Edna Cropley, Written By George Shand

EDNA CROPLEY

In 1997 the Club made Edna a Life Member. This was a tribute to her tireless work over three decades. This is her story. “I had been introduced to golf by friends in the 1930’s when two holes of the course were on the other side of Sutton St in Warragul and I always had vague plans to take up golf when the time was right. That time came in 1971 when I joined some of my friends at Drouin. There was no professional at the Club so it was a matter of read what was available and hope my second-hand clubs were already trained. We enthusiastically played in all sorts of weather when the ball sometimes disappeared into the mud or washed into the drains crossing the fairway.

Lightning could be a problem too. The Club came close to tragedy in the eighties, when, in a heavy storm, our curator, Frank Cobbledick, was making his way on foot back to the Clubhouse. Lightning struck the ground very close to him, leaving a spidery pattern burnt in the grass. This was clearly visible for weeks. A similar fate happened to Club stalwart, Jim Burke.

In 1974 I was thrilled to win the “Ann Roberts” (Mrs Don Roberts) Trophy for best handicap score over three rounds of the Annual Club Championship and repeated the success on two other occasions. Never a top golfer, I was fortunate to win the Bronze Division of 27 holes “All Gippsland Championship” in 1984 – a day I’ll never forget. It was held at Yallourn in dreadful weather with some of the greens covered in hail. My playing partners should have been awarded a medal for playing with me after the 18 holes break!

Anther special happening was a hole-in-one on the 5 th although at that time the Club was experimenting playing the 18 holes in a different sequence and on that lucky day it was number 17 on the card. Good fortune struck again on the same hole in 1996 although by then it was back to being the 5 th . I used a six iron on both occasions. Now, 16 years later, I need a dry course and a driver even to make the green. It may be of interest that the original Honour Board showed the ladies with their husband’s initials, so that many times Club Champion was first shown as Mrs L. Smith and only later as E. Smith.1977 was a time of taking steps into the unknown. It was Drouin’s turn to take office in the WGGAA and no-one was prepared to put up their hands. To have to “pass” reflected poorly on the Club so Elvie Pratt and I volunteered to do our best as President and Secretary. As absolute newcomers to matters administrative, we were given great support and advice by the Garfield ladies who had held office the previous term. It proved to be a demanding time. The Morwell Golf Club opened in 1977 and needed support. This brought to ten in the Association and required a revision of the format of competitions. In 1978 the Alma Pepperell Encouragement Trophy for long markers was established. The Drouin Associates presented the perpetual trophy bearing her name at the inaugural event played at Drouin. 1986 saw the passing of the Equal Opportunity and Sex Discrimination Act. This involved attendances at seminars held in Melbourne for VLGU representatives where we were addressed and advised by the Commissioner for Equal Opportunity, Mrs Fay Marles. It was a time of change within clubs – the ladies were no longer Associates and became full members with equal rights to men. This was not greeted with great joy in some areas – the passing of an act does not necessarily mean changing of an attitude. In 1986, Joy McIntosh (Ladies

President) and I (Ladies Captain) served on the General Committee. We were joined by Sheila McDowell as Minute Secretary.
In that era we had much bigger ladies with fields of 50-60 players on Club days, up to 120 players on Open Days and up to 26 teams for the Silver Salver. Catering for those events was, as is now, admirably handled by the ladies. Catering for weddings and special events raised thousands of dollars towards the Club funds.

In 1997 I was honoured and surprised to be made a Life Member of the Club. In 2002 at the official opening of the new nine complete with various dignitaries and a “champagne marquee” on the then 8 th tee, I was proud to share the honour with Gerry Butler to open the course. Gerry took a driver and flighted the ball over the dog-leg. I used a seven iron up the fairway for safety! We all have fond memories of Gerry and his astounding turn of phrase. I recall turning up at an evening function at the Club to be greeted by Gerry with, “It’s wonderful what a pot of paint can do to an old barn door!” Gerry was a special fellow and he is missed.

As my golfing years wind down, I had a last hurrah when with my daughter, Jenny Bolger, we won a 4BBB event at Devil Island on our Gymkhana Day in 2009 with a score of 51. I managed to get my name on the card six times. I have had much enjoyment as a member of the Drouin Golf Club and regard the lasting friendships I have made as by far the biggest bonus.
Of course modesty has prevented Edna from telling the full story. She is representative of those whose hard work ensured the Golf Club consolidated the efforts of those who got the Club going in 1955. By the time Edna joined in 1971, the Club was in reasonable shape. The full eighteen was opened in 1963 and a Club House built in 1967. Both only happened because of confidence in the future. It was Edna’s generation that ensured that confidence was not misplaced. In the eighties it lead to the purchase of land on Princes Way, the extension to the Golf House and the purchase of land on Fairway Drive in 1989. Edna’s contribution was to get involved administratively, work hard with the innumerable Associates’ fund-raising activities to provide much needed cash for the Club and help out at jobs others would prefer to ignore. It might be as simple as cleaning the toilets when Ladies’ Captain – obviously the men didn’t have to do it because after all they didn’t use them. It was also much more complex such as taking on the executive role in the WGGAA when others were reluctant and of course steering the Club through the implementation of the Equal Opportunity and Sex Discrimination Act. This latter effort is revealing. It is no coincidence that the delegate chosen was a woman because it was not seen as a matter of social justice so much as a “women’s issue.” There is some suggestion that the Club would have been happy not to move at all until it was realised
that the liquor licence would be under threat. The difficulty was to persuade the members that it was not only an inevitable but a fair thing to do. Ruffled feathers had to be smoothed and a lot of this fell to Edna. Attitudes had to be changed and perhaps even today there is work to be done. More recently, when I was told about the resentment toward women playing on Saturdays and said, “Well at least that is in the past now” I got a chuckle in reply.

At the time Edna had this to say: “I have been privileged to serve on the previously all-male General Committee. While this increased the workload considerably, I do feel that we were able to make a worthwhile contribution to the stability of the Club during a very difficultperiod (my emphasis.) We look forward to the future with optimism.” Well, the future is now and Edna can feel proud of her contribution then and now – she still sponsors a trophy for the best handicap performer in the Ladies Championship.
George Shand (2013)