The Pioneer Cup, Walpole’s premier golfing event held at the Walpole Country Club, is much-anticipated on the golfing calendar.
A famous incident took place probably in the late 1970’s to early 1980’s and the main character in the scenario was the late Bill Pearce.
Picture this: Bill was coming up the last fairway, which finished close to the clubrooms. No doubt he could visualise the beer waiting for him at the bar. He took a swing and his mighty drive sent the little white ball flying through through the air until it landed, of all places, in the back of a ute parked near the clubhouse!
This phenomonen would have thrown some of the golfing fraternity into a frenzy but not the golfers of Walpole. They simply built up a little tee on the back of the ute and made Bill play from that for his next shot!
I don’t remember the result but at the time I was Walpole correspondent for the Albany Advertiser. Everyone obligingly re-enacted the episode and it made a great story to add to the results of the big weekend. To top it off, a photo of Bill tee-ing off from the back of the ute made front page of the Advertiser!
Bill and Cherry Pearce, both now deceased, were a popular couple in Walpole. They were responsible for building a two-shop complex in town. This housed a craft shop and a bakery. Cherry ran the craft shop with the help of some of her friends and it was a great place to visit; a browse around the many crafts usually ended up with a cup of tea and a chat. This complex is now just the one shop which formerly housed Wooz and Sues Cafe.
The Pearces eventually left Walpole and took up residence at Goode Beach in Albany and later moved into the city itself.
I’m sure many Walpole golfers will remember this classic episode!
This article first appeared in the October 15, 2014 edition of the Walpole Weekly (PDF). Molly Smith is a regular contributor to the Weekly with her “Looking Back with Molly” column.
