Warwickshire Golf
JOHN WHITWORTH - MEMBER FOR 80 YEARS!
Eighty years of membership at one club would be remarkable for any golfer.
But for Walmley member John Whitworth it is actually one of the less remarkable things about his distinguished life.
John, now 96 but in good health, first joined Walmley Golf Club, based in Sutton Coldfield, in May 1937 as a junior member.
In that same year, Byron Nelson won The Masters, a crowd of 149,547 saw Scotland beat England at Hampden Park and Don Bradman scored 270 runs in his second innings to help Australia beat England in the New Year Test Match.
Amazing feats, but surely no more amazing than the long list of honours won over the next half century by golfer John Whitworth.
He was to go on to earn many local, regional and national honours, as well as serving as Captain, President and Life Member of his club.
His distinguished club service was more than matched by his golfing honours, which span an amazing 48 years in total.
He was Walmley Champion in 1939, 1968, 1973 and 1975; Warwickshire County Champion in 1959; Warwickshire County Matchplay Champion in 1958 and 1963 and Warwickshire County Captain in 1957, 1964 and 1965.
On the regional level, John was Midlands Counties Senior Champion in 1985, and on the national level, he was English Seniors over 70s Champion in 1993, English Seniors Champion in 1982 and British Seniors Amateur Champion in 1987.
To mark his 80 year membership milestone a group from Walmley visited John Whitworth in Harrogate where he now lives with his family, and presented him with a series of mementoes and photographs from his Walmley golfing life.
Club vice-captain Malcolm Brook led the delegation with his wife Nikki, and enjoyed several happy hours talking through memories of Walmley.
Not that the stories were all local. For example John can also tell of playing with Henry Cotton and losing to Ken Foster, among his many memories.
Malcolm also brought John up to date with the latest news of the John Whitworth Junior Trophy, which was joined by the John Whitworth Salver, an annual Walmley trophy inaugurated when John marked his 75 years with the club and was set to move away from the Midlands to Harrogate. That date was marked by a special dinner in his honour.
Away from the golf course, John has an even more prestigious honour, the Distinguished Flying Cross awarded to him for his wartime service in the RAF.
He flew 87 dangerous wartime missions including 21 to Berlin in his service to his country, but the one best remembered at Walmley came when - to celebrate the end of hostilities - he “buzzed” the 13th fairway in a Mosquito. If the tales told have not been exaggerated, his low level daring, rattled the clubhouse chimney pots!
The list of sporting champions from the year 1937 is a remarkable one – Henry Cotton, Joe Louis, Len Hutton, Donald Bradman, Stanley Matthews and Raich Carter to name but a few.
John Whitworth deserves to be remembered with them. A remarkable golfer and a remarkable man.
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