Golf: Greenwood Cup win perfect send-off: stalwart

Ash Oldershaw applauds one of the speakers at his farewell function last week. Photo / Paul Taylor

Ash Oldershaw can recall the days when people had to wait two years to join the Maraenui Golf Club.

It was in the 1960s when he was president. Oldershaw, 87, can also recall the days when the old clubhouse burned down, the rebuild project and then the extension projects. Those were when he was secretary.

Are you getting the impression Oldershaw has been involved with the club for a while? Well he has ... for 63 years to be precise and in addition to these roles the club life member since 1991 has been a committee member, auditor and vice president.

All of the events mentioned above were recalled by the 22 handicapper at a farewell function for him last week. Oldershaw and wife, Lindsay, moved to Cambridge on Monday to continue their retirement.

"While I will probably join the Cambridge club I will always be a member of the Maraenui club and it will always be my home club. I'll be back regularly to play with mates," Oldershaw said.

He agreed watching the Maraenui club's top men's team win the Greenwood Cup during the final round at the Napier club last winter was the perfect send-off for him.

"The Greenwood Cup is the hardest trophy to win in the Bay. I was in teams which tried and missed out," recalled the former six handicapper.

During his time at the club Oldershaw shot one par round of 72.

"The aim was always to break 70 but those days are gone now. I have played to my age regularly," he said.

Holes in one?

"I've never had one but I'm still working on it. I've holed out on five different occasions but they were never the holes with the flag in."

A retired accountant, Oldershaw, has no doubt he is leaving the club in good hands.

"With the public nine hole course next door there is plenty of room for expansion for the future. It has always been a good social club and it's called the friendly club for a reason."

In addition to being a staunch stalwart of the Maraenui Golf Club Oldershaw was also well known in rugby, squash and tennis circles.

He was secretary of the Napier High School Old Boys Rugby Club in 1947 and 1948, club captain of the Hawke's Bay Lawn Tennis and Squash Club in the mid 1950s and a foundation member of the Hawke's Bay Squash Club.

For 50 years Oldershaw had a weekly game of tennis with well known Hawke's Bay D-Day veteran Max Collett as his partner.