Heritage Tour
HERITAGE TOUR
Come with me on a Heritage tour of Riversdale golf course.
Holes 1, 2 and 3
By Woody Macpherson, Heritage Committee member
Did you know that there are many items of historical interest on our golf course? My guess is that many of you don’t even notice them. So, next time you play, have a closer look at some of these
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The first hole
As you wander down to the first tee, full of hope and excitement that you will have a good score today, pause to have a look at the weeping Cherry on the right of the path before you get to the Starters Hut. It was planted, in memory of George W Naismith, our club professional from 1929 – 1963. He was also the golf pro at “Melbourne Sports Depot’ in Elizabeth Street in the 1970s. Some of you probably remember him. I wonder what he was like? There isn’t enough space here to do him credit. The Legends booklet (released in 2021) has a detailed story of his golfing and professional careers.
Next, take a look at the Starters hut. It was renovated in 2008 with the help of the Riversdale Foundation. If you stand on the path just below it, you will be under a grafted weeping elm. This tree originated at Camperdown House, Scotland around 1850. It must have come out to the antipodes by boat!
A little further down, on the way to the red tees, there is a seat. If you have a look at it (or take a rest there), you will see that it was erected in loving memory of Pilot Officer Bruce Elwell Hislop, killed in air combat in WW2 in England 18 Sept 1941. It was erected by his parents and sisters. The plaque includes the RAAF motto “Per Ardua Ad Astra” (through adversity to the stars). How about that!? You can learn Latin while you play golf!!
There is another seat on the 10th in honour of a friend of Bruce, probably erected at the same time.
On the second hole
Next, you travel off the first green and along the path. Enjoy the grove of apple and pear trees as you walk to the second tee.
The seat on the eastern side of the 2nd tee was placed there by the family of Ian McMullin, who died in approx. 2015.
Between the second green and the clubhouse there is a sundial in a nice garden which is often planted with flowering annuals. It is credited to “Late esteemed member A. E. Millard 1928” who was Club Captain in 1924. This was Arthur Edwin Millard. Member of the Melbourne Stock Exchange. He died in October 1928.
Have a go at telling the time using the sundial’s shadow. Remember to adjust for daylight savings!
On The third hole
As you go up the path to the third top tee, make sure you enjoy the flowers in the gardens, then fill your water bottle with chilled water at the fountain. Spare a thought for Morrie Silk. Morrie was Captain 1988 -1990 then President 1998-1999. He was a well-respected Captain and President, a true leader of our Club. He was the father of Sergeant Gary Silk, one of the two policemen murdered in an ambush in Moorabbin in August 1998. The fountain was erected by the RGC Foundation in 2001.
The camelia tree near the toilet and short game practice area is a tribute to the memory of Harry Higham, a valued and faithful employee of this club for 35 years. (1927 – 1962). Harry was our greenkeeper. He would have used horses to assist with tending the course in his early days. Our last horse was sold in 1950.
Harry was born in Lancashire, England. He left school at the age of 10 to support his widowed mother, working in market gardens around Blackpool. At the age of 21, he migrated to Australia and married Jessie Brewer. Her father owned St John’s Wood. Harry lived on the farm with his wife and worked on the farm. When the property was sold to Riversdale, Harry stayed on as an employee, helping lay out the new course.
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On the fourth
… the short (yellow) tee as you step off the 3rd green was originally known as ‘Hackett’s tee’. I don’t know of a pre 1950s member of that name. (No relation of current member Ed Hackett). Perhaps the derivation was actually ‘Hackers tee’ & the name became scrambled with time.??
It is possible that he was a real person, a butcher by the name of J Hackett. He and his wife both appear in one of the photos on page 213 of The Riversdale 125 History book.
Head down the hill to the lower tees, tell me what you aim for as you tee off?
Because of the slope of the 4th fairway, I always aim for the big cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) that is actually on the 5th tee and therefore on the left hand side of the 4thgreen, but it is wise to aim left – the fairway slopes down to the right, and there are bunkers there (as well as the rough further down towards Huntingdale road).
Up until 2002, morning golfers used to enjoy the aroma of biscuits baking. The Arnott’s (formerly Brockhoff) biscuit plant was just one km to the north up Huntingdale Road, It was demolished in 2002 to make way for a housing development in the sought after rapidly expanding eastern suburbs of Melbourne
On the fifth hole
Have you ever found your ball in the depression on the right-hand side of the 5th fairway? It is called Newman’s Lake. It was built in 1930 after an earlier donation from former President Charles Morton Newman. The donation was towards a useful and ornamental lake. It used to fill with water in winter, but it was drained in 1958. It was dried out to a grassy hollow as having a blind shot water hole was not suitable to golf. (If you did not see your ball go in the hazard you are not entitled to a drop out).
C M Newman was president from 1917 – 1933 and was made a life member at the AGM in 1933. He played a large part in the Club’s re-location to St John’s Wood (our current location since 1927). A very well-respected businessman, Managing Director of Howard Smith Ltd, and Chairman of a number of listed Australian companies. Unfortunately, he had a heart attack at the Caulfield races in 1937 and did not survive.
Playing this hole in 2021 is much different from previous years. There are no pine trees along the southern boundary anymore. They had to be removed due to pine scale disease. The club was assisted with funding from the Pine Growers Association who, understandably, want to eradicate the disease. So, until the new trees planted along the railway line grow up, we will feel the sou-westers and see the trains travelling by.
On the sixth hole
As you walk up the 6th fairway, enjoy the views of buildings of the CBD to the east, and on a clear day, Mount Macedon to the northeast.
The 6th Green was redesigned in the 1970s with Kevin Hartley (10 time winner of the Riversdale Cup) helping with the shaping. The change was brought about due to the playing statistics from the Riversdale Cup, it averaged 4.7. The Committee thought it was too easy and to make it harder (so it wouldn’t be birdied so often) they decided to lengthen the hole by about 60m and create the swale in the front. There was some concern for the Pencil Cypress trees at the rear – might not survive the mounding and the fill around their trunks (as we see today, they did survive).
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On the seventh
Have a drink from the water fountain near the red tees on this hole. The plaque on it tells us it is in memory of Sydney I Holland, esteemed member for 35 years. He died on 6 November 1988. Our history book Riversdale 125 depicts him as both esteemed and outspoken. Syd was the first person to introduce & utilise battery carts into the club in about 1978
There is a scarlet oak on the left-hand side of the fairway, your second shot will travel past it if you are lucky. In this location, there used to be a mature messmate eucalypt, which at times was home to a family of Tawny Frogmouths. It came down in a wild storm in September 2012. Ask Jenny Lawrence or Kate Macdougall about the day. I’m sure they both remember that they were playing with former member Helen Hiscox and they were all nearby when it came down, just before the siren went and play was called off. The tree was insured and we have thus been able to plant the mature scarlet oak in its place
On the eighth hole
This tee is the only one that adjoins another tee (12th) on our course. Players are often found to be over gracious in getting the opposite tee players to hit away first.
As you walk down the fairway you will see that there are Melaleucas on both sides of fairway. These were planted by Tom Staude. Tom was chair of the Greens Committee in the 1950s ? need to confirm date and had a passion for trees and planted specimens all over the course, often buying them himself.
On The ninth hole
A grove of beautiful gums lines the right hand side of the fairway. They are lemon scented gums, Corymbia citriodora
Have a look at them as you move to your drive on the 9th, or as you wander down to play your second shot on the 10th. They look and smell wonderful particularly in summer when they have shed their skins and stand in the nude!
I particularly enjoy these trees from the balcony of the clubhouse with the afternoon sun on them as I sip on a coffee or some other type of drink after playing.
At the back of the 9th green, next to the short game practice facility there was an Aleppo (Gallipoli) pine Pinus brutia. It had to be removed in 2021 because it had contracted the pine scale disease that many of our pine (pinus radiata) trees had caught.
The short game practice facility was our lawn bowling green until the Bowls section disbanded in April 2012.
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On the tenth hole
Before you tee off on the 10th have a read of the plaque on the pro shop wall. This brick wall was part of the original stables built by John Cunnington, a retired soldier and former Mayor of Prahran who developed the 73-hectare property and named it St John’s Wood.
On his death in 1869 the estate was sold and became the country home of Sir Redmond Barry, a leading cultural and legal figure in Victoria. In 1880, Justice Barry sentenced the bushranger, Ned Kelly, to hang.
Just 12 days after Kelly’s execution Sir Redmond Barry collapsed and died.
The seat on the lower tee of the 10th was erected by the wife and parents in proud and loving memory of pilot officer Leonard SELLARS. Killed in active service in England on 22nd July 1943. Leonard was a friend of Bruce Hislop, the person whose memory is honoured with a seat on the 1st hole
If, like me, you sometimes hit your ball into the gully, you may be hitting back out onto the fairway past the very tall Monkey Puzzle Pine tree Auraucaria Araucana. It is native to South America.
There is one tree that not many people know about. It is on the right hand side of the 10th green behind the bunkers – between the blue pole (drop zone) and the 9th tee. It is a Chinese deciduous tree Ginkgo biloba. I know it is there, because Bert Armstrong gave me a tour of the significant trees on the course. Thanks Bert!
On the eleventh hole
Up the hill towards the 11th green please enjoy the River Red Gum (Eucalyptus Camaldulensis) which has been growing for several hundred years on what is now the lower left hand side of the green. I’ve been told that perhaps this is the site of the formation of the Mount Waverley cricket club, by a few gents having a tipple under the tree. The early site of the cricket club was on the southwest corner of Stephenson’s and Highbury roads, it was grazing land that the owner Carmody allowed the club to play on.
But I digress, it is the spirit of this river red gum distracting me
On the Twelth
This hole is a dog-leg to the left, a short hole that tempts extra-long hitters to try to cut the corner and drive the green. The people travelling on the Glen Waverley trains can now see our members playing since the pine trees on the southern boundary were removed.
The course layout was different in the past. The club owned land further to the south. Back in 1929, 6.5 acres (2.6 hectares) were compulsorily acquired by the Railways Commission to extend the railway line from Darling to Glen Waverley. The club was compensated around 3,700 pounds for the railway land. The funds assisted us in commissioning Alex Russell to design the required course alterations, due to the loss of 5 holes. In all, 8 holes were affected
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The thirteenth hole
The 13th is a par five, sloping gently down to the green (over that tricky burn, which was added in 2006).
As you walk towards the green, you can see the houses on the hill opposite, on the north side of High Street Road. In the 1950s, there were commercial market gardens there.
On the fourteenth hole
Originally this hole had a backdrop of huge pine tree’s which made it look beautiful from the tee, but this stopped the sunlight getting to the green so it became very wet and wouldn’t dry out in winter. The trees were removed in 1997
Enjoy walking over Damper Creek using the stone bridge. This bridge was reconstructed in 2008, funded, with thanks, by the Riversdale Foundation
On the Fifteenth
The golfers who play from the blue and white tees (mostly men) have to hit their drives over St John’s Lake. The women, who play off the reds (or yellows), can enjoy travelling over the long bridge (faced with Castlemaine Rock) before teeing off. The custom among the women is that whoever wins the fourteenth is “given the bridge” and she should take the honour and go across first to have the honour on the 15th tee. Another item of etiquette is that if one is playing with the Women’s Captain, make sure you give her the honour of the bridge. This applied to all the bridges. Many of the bridges used to be made of wood and some were quite narrow. Alas, ready golf has caused the demise of these little traditions.
Rowelly (Immediate Past President Ian Rowell) tells me that when he started at the Club in the early 60’s, it was customary to provide the honour on all bridges to the person who won the last hole, ie 2nd, 14th, 15th, and 18th. Also, the path across the driveway to the 3rd tee. (More history that seems to have been discontinued!)
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The sixteenth hole
This hole used to be the wettest fairway in the middle of winter before the Santa Ana was planted (in 1989) and better drainage.
The green looks like it is going up hill from front to back, however you will notice that the balls continue to gather speed from front to back
On the seventeenth hole
This testing par 3 was made all the more testy in 2003 when as part of the water conservation project a large lake (The Pondage) was constructed downstream of the bridge over Damper Creek.
Similar to the 14th, this hole once had a striking stand of pine trees at the back of the green, which made it one of the most picturesque par 3’s in the state. However, the trees kept the green wet in winter and they were removed to improve the airflow and reduce shading.
Joe Kirkwood was our Professional appointed in 1915 (at the old course) & he was mates with Gene Sarazen.
Back in the 1930s Sarazen played our St John’s Wood course with Joe. Later on he published a book laying out his best 18 holes in the world. He included our 17th.
It would be great to find that book one day. If anyone has a copy, the Heritage Committee would love to see it!
On the 18th Hole
Enjoy the views of the starters hut and the clubhouse before you launch your ball over the water.
This is a tricky short par 4 with high risk reward. It is the play-off hole for the Riversdale Cup.
The recent Irish Open winner, Lucas Herbert took 6 on this hole, the 72nd hole in the Riversdale Cup in 2015. He was leading by 3 shots, but then tied with Travis Smythe. In the playoff, he took 5 on the 18th to lose the tournament.
In 2020, it was a three-way playoff for the men. The hole was played three times with the eventual winner being Lawrence Curtis of Peninsula Kingswood
