McErvel's a marvel

Back in 1960, when John G McErvel first became a delegate to the central council of the GUI, Ireland had about 200 clubs, most of them with modest, nine-hole courses. Now, the figure is closer to 400 and most of the courses are 18 holes. And the delegate from Royal Co Down, affectionately known as Don, has bid farewell to what has become a virtual lifetime in the service to the game he loves.

Official involvement in the administration of any sport, can be a self-serving exercise. It can also be a breeding ground for dictators, whose behaviour would be more suited to some discredited Latin American regime. Thankfully, it also attracts genuinely selfless people whose only objective is the betterment of their chosen pursuit. McErvel has been very much in that mould.

On the occasion of his election as president of the GUI in 1976, Golf Illustrated wondered if there were a more popular personality in amateur golf "not just in Ireland, but also in John Bull's own island, as well as the USA and Canada."

It went on: "He has been to all those courses, near and far away, where golf's giants are made and sometimes, alas, cut down to size. And he has been described correctly as the greatest uncapped amateur golfer ever to play an Irish course."

Though he is also a member of Royal Co Down where he was club captain in 1981, McErvel insists: "There is a wrong image of golf as a game for the wealthy. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is that golf is the biggest participation sport in Ireland and I consider it regrettable that we are still so lacking in public courses."

Now living in quiet retirement at his home in Derryvolgie Avenue, Belfast, he came from a golfing family and learned the game as a juvenile at Helen's Bay. Later, he represented Ulster at provincial level from 1948 to 1953 and was considered unfortunate not to have been honoured by his country for the Home Internationals of 1952.

As a member of Malone GC, with such notable contemporaries at the late Billy Ferguson and Michael Craigan, he won Irish Senior Cup medals in 1951, 1954 and 1955. That was a time, incidentally, when inter-club golf was dominated by the great Sutton teams which included Joe Carr, Jimmy Carroll and Michael Fitzpatrick. But McErvel, Ferguson and Craigan survived to become key members of the Malone side which went on to capture the Barton Shield in 1961.

It is also interesting to note that in the final of the Belfast and District Cup against Bangor in 1952, when playing at number one for Malone, he happened to win his match against a certain N V Drew. A year later, Norman Drew was a member of the British and Irish Walker Cup team which lost to the Americans at Kittansett GC, Massachusetts.

Then there was the staging of the British Amateur at Royal Portrush in 1960, when the American contingent included their army champion, Tim Holland who, apparently, had no small opinion of himself. And when he crushed the 1957 winner, Scotland's Reid Jack by 8 and 7, his confidence seemed to be well-founded.

As it happened, he met McErvel in the next round. Decidedly upbeat about his own prospects, the Belfastman put a fair wager on himself, having received suitably generous odds on a day of atrocious weather, with rain sweeping in sheets from the North Atlantic.

The conditions clearly militated against the American. But this was of no matter to delighted locals, who hailed McErvel as a hero after he had held his nerve to win the match on the first hole of sudden-death. So, a weekend golfer found himself in exalted company in the last eight of the Amateur.

That was when fellow-Ulsterman John Glover ended a grand adventure, by beating him 3 and 2. A few weeks later, McErvel was acting as referee for the semi-final of the North of Ireland Championship between Michael Edwards and Michael Dijon at the same venue.

In his halcyon days, he played off plus one and was described by my predecessor in this newspaper, Paul MacWeeney, as "no mean operator." Indeed he remained a formidable competitor off four handicap at the time of his elevation to the highest office in the GUI. By that stage, however, he had become totally committed to the administrative, rather than the playing side of the game.

Indeed, a measure of his dedication was that only a month before being elected as president of the Union, he was taken seriously ill at home. But with typical resolve, he battled through to become acknowledged as one of the finest presidents of recent decades.

His first official function as Union president was at the Ormeau club in Belfast. Among the guests that evening was Fred Daly, the 1947 British Open champion, who recalled playing there in 1930 when the green-fee for a morning round was a shilling. McErvel delights in recalling how Daly had complained that on the morning of his particular visit, some stranger collared him in the locker-room.

The upshot of the unwanted conversation was that when it came to Daly's turn to tee-off, it was five minutes past noon. So, instead of the cheap-rate of one shilling, he had to part with a green-fee of half-a-crown (12 1/2 pence in today's, money).

AS Union president, the then 55-year-old director of a Belfast firm of grain importers, was thrust into the hot seat at a very difficult time for his sport, a time when the Troubles were at their height and golf clubs were frequently the target of terrorism. Typically, McErvel insisted on a positive view.

"Out of evil will come some good - I'm sure of it," he said. "I appeal to all golfers, indeed all sportsmen right across the board, to band together and defeat this problem in the interest of sport. I am conscious of difficulties which have arised because of the Troubles and, naturally, I respect that it will be an individual choice regarding the playing of golf in some areas.

"But I hope that the game will not suffer and that the non-sectarian, non-political Golfing Union of Ireland will be allowed to continue to prosper as a strong and unified body."

As it happened, the Irish Close Championship was held during his year of office at Royal Portrush, causing some leading challengers from the South, including the holder, Martin O'Brien, to withdraw. But McErvel remained steadfast. "So far as the Union is concerned, there are no problems," he said. "I personally am looking forward to welcoming my friends - players and officials - from all over Ireland."

His stance was entirely vindicated when a Southern player, Declan Branigan from Laytown and Bettystown, captured the title by beating another Southern player, Denis O'Sullivan of Cork GC, by two holes in the final.

It was the sort of pragmatism people had come to expect from an official who was not afraid to confront what he perceived to be injustice in whatever form it took. For instance, he resigned as an Ulster selector and match secretary in 1964 in protest against the method of selecting the interprovincial team.

As he explained at the time: "My fellow selectors seemed hidebound in their loyalty to past players and I wasn't prepared to accept the way that young, up-and-coming players were being overlooked. I was also unhappy at the manner in which the same group of selectors were being re-elected en bloc."

He also had strong views on coaching at a time when players tended to revel in their unorthodox techniques, which were quaintly described as "the Irish way." McErvel said: "I would like to see amateurs getting more lessons from their club professionals. There is a misconception that because a club professional may not be out winning tournaments, he has nothing to pass onto the younger brigade. Nothing could be further from the truth. All of our Irish pros are well equipped to teach the game."

The earlier reference in Golf Illustrated to the esteem in which McErvel was held in Canada, stemmed largely from a visit he made there on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of Royal Montreal. That was when representatives of Ulster's royal clubs, including Royal Co Down, were invited as guests. Among his Newcastle colleagues on that trip were David McAuley, the former honorary treasurer of the GUI.

Despite a category-one handicap, McErvel was always a feared competitor at club level, where he won more than his share of prizes. "Newcastle has always been kind to me," he said with obvious affection for the course where Michael McAuley, David's brother, was a regular fourball partner. "Maybe that's why I rate it the greatest course in the world. I always enjoyed my golf there, though I must admit I was strictly a fair weather golfer."

Noted for his tremendous commitment to public golf, McErvel took a significant role in its development, especially when working with the then union secretary, Des Rea O'Kelly, on the Stepaside facility.

He would be the first to agree that golf has been good to him, with rewards including nine holes in one and a fund of other delightful memories. A former chairman and secretary of the Ulster Branch, his last major office was as chairman of the Council of National Golf Unions in 1983. Now, in well-deserved retirement, this 40-year man can feel justifiably proud of an immense contribution to Irish golf.