Graeme Lummis

Stories are often written of professional golfers who commenced their careers cleaning shoes, or caddying, or as green-keepers. Graeme Lummis, one of Nelson's top golfers, is not a professional, nor did he commence his successful career in golf by cleaning shoes, but he has had an unusual golfing history. Just for fun he had a few games of golf at 13 years of age, and with the encouragement of his mother, Mrs Win Lummis, a well-known Nelson golfer, he took up the game seriously while still a pupil at Waimea College. By the time he was 15, his handicap had dropped to 2 and the next year, at 16, he played at number 6 for the Nelson-Marlborough-West Coast Freyberg Rosebowl team with outstanding success (three wins and a half in six games). The next year he accompanied his family overseas and did not play golf for three seasons. With his return to Nelson in 1965 he commenced his golf again and won his way into the Rosebowl team and has been a regular member since then. His best season in the Rosebowl tournaments undoubtedly has been this year, when in six games he lost only one (to Ralph Pease, of Taranaki). In all he has played 32 games for the Rosebowl teams, winning 16 and halving 5. He entered the New Zealand championships for the first time last year and after qualifying seventh, was beaten in the quarter-finals. So far he has notched wins against international-class golfers like Stuart Jones, Ken McDougal, Means, and had halves with Ross Murray and Woodbury - an impressive collection of scalps. As well he's been Nelson provincial champion twice, Nelson club champion once, and Waimea champion, twice. This year he intends to enter the North Island open championships with a possibility that an entry in the New Zealand open will follow.

We've pictured Graeme in action at left, and as a member of the 1961 (his first) Freyberg Rosebowl team, below. Other members of that team were Tom Pfahlert (West Coast), Peter Stapp (Marlborough), Jim Roxburgh, George Hawes (Karamea), manager, Ron Strachan and Murray Ewing (West Coast).