Parkview Golf Club celebrates start of second centenary

Parkview’s golfers heralded the club’s centenary on 1 July with a gala golf day that followed the first drive of its second century by club captain, James Fussell.

A full field of 136 players included club members, special guests and a number of local celebrities.

After the presentation of prizes to the first competition winners of the club’s second 100-year centenary celebrations, Andrew Tennant and Greg Dick, the club president, Colin Robinson told guests, “We owe a great debt of gratitude to the staying power of members and their elected committees. They saw Parkview born from a vlei in the veld, faced threats from nature, greedy land owners, war, town planners and winds of political, social and economic change, and successfully guided it through 100 years.”

Robinson added that he is confident the club will continue to thrive and that on 1 July 2116, the presiding president will have another 100 colourful years of history to add to its story.

With champagne, golfers toasted a club pre-eminent among golfing establishments in South Africa.

The club also spawned golfing talent that included Bobby Locke, the country’s most successful golfer in the 40s and 50s, and several others who set a foundation for the country’s standing in international golf today. As part of its centenary celebrations, the club earlier in the year unveiled a statue of the maestro, who won four British Open Championships, nine South African Opens, seven South African PGA Championships, and 15 PGA Tour events. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1977.

“As members, we are particularly proud of the reputation we enjoy for the condition of our course, particularly its greens, and of the general friendliness and welcoming atmosphere of the clubhouse. In a general climate of economic difficulty for many golf enterprises, we are in a good place financially and our celebrations are appropriate to the club’s achievements,” concluded Robinson.