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BACK NEXT Chapter 11 An Eventful Year Page 84
Archie also won a famous match against the Inland Revenue, who took him to court when he refused to pay tax on his income from betting. His argument was that it was his own money and they would not pay him if he lost. The judge found in his favour, ruling that his winnings did not arise from his employment or vocation. The Revenue appealed but Archie won again and was awarded costs.

There was one opponent who used to wind Archie up, that little character Tommy Barber from Derbyshire, who had beaten Henry Cotton and me in 1932. Tommy played David to Archie’s Goliath and the tricky lightweight invariably got the better of the bigger, stronger man. Golf is a great leveller!

Archie came close to winning the Open twice in the twenties – in the 1928 championship mentioned above, after he had gone ‘freelance’ and earlier, when he was based at the North Manchester club, he was second by a shot to British born American, Jim Barnes, at Prestwick in 1925. He was again up there when I went to watch the 1930 Hoylake Open. A brilliant course record 68 (the first time that 70 had been broken in a Hoylake Open) made up six shots on Bobby Jones and sent him into the last round with a one-stroke lead, but a string of disasters followed in the afternoon round adding up to 82 strokes, which left him six strokes adrift. It left its mark and he never came close again.

Archie taught the un-crowned King Edward VIII and he often travelled with him to tournaments when he was Prince of Wales. I remember the Prince coming to the annual tournament at Roehampton, while I was there. When someone withdrew at the last minute I was roped in and I saw him watching as I teed off – quite an ordeal for a 17-year-old. When in the company of his fellow pros, Archie referred to the future King as Teddy and, although I never heard him use that name to his face, he was sufficiently familiar with the Prince to borrow his car on occasions. During a tournament at Little Aston I recall that Archie borrowed the Royal motor - and chauffeur - to nip over to Penn, where his Mother lived.  When Edward and his friends were holidaying, usually in the South of France, Archie would often be invited to play with them. It was not just a matter of hopping on a plane in those days and in 1932 the papers reported ‘Compston’s Hustle’ to make an appointment with the Prince. Archie was playing in the Irish Open at Little Island, Cork and on completion of the final round he walked straight from the green to a waiting car and was whisked to Cork Station “still attired in his golfing tweeds”. Friends took his ‘civvies’ to the station so that he could change en-route to Rosslare, where he boarded a ferry and rushed on to London to catch a plane.

In the summer of 1936, a few months after Edward succeeded to the throne, he embarked on a Mediterranean cruise with Wallis Simpson and a party of friends, including Archie. It must have been a ‘memorable’ voyage with Archie on board. He was a great talker who knew a little bit about everything, but he was no diplomat and would swear like a trouper in any company. From a tee on the deck some 3000 balls were struck into the Mediterranean. Archie was to finish his days at the Mid-Ocean G. C. in Bermuda where he continued to be as forthright with his American customers as he had been at home. When he died in 1962 a shrine was erected and the ex King, now Duke of Windsor, wrote to the Governor of Bermuda, enclosing his contribution: “Archie was indeed a good and valued friend of mine as well as a very great player and golf doctor. I would not like my name to be absent from the list of subscribers”.

As Prince Edward the Duke he had been a great patron of golf and enjoyed playing with the top pros such as Hagen and Sarazen. Walter was even more ‘familiar’ with Royalty than Archie and, was once heard to address the Prince in a loud voice: ‘Hey, Eddie, hold the flag while I putt will you?’, although the Haig was to claim that he had jokingly addressed the Prince as ‘Caddie’ and had been misheard. Gene told of their round at Sandwich before the 1928 Open, when the Prince invited Walter and Gene and his partner “Duke so and so” into the clubhouse, where pros were not allowed to go of course. When a waiter started whispering in the Prince’s ear Gene recalled he “busted out – ‘You ought to stop this nonsense or I’ll take the Royal out of Royal St George’s’. From then on the doors were open”, said Gene. They may have been for the American professionals when the Prince was around but we never benefited from his influence. It was well into the post war period before British pros had free access.

Going back to that summer of 1937, another memory is of the official opening of a new pitch and putt course at New Brighton near to Birkenhead, after which I was to play a match against Joe McLachlan (the pro from the local Municipal course who was seldom seen without a cigarette and was known as Smoky Joe). I was asked if I could be at the venue half an hour before the ceremony to meet the Council official who was to play the opening shot. He told me that he had never handled a golf club before and asked if I would show him how to hold it and give him a short lesson. We found a quiet corner and I went through the basics of grip, stance, etc., then got him to try a few swings - there was no space to hit a ball, which was probably as well. Off we went to the first tee for the opening shot and he set up as I had told him, but the shot exceeded all expectations. He was either a fast learner or had beginners luck, but the result was spectacular. Quite a decent swing and a lot of energy produced a contact which sent the ball rising over the green 80 yards away, then several rows of parked cars before landing at the far side of the car park, some 70 yards beyond the green.

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