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revived tournament
Nailcote invited me to play in
a Super Seniors section with Charlie and his old Ryder Cup team-mate
Max Faulkner. Charlie had won the Short Course championship when he
was resident pro at The Palace Hotel, Torquay, setting a new course
record. (Nailcote Hall’s Director of Golf, Sid Mouland, broke the
tournament record at the Torquay course in 1963 and held it for ten
years) I was unable to play due to my eye problems but Charlie
showed that his renowned short game could still function in his late
eighties. The winner, by a large margin, was a player who was soon
to make a big impact in his rookie year on the Seniors Tour, Carl
Mason. His 9-hole course record 21 is likely to be longstanding.
Nailcote Hall kindly invited me back each year, but sadly sufficient
sponsorship was not forthcoming and the Championship lapsed again
after the 2001 event, won by a member of the Midlands PGA, Robert
Rock, who went on to make a name for himself in some European Tour
events in 2003. That last Short Course championship was a special
occasion as Nailcote celebrated the 50th anniversary of Max
Faulkner’s Open victory at Royal Portrush. I was pleased when he
received long overdue recognition at the age of 85 when he was
awarded the OBE in the 2002 honours list. Sadly my old friend
Charlie Ward had passed away a few weeks before the Nailcote event.
He was just short of ninety-years-old and we had been friends for
nearly seventy years. Charlie’s ashes were scattered on his beloved
‘Little Aston’.
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