At a service in Evans Chapel last week, Poverty Bay Golf life member Arthur Bacon was farewelled by the many whose lives he touched. He was 90. Picture by Gray Clapham
OBITUARY: ARTHUR BACON
Half-hearted wasn’t in Arthur Bacon’s vocabulary.
If he was going to do something, he was going to give it his best shot.
And giving it his best shot almost always meant doing it well. Especially in the sporting arena.
180s at darts. Goals at football. Single-figure handicapper and two holes-in-one at golf. Wickets and runs at cricket. And sharp with a snooker cue, among his other skills.
Arthur died early Monday morning last week at the age of 90 — a number that would have horrifed him back in his golfing heyday.
He was farewelled at a service at Evans Chapel — his coffin draped in the British flag, a framed photo of Arthur the golfer sitting on the lid.
The number who filled the chapel to pay their respects to the English soldier, Wattie’s boilermaker and fitter/welder, husband and father (of three), horse lover and motorcycle enthusiast, and multi-talented sportsman was tribute alone.
Arthur was the ultimate competitor. A formidable but respectful adversary. A battler. On the course and in life.
“He has fought all my battles,” wife Daphine said in a Gisborne Herald story marking their Golden Wedding anniversary on July 28, 2006.
These characteristics reflected his working class background. The son of a coal miner, blue-collar to the core.
A union man armed with a passion to go into bat for his comrades in his home country of England and then in a land 18,500 kilometres away after he, wife Daphine and their two children (at the time) emigrated to New Zealand on October 16, 1966 — exactly 57 years to the day he passed.
Golf was to feature prominently in his life the moment his feet hit Gisborne soil.
He joined Poverty Bay Golf Club and over his many decades as a member was prominent on and off the course to the point where he was honoured with life membership .
In his latter years he was the oldest playing member at Poverty Bay.
In 2019, at the age of 86, he paired with Darryl Grant in the prestigious Barns-Graham Cup men’s pairs. The pair had never met. They introduced themselves on the day of qualifying and went on to win .
While it’s not official, it is almost certain Arthur is the oldest BG champion in the history of a competition dating back to 1951.
Rewind the clock 43 years to 1976 when Arthur won his first and only club championship title — the intermediate division. Twenty-five years later he top qualified for the intermediate champs only to fall in the first matchplay round — a rare failure.
Other successes followed. From individual honours to mixed pairs to veterans’ titles.
On March 16, 2004, he had his first hole-in-one — a 7-iron on the 140-metre fifth hole at Gisborne Park at the age of 71.
Two years later came his second — a 3-iron on the 178m 11th at the Bay.
His best score was 72-12-60 in 1990 — the year of his retirement.
In March 2010 he went close to equalling his age — shooting 79 at the age of 77 at the Patutahi course.
Perhaps one of his most special trophy wins was the Bryan Cup pairs in 2015 with his good friend and fellow Englishman Mike Orford — combined age 156. It was Mike’s first golfing trophy in four decades of playing golf and it came in Arthur’s 49th year as a member.
While he never reached representative honours, Arthur made his mark as president of the Poverty Bay-East Coast Golf Association and selector and manager of rep sides.
He loved playing but also had a passion and capacity for teaching others, particularly juniors.
Arthur and fellow member and English mate Cliff Poole revived the junior arm of PBEC Golf Association and a large number of youngsters went through Sunday morning sessions run by the pair.
Among those were Peter Kerekere, who became a multiple Poverty Bay Open winner and is one of the finest players the district has produced in the past 20 years. There is no doubt he would not be that player without Arthur’s support.
Arthur was also pivotal to the success of another youngster, Tini Hawea, who would go to win the 2014 King of the Coast at Tolaga Bay.
“Arthur has been the most significant coach and influence on Tini,” his mother Paku said in 2011.
Also in his stable were the Pohatu siblings — Skylah (now a PGA professional trainee), Jett and Reef.
“He (Arthur) had so much patience and time for us and we are all very thankful for what he taught us,” Reef said in a Herald story after making the PBEC team for the 2020 national interprovincial.
Arthur played in the 2011 Barns-Graham Cup with Tini — age difference 66 years. Just three days prior to the quarterfinals, Arthur had gone to hospital with an irregular heartbeat but It wasn’t about to stop him. The match went to extra holes and Arthur played a stunning 9-iron into the 21st hole to win it.
The battler.
A constant companion over all his years at Poverty Bay was his Willie Park putter which he had no fear taking out from anywhere — tens of metres off the green if necessary.
The putter was bought from the landlord of a pub in Leeds when Arthur went in for a midday pint. It cost him the equivalent of half-a-pint — nine pence.
Son-in-law Ross Chalmers is looking at the putter becoming a trophy in honour of Arthur.
The RSA paid tribute to Arthur at the end of his service. The RSA ode was read and the Last Post and Reveille played.
And for many who knew and loved him, two Yorkshire words of greeting he uttered time and again over a life well lived were used to say goodbye.
“Aye up.”