GALA DINNER DANCE
SOUVENIR SUPPLEMENT
FREE STICKER
JSGC DHEKELIA GOLF CLUB
1964 - 2014
On behalf of the then Club Capt. Tom Watson and his Committee, Peter Parish was
asked to accept the onerous task of delivering a “once in a life time” formal fifty year
celebration in the form of a Black Tie Dinner/Dance at the Lordos Beach Hotel on the
30th April 2014, coinciding with the Annual Festival of Golf week. As we all know, the
Gala was a first class success, a celebrative occasion that will not be superseded for
some time to come. I’m sure the Club membership and the attending guests will join
TX2 in thanking Peter for his hard work in producing a great 50th Anniversary bash.
That now said here is Peters Gala opener.
DHEKELIA GOLF COURSE 1965.
The scene is 1965 at Dhekelia golf Club in its embryonic state.
No other golf course within 50 miles
No golf courses run by Cypriots i.e. Aphrodite etc.
No Ayios Nicholaos. Only 4 courses on the island. Episkopi, Pendiya, Nicosia (not the present one) and us.
Hence the large number of members recruited
from the “Four Mile Point” establishments.
The membership was brimming with soldiers of all ranks, KRS staff, BFBS staff and the
odd expat.
The Garrison was an exciting and thriving place to be.
No clearances needed to make our only Cypriot born golfer male a member; he was
Nikos Demetrio from Larnaca who just happened to be the Cypriot Ambassador to
Washington.
Vice Capt. 2014/15
Peter Parish
No posh club house. Just a large tin Nissan hut sat precariously on top of forty nine steps.
No locker room, no showers, (what’s new), but a well-stocked bar. No duty on all drinks.
No breathalyzer. Sounds like a combination for trouble. Virtually no traffic on the roads.
No fence and no passes to enter golf club.
No water on the golf course. Very dry.
No Pond hole, Leeway. This area was designated for football, rugby and a running track.
No McGill but the terrible Safari par five.
No restriction on shoes. Everyone carried a”T shaped rod “to scrape the browns.
No scratch golfers.
However a certain Professional Golfer from N.Ireland named David Jones called on
a regular basis on his way to the African tour every January and gave lessons. He is
now a well-known Golf Course designer working in Australia, Africa and Ireland. He
sends his best wishes for the next fifty years.
No trouble in the club.
No slope rating.
No seniors section. Even Nev Clark had hair then.
The Club had many “No s” but it was just beginning and had many issues to
resolve.
After 50 Years it continues to evoke lots of happy memories and thanks to those
original members and especially the great foresight and design of Major R E
Franks for having the bold idea to build a golf course from such a barren area of
land.
Let us hope that the JSGC (DHEKELIA)
continues for another 50 years or
until the very last put has dropped.
“In prehistoric times, cavemen had a
custom of beating the ground with
clubs and uttering spine chilling cries.
Anthropologists call this a form of
primitive self- expression.
When modern man goes through the
same ritual they call it GOLF”
JSGC Dhekelia 1964 [14 Hole Course]. A Description provided by Honorary Life Member Malcolm Newell and 1964 past member
Ralph Burrows
From the rough map below, of the 14 holes produced in 1964 you will see, as many of the
senior members will remember, the following details. The original clubhouse was on top of
the hill overlooking the Larnaca road on the site of the current 3rd hole. It was much higher
then as the cliffs over the road side started to landslide. It was a half round Nissen hut with
outside patio giving a grand view of the “over the road” holes, Larnaca Bay, Stavrovouni, and
Trodoos Mountains.
Hole 1. Current 3rd.
Hole 2. Current Switchback.
Hole 3. Short Par three, the current 18th, but from a tee behind the current 17th
Brown.
Hole 4. Tee just right of current 17th brown amongst carobs. Now the 2nd Hole.
Hole 5. Across the road, Par 5 Dogleg straight down and dogleg 90 % right.
Hole 6. No change.
Hole 7. No change.
Hole 8. No change. The Range.
Hole 9. Short hole to the brown near Larnaca road gate, near the current 4th Tee.
Hole 10. No change, the Playing Field.
Hole 11. As current, the hole running below the new clubhouse.
Hole 12. Long walk over to the next Wadi to the tee near the School playing
fields. A Par 5 slog up the Wadi 500 yards called the Safari, now housing
development.
Hole 13. Short Par 3 called Hell from tee on right of Safari brown across the Wadi to
the current McGill Hill Brown.
Hole 14. The Nunnery, as current hole from forward tee to Brown by the tree below
the current 2nd Brown. The name prompted by a “Tight Squeeze”.
The then local rules were something on these lines.
1. Free place I club length anywhere if you could
find grass.
2. Free drop if within club length of black snake or
Hornets’ nest.
3. Carry a pocket of grass seed and disperse on the
“fairways” as you go.
4. Throw away as many stones as you can as you
proceed around the course.
5. Only 4 letter word allowed on course is “Fore”.
Happy Golfing Malcolm Newell
Artwork provided by M. Newell
The original “Mouflon” Club Badge was
designed by Ralph Burrows in 1976.
Below, from L to R: Ron Omand
Malcolm Newell and Ralph Burrows
Honorary Life Member Mario Galpin
Open Winner 1982 and 1988
JOINT SERVICES GOLF CLUB DHEKELIA
50th ANNIVERSARY GALA DINNER DANCE Held at the Lordos Beach Hotel 30th April 2014
Clockwise From L to R:
The function organiser and
compere: Peter Parish with
Tracey.
Brian Boomer and Ali Ness.
Denies Ravenscroft cutting the
anniversary cake she so generously
backed and decorated for the this
function
Clockwise L to R:
Brian & Susie Rance.
Dick Edwards [USA] with
Anca Lordachescu and
Ashley Martin.
Alistair & Vivian McGregor
And posed correctly is
Frank Roberts
Clockwise L to R:
A selfie with Ginny Cantrell.
Sandra Carr stuck in the
middle of Alan Banks and
Melvyn, albeit she seems to
be enjoying it.
Margot Watt and the baby
snatcher Dave Potter.
Al Cooper honestly thought
Mary wouldn’t mind.
Although Alistair McGregor
didn’t find it too unpleasant
Teresa Bleach and Bob
Archer wasn’t truly
convinced.
Well I
thought it
was funny
A PIN UP EXCLUSIVE
Baked and decorated by Denise Ravenscroft
TASTY
Top L to R: Margrit Burri Dawn & Bob [no head protection] Homer.
Middle L to R: Alistair McGregor into Trisha and Ray Cooper
Bottom L to R: Mary Fry. Vice Capt. Mark Pegler and Peter Parish
I wonder what
Trisha’s doing?
Clockwise L to R:
Brian & Dianne
Thornhill
Calton Johnson &
Eileen Thornley
Corinne & Angelo
Calodoucas
Rod Kershaw
snogging Carole
Short, with her old
man, Mike, waiting
for a turn
Clockwise L to R:
Steve & Elizabeth Lythgoe. Marion & Ryszard Matulko
JRH with more than a handful: Sue Walsh & Kim Laslett
Heather & Dave Barrett
Tony Laslett overseeing Neville & Anna Clark
Top L to R: Tony Laslett Yvonne & Tom Watson [Club Captain]
Middle L to R: Shirley Spark Alex Hamilton Brenda & Jimmy Smart
Bottom L to R Ian & Tracie Barke. Bob and Elisabeth Miller
Top L to R:
Noel Green & Margrit Burri. Maureen Petty & Mark Beggs [GSM]
Middle: Phil Mulligan showing Eifion Jones the way out.
Capt. Jim Sugrue [Club Chairman] Linda John and Kaz Sugrue
Bottom: Eileen & John Lovell with Sharon & Pete Woodcock
Top L to R:
Peter Woodcock with Aleks Brown
Norma & Roy McAndrew
Middle: Pat & Kenny Allen
Bottom:
Kate, Glenys & George Livesey
June & Mick Lynn with Rose Henry
Dhekelia Golf Course
A personal reflection.
By Neville Clark
[First published in JSGC [D] Yearbook
2010/11]
In September 1966 my first sight of
Dhekelia golf course was a little
disappointing, in my memory it could
only be described as a pretty barren
piece of land. What also still remains in
my memory was the welcoming nature
of the members that quickly made me feel that this was a thriving club and I would
enjoy becoming a member. Nothing has changed on that front! Dhekelia Garrison was
a busy base in 1966 and the Club reflected this and had many members.
The Captain of the club in 1966 was a Liverpudlian, named Barney Murphy. A non-
entitled member working in Cyprus as a chemist for the Services. He was a single
figure golfer with a passion for the game. He was ably assisted by Major Dudley Upton
and a Canadian Major, Jim Bowdler.
JSGC DHEKELIA
1966
From L to R: Lois Lane and Jack Bauer with Sheena and Pat Chapman
Between them and the other members of the Committee, a friendly but very
competitive ambiance had been engendered. It didn’t take long for me to lose a few
bets to these wily competitors (again, so what changes?!).
The Clubhouse was in those days located precariously on top of the hill at the side of
the tee for the “48 Steps Hole”. It was basically a tin hut with, importantly, a bar, a
changing room and a small patio facing seaward overlooking the main road. That
Clubhouse holds many fond memories, some of them not too clear in detail. Maybe it’s
my age or perhaps alcoholic amnesia!
The course was barely recognisable from the neat fairways of today. Although
individual holes were clearly defined, the fairways then struck me as lacking in any
vegetation of a green colour. Grass was rarely seen except on the present “Playing
Fields” hole. The composition and the shapes of the browns were virtually as they are
today. There were only 15 holes in existence in those early days.
The playing order of the course was very different from today’s layout. The opening
hole was our present “48 Steps”, the Clubhouse and car park only being a short walk
away. This par 3 was virtually laid out as it is today. We then moved to play
“Switchback “as the 2nd hole. Following that was the present 18th
hole but played as
the third hole from the ladies’ tee. I played this hole with a visiting professional, David
Jones from Bangor, Northern Ireland, where he holed out for a 1. No stopping skill!
The 4th hole was our present second, “Plateau”. Just as awkward and difficult a par
five then as it is today. Moving across the road quickly, no fence in those days, we
played a hole that no longer is part of the layout. The ‘Road hole’, ‘Pickford’s Pylons‘
and the ‘Avenue’ holes were not yet in existence. This 5th hole then was a dogleg to
the right, a par 5. The tee was the one used presently for the ladies playing ‘Pickford’s
Pylons’. The brown was the one that is used today as the ‘Avenue’ target. It was a real
risk or reward hole. Driving off straight down the ‘Snake’ fairway, the big hitters then
had the decision to hit either across the same parallel copse of trees that are still there
and hope to land near the brown and then get a birdie or, you could play conservatively
to the end of the trees and then hit a third shot towards the brown and hopefully get
your par. It was a risky gamble, as you can imagine all the trouble that could ensue if
you miss hit your shot.
The next 3 holes the ‘Draw’, ‘Carobs’ and the ‘Ranges’ were virtually laid out as you
play them today. However, when arriving at the present tee for the ‘Snake’ hole, this
was laid out as a par 3. The observant ones will have picked out the remains of the oval
shaped base of the brown about 180 yards directly from the tee. It was rather a non-
descript hole and a good decision by the Committee was made to eliminate it. As there
were no other holes on that side of the road our next hole was the 10th
hole, i.e. ‘Playing
Fields’. This hole always “somehow” managed to get water from the adjacent football
fields.
As Ross Clunis only joined the Club in 1969, the present mens’ tee for the following
hole ‘Clunis Creation’ was not in existence in those early days. The hole was therefore
shorter as we all played from the ladies’ tee. Following this hole, more significant
changes have taken place. Using a tee somewhere near the present practice putting area
there was a tricky par 3. Its line was towards a point near land somewhere close to the
present 18th
tee for men. I am sure most members will remember the next hole namely,
‘Safari’. A really good par 5 and a sad loss. The definition and the tee boxes for this
long hole of nearly 600 yards long can still be seen as one drives to the Club up Barlow
Heights road and if you glance right. It was a monster but a fair challenge. When you
eventually completed ‘Safari’ there followed a short par 4. Again, little grass and many
rocks.
Leaving those 2 holes we crossed the hill walking behind the then non-existent brown
of ‘McGill’ and played ‘Nunnery’ as our 15th
hole. As mentioned before, the course
only consisted of 15 holes, the next 2 holes gave you a second chance to play
‘Switchback’ and ‘Barlow Heights’ again. The last hole was back towards the ‘Plateau’
brown and the Clubhouse on top of the hill. This time the 18th
tee was situated directly
behind the present brown of ‘Barlow Heights’ and, as it was relatively short, it was a
par 4. On a good day it was a drive towards the Plateau brown and an iron to the
brown. Thus, the round was over and once more up those 48 Steps into that Clubhouse
for well-earned refreshment.
The course has undergone many changes in my 45 years association. Grassy fairways
were not there in 1966 and there certainly a lot more stones on the course. The browns
have remained relatively unchanged. I believe those members of yesterday including
the Dowcett twins, Charlie
Patterson, Clarke, Ian Campbell,
Trevor and Menna Evans, Ralph
Burrows, Malcolm Newell and
many more would all agree that the
ambitions of the original developers
have been largely achieved. For
myself I feel that this Club is unique
in its capacity to engender a pride in
so many members past and present
about the progress that has been
made and, is still making, in this
special Club. Long may it continue.
Neville Clark