rough. It was quite crazy... and the losers had to buy the
beer!
The friendship with Waterlooville was cemented when the club presented
us with a lovely brass bell which now hangs by the tenth tee.
The old clubhouse was much loved and before open matches it was cleaned
and polished by the ladies who also took the curtains home to launder. Open
matches at Corhampton were always popular and regulars came year after year.
As my game improved and I tackled other Hampshire courses I realised how
much Corhampton was appreciated even by a grey parrot which caused a lot of
fun on a lovely Sunday evening. It screeched "fore" at the men and "Whohoo"
at the ladies and then joined us in the bar. The parrot was eventually given
the bird by Bill Trivess for taking a beakful of his beer.
The golf course with the alternative holes was a delight to play. Even
if you were not having a good day with your clubs the scenery was superb and
there always seemed to be so many birds flying around. There were missel thrushes,
fieldfare and a resident woodpecker around the seventh hole. When skylarks
were nesting in the semirough the greenkeeper displayed a "Skylarks -do not
disturb" notice.
It was usual on nine-hole courses for the men's and ladies' captains to
hold a joint Captains Day. I was privileged to be Captain in 1969 when 40
ladies and 80 men played.
The old clubhouse, with its wellstocked bar and professional's shop next
door, could tell many a story. Unfortunately, it was a regular target for
intruders and an alarm was connected to Droxford Police Station. The last
person to leave at night had to remember to jump over the mat at the door
because it covered the alarm bleep. Sadly, that bleep often went off..