FATHER OF N.Z. GOLF

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 125, 24 November 1930, Page 7

FATHER OF N.Z. GOLF

THE LATE R. C. KIEE

MEMORIAL GATES OPENED

The official opening of the Kirk Memorial Gates at the Hutt Golf Club drew a large attendance of members and visitors, who took part in a mixed foursome, the closing game of the season. The afternoon was blustery and unpleasant, but the interest in the memory of the late Mr. R. C. Kirk was shown in the presence of members of nearly every club ronnd Wellington, all of whom had experience of the late Mr. Kirk's interest in the encouragement of young players, an interest Jie maintained until his death.

After play, members and visitors gath» ered at the gates. , Colonel R. 0. Chesnoy, the captain of the club, expressed the pleasure of the club at the presence of Mrs. Kirk, and welcomed Sir Alex. Roberts, who, as an. old friend of the late Mr. Kirk on the Golf Council, was .. the most suitable! person to perform the opening ceremony. They were gathered to express, their esteem of the late Mr. R. C. Kirk, who had done a very great deal for the Hutt Club, and indeed for golf generally ia New Zealand. He was a. real enthusiast, not only a man who played golf for the pleasure he got. out of it, but one who did all he could also for the 4game itself, just as all really keen footballers and cricketers did when they came towards the end of their own careers.

Sir Alexander Roberts, chairman of the New Zealand Golf Council, said he valued the privilege of opening the gates for two reasons. First, because he was chairman of the New Zealand Golf Council, oa which he had been associated with Mr. Kirk, and secondly because he had beea a close personal friend of Mr. Kirk, to whom golf in New' Zealand owed a very great deal. He was qualified to speak on. that point, as he had 'been associated with Mr. Kirk on the' original Golf Association, which perhaps many did not know existed in Wellington and controlled the metropolitan golf bodies. It controlled golf in New Zealand until Mr. Kirk instituted the New Zealand Golf Association, which covered all clubs in New Zealand and gave the smaller clubs a voice in the administration of the game in the Dominion. The Hutt Golf Club owed a very great deal to Mr. Kirk Those who knew him would realise that ha took a personal interest in young players, and his idea was not his own game, but to improve the game of golf for others. He often spoilt his own game trying t» correct other's faults.

Of later years Mr. Kirk suffered—in th« keenest sense of the word—from illhealth, but was never heard to utter » word of complaint. A model to everybody, he was one of the finest characters the Lower Hutt district had had the honour to possess. "These gates have been, erected to honour one whom I will describe as a true sportsman, a worthy gentleman, and a revered friend. It i» fitting that these gates should stand afc the entrance to his old club, of which ha was a member from 1892, many years before most players of to-day were. born.. These gates will honour the most prominent figure in the golfing world that has so far lived in the Dominion, and I hope that members of this club will always recall his memory as they pass through." The gates were then opened.' Those present afterwards attended th« presentation of prizes in the clubhouse.