February 2023 Society Newsletter
This issue of the society newsletter focuses on the following:
This year’s World Championship to be held in Ireland at Roganstown, Co. Dublin, June 26th – 30th 2023. Article includes planned collaboration with EDGA.
Proposal to hold the 7th Fightmaster, Ryder Cup style event, to be played against One-Arm Team North America, in Kentucky, Louisville, USA.
Keith Dewhurst, Honorary Secretary
2023 World Championship
Will be held at Roganstown, Ireland, June 26th – 30th. Planning by our Irish Regional Team, Mary, Brendan and Cian is well underway.
At our last AGM held during our Championship at Tynemouth, we had a discussion regarding collaboration with EDGA (European Disabled Golf Association) culminating in an agreement that this would be beneficial but with due regard to maintaining the integrity of the Society expressed in our Constitution. EDGA are holding their 2023 Irish Open during the same week and at the same location as our Championship presenting an ideal opportunity towards this objective. The Irish Team have presented their proposals to our Society Management Team on how Society and EDGA members could participate in both competitions, with some minor changes to our usual schedule as follows:-
- Weekend of 24th June – practice rounds and potentially a match v Roganstown Golf Club.
- Monday – SOAG Bob Hughes Cup.
- Tuesday – SOAG 1st Qualifying round and EDGA Irish Open 1st round.
- Wednesday – SOAG 2nd Qualifying round and EDGA Irish Open 2nd round.
- Thursday – SOAG Match-play (gross and nett).
- Friday – SOAG Match-play (gross and nett), Cattenach Cup and Presidents prize.
The above schedule presents an opportunity for Society members to participate in the EDGA Irish Open and EDGA members to participate in the SOAG Championship. This will require Society members to join EDGA (£5 one-time cost, will be reimbursed by the Society) and EDGA members to join SOAG (£20 annual cost).
The Society Management Team agreed that the above proposal presents an excellent opportunity for collaboration with EDGA in line with the discussion at our last AGM and have given their approval for the Irish team to continue their planning accordingly.
We encourage members to take up the opportunity to play the EDGA Irish Open event when entering the SOAG 2023 Championship (option to play is via the Championship entry form). Society members wanting to play in the EDGA event will need to join EDGA, see EDGA website Login page https://www.edgagolf.com/ and should then register for the EDGA Irish Open again through the EDGA web-site. We understand the EDGA Irish Open includes Gross, Nett and Stableford formats. Any direct entry related cost associated with SOAG members playing the EDGA Irish open will be accommodated by the Society (i.e. entry fees).
The 2023 Championship entry form is available on the Society website under the Events section or by clicking here. More information will be posted on this website during the coming months as our Irish team firm up the championship week schedule.
The PayPal payment option for the Championship entry fee is no longer available, payment is by bank transfer detailed on the Entry form.
Fightmaster Cup
I am pleased to report that planning is underway to hold the next Fightmaster Cup match between the Society and One-Arm Golf Team North America this coming September in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
More information will be published on the Society website in due course as the American team firm up arrangements.
Obituary
OBITUARY LES FULLER 2nd June 1921 – 8th April 2021, by Peter Priscott
I first met Les at the World Championships in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, in 2008. An imposing man, celebrating his 87th birthday, who came with his equally impressive son
Brian who towered over Les. He was returning to the World Championships after a break of many years looking after his wife Olive.
Les had joined SOAG in 1991 and attended many World Championships. Sadly Olive passed away in 2007 and Les decided to resurrect his membership. In 2011 at Tring, County Meath Les won the special trophy for the Over 90’s and in 2013 at Ballater, Scotland at the age of 92 became the oldest member ever to have participated in the World Championship.
We last saw Les in 2014 at Seaford World Championship I visited him on a couple of occasions at his apartment in Poole which overlooked Compton Acres Gardens.
Les’s life in the war, losing his arm and being imprisoned is best summed by extracts from a press article:-
Les was born in 1921 in South London and was brought up there until he left school at the age of 14. He joined the Territorial Army in 1938 before joining the regular Army on the outbreak of war in 1939 and placed in the Tank Regiment. As a tank driver he then went to North Africa in the campaign against the forces of Rommel. Returning unscathed to England he volunteered for the Parachute Regiment, was selected (only 1 in 5 were) and underwent training on course 99 at RAF Ringway from 19/1 to 3/2/1944 and joined 3 Parachute Battalion Headquarters Command. Les hovered between Private and Corporal for some time as he kept being demoted for coming back late from seeing fiancé Olive whom he married in April 1944.
After several delays Les flew from RAF Saltby in one of 34 Troop Carrier C-47 aircraft with Operation ‘Market Garden’, the Battle for Arnhem to secure 8 bridges over the River Nederrijn, as part of the 1st Airborne Division. The parachute drop was made some 7 or 8 miles from the objective but resistance was expected to be light to moderate. The Brigadiers overseeing the operation had not given sufficient thought to the German 9th and 10th SS Panzers being in the area and resistance was very fierce. Of the 588 men in 3 Parachute Battalion only 28 were evacuated, 65 killed and 495 wounded or captured. The 1st Airborne Division had 8969 men at Arnhem. 1174 were killed, 5903 captured or wounded and only 1892 were able to make it back to England.
During this time Les was badly wounded in his right arm by a mortar bomb. During a planned exchange of wounded he was sent to the Airborne Hospital at Appeldoorn, a converted Dutch army barracks. His arm was too severely damaged to be saved and was amputated.
Shortly thereafter, Les was captured by the Germans and sent to Stalag XI B a prisoner of war camp holding 2500 inmates. Sadly some 750 died there before the 8th Kings Royal Irish Hussars, part of General Montgomery’s Ninth Division, arrived on April 16th 1945 and liberated the camp inmates.
Les returned to England for the birth of son and future caddy Brian, two daughters then followed. He joined the British Oxygen Co starting what was to be a lifelong career in the medical equipment industry. He moved with them to Canada in 1956 as sales manager and lived near Toronto where he started to play golf at Hawthorne Valley with Brian. A career
hange in 1965 resulted in Les and wife Olive returning to England, West Sussex where Les started playing golf at Cowdrey Park and then Goodwood.
There are many tales of how Society members came to be one-armed golfers, birth, accident etc. Les served his country during World War 2, experiencing traumatic times including the loss of an arm.
A man to remember with respect, admiration for his service to his country, and fondness recollecting his cheerful spirit at Society events.
Just Jottings
DAVE WATERHOUSE, by Peter Priscott
Many were amazed to see Dave Waterhouse turn up at Tynemouth with a full straggly beard….which came off a couple of days later.
However, this is not the first time Dave has appeared with a hairy face.
This is a photo of steely-eyed Dave with fashionable stubble, the thorn between the two roses Ness Guy and Doris Banks, at Royal St. David’s in 2009.
Could this be the reason that 2009 and 2022 are two of the very occasional years when the consistent Dave did not win anything?