Sir Bob Charles said he first visited the club in Balmacewen in 1953, when he was 17 and playing in the New Zealand Open championship.
He believed the club was New Zealand’s oldest — and possibly the oldest in the southern hemisphere.
Despite the inclement weather on Saturday he was hopeful he would get to play a full 18-hole game. It was nice to participate in all the festivities too, he said.
Since his first match at the course, where he did not break 80, he had mostly played exhibition matches at the course and scored in the 60s.
On Saturday he was playing as observer.
"I don’t hit it far enough to be competitive anymore ... When I see these young players hitting 300 yards [274m] plus, it’s with a degree of envy," he said.
In his heyday his tee-shots went about 250 yards. Now they only went about 200 yards, which was about the statistical average for men across the world, he said.
"I’ve just got to make the most of what I’m left with, but I still enjoy the sound, the feel and the sight of hitting the ball up into the blue sky — when the blue sky ever shows," Sir Bob said.
