Golfing legends reunite
50th anniversary of Tasmania’s all-conquering 1968 team
THE best golf team Tasmania has ever assembled is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its shining success — winning the Australian teams championship in 1968.
The best players in the country assembled at Royal Hobart that year to take the Tasmanians down, but the local lads, most now aged in their 80s, dominated.
Anchored by amateur superstar Peter Toogood, and including his brother John and left-hand legend Elliot Booth, the nine-man team won 29 of its 35 games and went through undefeated to become the first Tasmanian golf team to win the national teams title.
Toogood, 88, was no stranger to teams events, having represented Australia at the Eisenhower Trophy in 1958 and Commonwealth Tournament in 1959.
Booth, the Toogoods and teammates David Good, Duncan Grant, Roy Scott, Bill Wellington and Doug Thorp made for a powerful Tasmanian team.
Wellington said golf was strong in Tasmania at the time. “It was the first time Tasmania had won the teams series since its inception in 1924 — first time in 44 years,” he said. “We won it again in 1974 and in 1977 and we were runner-up another two times. So we had a particularly strong side and a real good team, a good camaraderie and everyone worked well together.
“It was brought around by Peter Toogood who realised we had some really good players in Tasmania and put together a really good team.”