The first NSW Open took place at Manly Golf Club in November, 1931. The Tournament was played under ‘closed format’ meaning a competitor had to be a NSW Resident.
The Sydney Sun described the thrilling climax as follows: “N.S.W.’s first close golf championship concluded on the Manly Club’s course yesterday amid more excitement than has occurred in a championship event in this State for years.”
The tournament by all reports was a wet affair with greens barely playable. Undeterred, the competitors ploughed through the final 36 hole\s in a single day, and when all said and done, there was a three-way tie at the top off the leaderboard between Vic Richardson, Tom Howard and Charlie Gray.
A 36 hole playoff was the format to decide the eventual champion, with well known northern beaches Professional Charlie Gray claiming the title.
Final Scores:
Pos | Player | Club/ Rep | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Tot | +/- |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
*1 | Charlie Grey | 76 | 75 | 77 | 75 | 303 | ||
1 | TE Howard | 73 | 73 | 80 | 77 | 303 | ||
1 | VS Richardson | 78 | 74 | 76 | 75 | 303 | ||
4 | N Craig | 73 | 77 | 76 | 78 | 304 | ||
5 | D Soutar | 75 | 77 | 77 | 76 | 305 | ||
6 | J Petterson | 75 | 75 | 77 | 79 | 306 | ||
7 | G Thompson | 81 | 77 | 73 | 77 | 308 | ||
8 | J Ferrier | 75 | 75 | 82 | 77 | 309 | ||
TS Mackay | 75 | 75 | 76 | 82 | 309 | |||
10 | FP Eyre | 77 | 74 | 80 | 79 | 310 | ||
11 | W Bolger | 76 | 76 | 82 | 77 | 311 | ||
12 | EL Apperly | 77 | 79 | 81 | 75 | 312 | ||
13 | D Spence | 79 | 78 | 80 | 76 | 313 | ||
A Downs | 78 | 80 | 78 | 77 | 313 | |||
15 | C Campbell | 77 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 314 | ||
C Ruwald | 77 | 77 | 80 | 80 | 314 | |||
17 | SA Keane | 76 | 78 | 76 | 85 | 315 | ||
AC Howard | 78 | 77 | 79 | 81 | 315 | |||
19 | F Popplewell | 79 | 75 | 82 | 80 | 316 | ||
W Campbell | 76 | 78 | 77 | 85 | 316 | |||
T Heard | 77 | 79 | 82 | 78 | 316 | |||
22 | WJ Clarke | 78 | 79 | 81 | 80 | 318 | ||
23 | V James | 78 | 81 | 79 | 80 | 319 | ||
24 | W Mackenzie | 76 | 80 | 84 | 80 | 320 | ||
25 | AW East | 75 | 75 | 87 | 84 | 321 | ||
ML Kelly | 79 | 81 | 83 | 78 | 321 | |||
27 | A Thompson | 83 | 83 | 79 | 80 | 325 | ||
J Withycombe | 78 | 79 | 87 | 81 | 325 | |||
Gordon Thompson | 79 | 81 | 85 | 80 | 325 | |||
30 | E Bolger | 82 | 80 | 82 | 83 | 327 | ||
R McCullum | 82 | 82 | 79 | 84 | 327 | |||
32 | W Corry | 81 | 82 | 86 | 80 | 329 | ||
33 | IK Harrison | 86 | 78 | 84 | 82 | 330 | ||
CM Glynn | 86 | 83 | 84 | 77 | 330 | |||
AB Robertson | 82 | 79 | 83 | 86 | 330 | |||
36 | C Kane | 80 | 85 | 83 | 86 | 334 | ||
GW Eastaway | 83 | 81 | 81 | 89 | 334 | |||
38 | R Carr | 90 | 80 | 86 | 79 | 335 | ||
39 | R Ruckley | 86 | 79 | 85 | 86 | 336 | ||
40 | AV Miller | 85 | 84 | 80 | 88 | 337 | ||
G Capel | 81 | 85 | 86 | 85 | 337 | |||
42 | D Denholm | 90 | 87 | 80 | 83 | 340 | ||
43 | W Thompson | 85 | 83 | 85 | 78 | 341 | ||
44 | J Hughes | 81 | 88 | 87 | 88 | 344 | ||
45 | JS McQueen | 85 | 82 | 95 | 83 | 345 | ||
46 | HM Cutler | 88 | 87 | 86 | 85 | 346 | ||
47 | W Longworth | 87 | 86 | 93 | 81 | 347 | ||
AN Waterson | 83 | 85 | 96 | 83 | 347 | |||
49 | PC Watson | 84 | 88 | 89 | 87 | 348 | ||
C Glancey | 85 | 85 | 87 | 91 | 348 | |||
51 | JH Craig | 84 | 89 | 88 | 89 | 350 | ||
52 | AT Robertson | 86 | 89 | 87 | 93 | 355 |