Two days later they got together again and voted to change the name of the club to Box Hill Golf Club and, believe it or not, five days later, on Saturday, June 8, the club president Mr. E.F. Hodges hit the first ball and played a round before afternoon tea was served by the lady members. Different times, of course.

According to the Reporter newspaper, opening day attracted many 'notaries of the game, some of whom had come from considerable distances to participate in the opening ceremony.' The report ended: 'The club is to be congratulated on the way it has stuck to its guns in the face of difficulties in its path, and to those who are desirous of playing this healthful game at a moderate cost the Box Hill club can be safely recommended.'

Throughout 1912 occasional columns in the Reporter suggest the the Box Hill members were enjoying the new course, but come the 1913 annual meeting, held in April, it was announced the club was on the move yet again, this time to a 76 acre property south of Canterbury Road, upon which the club was able to obtain a five year lease, with the right to purchase, from its owner, a Dr. Howell.

It really is quite extraordinary that in the space of just five years the golf club, first as Middleborough, then as Box Hill, played golf on new courses at four different locations. And it seems to be that each time the club moved, it was the members who designed - perhaps laid out would be a better description - and built each of those courses.

While their enthusiasm undoubtedly would have contributed to a thorough job, we can assume those courses would have been rudimentary, to say the least, and would bear little resemblance to the often pristine layouts that exist today.

As often as not they were paddocks, through which fairways were cut and either mown (with horse drawn mowers) or scythed, and upon which livestock were sometimes grazed to keep the grass short. The fences that divided them, and the cart tracks that criss-crossed them, provided 'natural' hazards.

Quite often the greens were little more than sanded areas, but the ones that did have grass on them were hand mowed and surrounded by fences to keep the livestock at bay. This was an age-old practice on the links courses scattered around the British Isles, and if ever you're fortunate enough to play the course at Brora, in northernmost Scotland, you'll find it is still the practice today.

Harking back to the decision to change the name of the club to Box Hill this, according to club treasurer, Mr. Fox, had proved "a good advertisement, inasmuch that we have been informed that many new members may be expected in the coming season, which we attribute to the fact that people are now aware that a good club exists at Box Hill."

Also it seems that back then, just as it is now, a more than serviceable clubhouse was considered an important factor in attracting new members. The AGM was told it was hoped to have a pavilion erected within the next few weeks, "providing dressing rooms for both ladies and gentlemen" and being "of very great importance, as the greater convenience provided the greater attraction to golfers" and would assure the success of the club.

Debentures were "quickly taken up for the £50 required for the purpose" and the pavilion was duly erected (obviously they could build clubhouses as quickly as they could construct golf courses). To meet the increased expenditure annual subscriptions were increased to.....wait for it.....30/- for gentlemen and 10/6 for ladies.

The Saturday prior to the AGM, the committee spent a long day at the new location preparing the layout, described by Mr. Fox as a "fine 9-hole course", with plenty of space left to add a second nine holes when the membership warranted an extension.

To conjure up a new golf course in the space of just a few weeks was quite a feat, but as the former Middleborough, now Box Hill members stood on the hill upon which the new 'pavilion' would be built, and surveyed the scenery and the natural surroundings, set against the backdrop of the Dandenong Ranges, they were in no doubt 'it compared favourably with any course in Victoria'.

All of these happenings, as often as not, found space in the pages of Box Hill's local paper, the Reporter, the proprietor of which just happened to be the golf club president, Mr. E.F.G. Hodges. That said, the reporting of club golf back then was commonplace, not only in the many local papers that existed across Melbourne, and indeed the state, but in the daily publications as well.

For instance, one Saturday, in October, 1913, when golfers from Box Hill headed into the hills to take on Healesville, a scribe from the Healesville and Yarra Glen Guardian not only covered the golf, but the afternoon tea as well. Today, even if a team from Huntingdale travelled to Ireland to play a match against Ballybunion, you can be certain the only record of it would be a few paragraphs in the club's newsletter.

The five year lease on Dr. Howell's property encouraged the club to consider building a 'proper' course, and Mr. Harry Culliton, from Riversdale Golf Club, was approached to survey the land and produce a plan for an 18-hole layout.

The following May the 1914 season opened at Box Hill, and drew the following report in the Camberwell and Hawthorn Advertiser.

'Lovely weather favoured the above club on their opening day last Saturday. Since last season the pavilion has been considerably enlarged and the links have been improved almost beyond recognition, a fresh course having been laid out under the supervision of Mr. H. Culliton.'

To all intents and purposes Box Hill GC's future looked bright, but as things turned out it was just the calm before the storm. On July 28, 2014, the world was plunged into World War 1, and there was considerable debate as to whether sports, including golf, should continue while the war was on.

The Australian Golf Union and the Victorian Golf Association cancelled a number of events, but in the main golf at club level continued, and as often as not competition fees were donated to the War Fund.

In recognition of those members who had joined the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), Box Hill GC voted to establish a roll of honour, to be "placed in the club house to permanently commemorate their brave and worthy action in responding to the empire's call".

Sadly, just two weeks after the unveiling of the Roll of Honour, one of the club's most prominent members, Sgt. Stephen James Sweetland, whose name was the first on the honour board, died of wounds suffered during the fighting at Gallipoli.

Sweetland was a founding member of the Middlesborough GC in 1909, and indeed was the club's first secretary, at the tender age of 23.

Another Middleborough GC member, Capt. Murray Patten, was killed in the war, and was awarded the Military Cross 'for conspicuous gallantry and devition to duty".

During the war years it seems the club functioned very well, but as expected the numbers were down due to enlistments, and in 1916 it was found necessary to raise the annual subscription. For men it was £3/3/- (which today equates to around $2400), and for the ladies. £1/10/-, and it remained at that level until 1918.

Mindful of the fact that being able to play golf when so many were suffering was something of a luxury, golf club members everywhere took every opportunity to assist the war effort, and those at Box Hill were no exception.

A gala day held late in 1915 raised £25 for the Red Cross Fund, and the following report suggests the members weren't short of imagination, in particular a person named E. Kelly. "A number of events were played, results being as follows: Mr. J. Bradley's cup was won by W. Thomason, after a play-off with J. Sweetland. Miss Osborne annexed the Ladies' Handicap, Miss McNabb being second. The one-handed competition was won by E. Kelly, who was also successful in the kneeling-down driving competition. The approaching and putting went to D. Mansfield, and W. Shaw won the long drive event."

As the war entered what would be its last year (1918) it seems the club was in a strong position. In a report to the annual general meeting the course was described as having "been kept in splendid order" and that "most of the fairways and greens have recently been improved; so that the average beginner will find Box Hill an ideal links on which to acquire skill at the "'royal and ancient game".

There was also an offer to members "wishing to avail themselves of the services of a professional", to contact the hon. secretary, "who will make an appointment with the visiting professional at any time suitable to such members."

For some of them though, that would never be. All in all 17 club members had enlisted in the AIF, and five of those members were killed on active duty.

The war ended on November 11, 1918, and the club held hopes the return of the soldiers would help swell the membership. It probably would have, but the five year lease expired at around about the same time, and unfortunately the club was unable to negotiate an extension.

Also, with land prices very much on the rise, it was unable to exercise the 'right to purchase' that existed in the original lease agreement, most likely through lack of funds, in turn the result of a considerably reduced membership during the war years.

Within months the clubhouse was sold, along with many other associated assets, and in May, 1919, a notice placed in the Reporter advised that the club was being wound up.

Golfers are a hardy lot though, and two years later, in July, 1923, there was a move to reform the Box Hill GC on the Canterbury Road property, which had remained vacant. Play recommenced over nine holes, but not for long.

The land began to be sub-divided, and although the club tried to hang onto its patch of land, negotiations eventually lapsed, and some 81 lots were sold at auction.

Fortunately the desire to play golf in the area still burned strongly in more than a few of the Box Hill members, and as we'll see in the next instalment, two of them decided to do something about it.

Brian Meldrum - Commemorative History Update Sub-Committee