THE WANDERING GOLFER: BRENDAN MOLONEY
IT HAS been a big year for Betty Higgs, who has celebrated her 90th birthday, her club Bridgewater-on-Loddon’s 100th anniversary and won an event in nearby Mitiamo in central Victoria.
The retired school teacher and still active farmer from Arnold, 180km north-west of Melbourne, startled friends when she turned 80 by walking over the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. So they were not totally surprised this year when she defied the passing years by playing Nullarbor Links, the 1,365-kilometre course between Ceduna in South Australia and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
This begs the question of what she will do in 2028 when she reaches 100. “A lot of people have asked me,” she said while playing in the Bridgewater Wednesday comp recently. “I have to get there first.”
Born on March 28, 1928, to an Australian farmer father and a Welsh mother, who came out by sailing ship, she did not take up golf until she retired from teaching for the second time a quarter of a century ago. Her early memories include travelling 16 miles (25 kilometres) from the farm into Deniliquin with five siblings in a horse drawn cart before her father got his first car, an Essex. She was a bright student, won a scholarship to Hay High School and went teaching after graduating from Sydney Teachers College in 1948. As was the case in those days, she had to resign when she got married and her talent and training were lost to the education system. Six kids later, she returned to the classroom and taught many of Bridgewater’s present population of 363 and scores of others, who then left town for the big smoke in search of work.
While teaching the second time around she became aware of golf. The former basketball and tennis player said: “I saw golfers heading for the course and thought I would like to do that one day. When I retired some of the locals took me round and I’ve been playing ever since. My husband, Cam, who died 14 years ago, was not a golfer but he played football and cricket, as did our two sons.”
There is no secret to longevity, she says, just luck.
“I’m fortunate to have good health. I eat well, exercise and walk every morning when I’m not playing golf. I have lots of social contact in various clubs and a wonderful family. I have 16 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren,” she said.
She also runs her 200-hectare farm, which is sown to barley and canola this year and rides her bicycle the round trip of 32 kilometres from Arnold to Bridgewater to have coffee with friends. “It is not such a tough ride,” she said, “because it is fairly flat around here and I have a break in the middle. After I finished the Nullarbor Links (with two daughters and a grand-daughter) I went to Rottnest Island (in WA) and rode 20 miles (32 km) around there. That was harder because of the hills.”
Bridgewater-on-Loddon is a gem of a course on the Central Goldfields, surviving 100 years and offering 18 holes of golf on a course with sand-scrape greens that is maintained entirely by its 10 members. Higgs did not think this was remarkable but the school ma’am in her was interested when told we hoped to become the first golf magazine in Australia to include an entire membership list in a grammatically correct sentence, viz: Members of the Bridgewater-on-Loddon Golf Club – Roberta Foster, Sonya Linehan, Margaret Falla, Betty Higgs, Daphne Chamberlain, Deirdre Ryan, Ros Johns (non-playing secretary), Rob Pollock, Steve Seymour and Dale Gibbon – celebrated the centenary by playing their annual tournament on the Queen’s Birthday weekend.
This was followed by dinner at the sports complex in the adjoining football ground where guests also enjoyed a centenary cake baked by a member.
Despite what she says about eating well, she is no diet wowser and the bike ride home from town after coffee with the girls is fuelled by a pastry at Patrick and Theresa O’Toole’s Bridgewater Bakery. Although not members of the club, the O’Tooles sponsor the par-4 3rd hole and this year won the award for Australia’s best vanilla slice.
Playing off 44, Higgs recently scored 39 points to win an event held to raise money for cancer research at the nearby township of Mitiamo. “I was not expecting it and it was a great thrill,” she said. “I don’t hit it very far but I am steady.”
As for the celebrating her 100th, she watched a grand-daughter do a tandem parachute jump and that is at the back of her mind. She would also like to do a tree walk.
Her course at Bridgewater is well worth a visit. Green fees are $5 in the honesty box and Australia’s best vanilla slice will set you back another $3.80.