A LINK to one of the world’s greatest golfers was celebrated on Merseyside as Neville Thompson reached the most notable of birthdays.
The Wallasey Golf Club member was joined by family and friends to toast his 100th in the clubhouse where a picture of the legendary Bobby Jones can be found hanging.
The American occupies a unique position in the history of golf – the only player to win the opens in both the amateur and professional games on both sides of the Atlantic and all within the same remarkable year.
It is 82 years since Jones arrived at Wallasey to try and qualify for the Open at Royal Liverpool which was to form the second of his four triumphs – and a teenage Thompson was there to watch him on his way to making history. Thompson still lunches at Wallasey on a regular basis and while he is one of the few surviving links to a player whose achievements will never be matched, he retains an active interest in the fortunes of the stars of the modern era.
Thompson was 18 when he nipped out from work in his lunchtime to catch a glimpse of a golfing hero.
Recalling Jones’s visit to the Wirral links, Thompson says: “I was working at a pharmacy and hoping to catch a glimpse of the great man and at lunchtime pedalled off to the course like a man possessed.
“I only had half an hour or so for my lunch break from work and I did want to see as much as I could. He was by far the greatest golfer in the world. There were quite a number round the greens, men in plus-fours, to me elderly gentlemen it seemed.
“There he was looking resplendent in his plus-fours, white golf shoes, shirt, tie and blue jumper, not a hair out of place. I remember the crowd vividly, ladies sporting the latest fashions in cloche hats and pretty frocks, the gentlemen wearing, jackets, ties and some sporting plus-fours.”
The club marked its ties to a man who had won ten major championships in eight years by the age of 28 by inaugurating the Bobby Jones Commemorative medal two years ago with the finalists matching the attire of Jones in shirt and tie.
The permanent reminder of his visit was commissioned by former Captain Sir Ernest Royden and the portrait was painted by Wallasey member John Berrie. The American was so impressed he signed and dated it – June 15, 1930. He commissioned the artist to paint a replica which hangs in the famous Augusta Club in Georgia. Jones was elected an honorary life member of Wallasey in 1931 and maintained contact with the club throughout his life.
Jones made it through to the Open with rounds of 73 at Royal Liverpool and 77 at Wallasey and went on to win by two shots. After adding the US Open and US Amateur – he had already won the British Amateur at St Andrews – Jones, a lawyer by profession, he stepped down from competitive golf.
Thompson himself played golf into his 70s, snooker into his 90s and remains an integral part of the golfing fabric at Wallasey.
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