Golf Vic Vol 60 No 3 2019

Photography: Sevi Skaleris Every year since 1929, barring World War Two, former school chums have formed teams to compete against others and to raise funds for charity. KAREN HARDING takes a look at the Women’s Inter-School Golf Challenge Cup. There is an event on the Victorian women’s golfing calendar which has outlived many others over nearly a century – and it’s still going strong. Yet outside its dedicated participants, few people have heard of it. Perhaps best known as the Sun Cup, as it was called for a long period in its history, the now Women’s Inter-School Golf Challenge Cup (WIGCC) celebrated 90 years in April. What was celebrated was not just the anniversary of a long- standing event but, rather, what is good and what is possible in women’s golf. Teams of four players representing their old schools vie for the overall school trophy – the Women’s Inter-School Golf Challenge Cup – while there are separate trophies for the winners of two individual handicap-based divisions. It all brings out the competitive spirit, the social bent and the philanthropic aspect. Speaking at the presentation lunch following play in early April, secretary Sue Thomas summed up the event: “It’s a unique event, possibly the largest of its kind in Australia.” It all began in 1929 when a group of 12 women – representatives of different girls’ schools – formed a committee with the mission to foster teamwork in women’s golf and to support charities involving women and children. That translated into the first running of the Table Talk Challenge Cup, sponsored by Table Talk magazine, at Victoria Golf Club. Table Talk was a social magazine, very popular in Melbourne society of the time with its articles on politics and finance, the arts and literature, and society happenings. The magazine donated the main trophy, a magnificent solid silver cup made in 1827 during the reign of George IV. It is unclear where the cup was during its first 102 years but almost 200 years later it is stunning. The main driver behind the Table Talk Challenge Cup was the exceptional Kitty McEwan, a story in herself. Kitty was from Ormiston Girls’ School, the oldest girls’ school in Victoria, and one of the early, if not the earliest, women golf writers. She started writing on golf for The Radiator in 1937 and then the Sun News-Pictorial in 1938, which she continued – with a break for significant war service in the Land Army – until she retired in 1966. In doing so, she paved the way for other women golf journalists to follow such as Peg McMahon at The Age and Di Gatehouse, a member of the notable Gatehouse golfing family, at the Sun News-Pictorial . Di won the Sun Cup in 1974 with her alma mater Toorak College team. Kitty was a talented sportswoman, particularly in golf, and was a member at several clubs including Barwon Heads, Riversdale, where she was club champion in 1933, and Commonwealth, where she was the inaugural women’s club champion in 1926. She acted as secretary/treasurer for the interschools event from 1929 through to 1947, again with a break for her war service, with another stint acting in that capacity in 1953. Outside of golf, Kitty possessed a philanthropic and generous approach to life. She lobbied strongly for improved conditions for women in the workplace and the army, and for women’s sport to receive press coverage. She was also very active on the Women’s Amateur Sports Council. Kitty had a heart attack playing golf at Commonwealth in 1969 and died two months later. Amongst other things she is honoured by the Kitty McEwan Trophy awarded to the highest score in the A Division at the WIGCC, by the Kitty McEwan Trophy at Barwon Heads and by the Vic Sport Kitty McEwan Award for the Victorian Female Athlete of the Year. When Table Talk magazine collapsed in 1939, Kitty organised for the Sun News- Pictorial to take over sponsorship of the event which it did until 1995, some 56 years later. So, to the question: how does an event comprising female golfers representing elite private schools translate into an event significant in women’s golf history in this state? It’s all in the structure of the event, its mission to promote golf and to support those less fortunate. To that end, since inception, its main purpose has been to raise benevolent funds. In the early years, different charities benefitted from donations ranging from 15-20 pounds each year. Since 1996, the children’s charity Cottage by the Sea has been the sole beneficiary, receiving over $50,000 in total. Margaret Appleton, who first played for Korowa as Margaret Cox in 1961 and has been in three winning teams (1961, 1986-7) is passionate about the event. “This is a unique way for women to make money for charity and enjoy the process of doing it.” It’s about the strength of character that reinvents itself to adapt to changing times while at the same time preserving its foundations. Society has changed enormously for women over the last century and the WIGCC has striven to maintain the best of the old while integrating essential new. Following the decision at the end of the Sun News-Pictorial agreement to run the Inter- School Golf Challenge Cup independently of sponsorship, its other concession has been to add “Women’s” to its title in 2007 as it recognised the growth of co-education in private schools. As schools drop away, they are replaced with another, whether that be a girls-only school or a women’s team from a co-educational school. Part of the modern era in women’s golf is also evident in most talented young players moving along the elite amateur and professional pathway, leaving fewer to represent their schools as their predecessors did. But the WIGCC committee is fully aware of that, actively seeking out younger players. The 2019 winning team from Korowa included Jesika Clark, one of the fine young players from Victoria Golf Club. “There are younger players around, we have some in their 20s, and we just have to tap into them,” said life member Jenny Tilbrook. It’s in its determination to represent only that which is positive about women’s golf. Some might think that a committee with a representative from each of 30 schools might be unwieldy. But life member Judy Bull noted that most committee members have been captains of their home golf clubs and are both knowledgeable about the game and well organised, so the event runs smoothly each year. “It sounds amazing, a committee of 30 people, but it actually works,” said former secretary Helen Smith. It’s in the players themselves. The list of winners – both in the team and individual events – through the years reads like a who’s who of women’s golf in Victoria. In the stellar roll-call of those who have participated through the years, it is somewhat unfair to single out individuals but a few must be mentioned nonetheless. Burtta Cheney and Margaret Trounson were both members of seven victorious teams. Golf Victoria 35