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Pennant golf will miss Burtta Cheney

Pennant golf will miss Burtta Cheney •By PEG McMAHON Burtta Cheney, one of the "greats" of Australian women's golf, has announced her retirement from pennant play after 40 years of competition. She has played for Huntingdale GC since its foundation and before that for its original club, Eastern. Although she has retired, Miss Cheney may still be called on occasionally to fill in for Huntingdale in an emergency. There was no announcement about the retirement. It just seeped out, through a few close friends, as Miss Cheney watched Huntingdale win 5-2 in its first 1975. pennant, match at Keysborough last Friday, that an era was ending. Pennant golf won't seem the same without her. Held in awe for years, her mere appearance on the tee worth was reckoned to be a couple of holes, at least, to her club. But she would be the last to take advantage of such a situation. She has never had a lesson in her life, yet has the kind of unvarying grooved swing which enables her to come out after not swinging a club for six months, and play golf to her low handicap. Burtta Cheney has been a name synonymous with a name synonymous Australian golf since 1937 was when, as runner-up a teenager, to Betty she Kernot in the Australian championship. But it was not until 1949 she notched the first of three Victorian championships. Competition in those days was strong from players like Joan Fisher and Margaret Masters, and on the Australian scene, Joan Fletcher and Judith Percy of Queensland, and Pat Borthwick (NSW) to mention only a few. Miss Cheney won the Victorian championship in 1949, '56 and '58 and the national title in 1957 when she beat June Gillespie, now June Howe. She captained Australia in the Tasman Cup series against New Zealand in 1956, '58 and '62. On the club scene, she won the Huntingdale associates' championship 19 times, and over the years set course records in four States. She is now vice-president of the Victorian Ladies' Golf Union and for 30 years has been a member of the Australian LGU council. Probably her most timeconsuming duty on this body has been as chairman of the scratch score committee, responsible for evaluation of the scratch score • for each affiliated course. Over the past year, she has visited every VLGU club in the State to make course assessments. Miss Cheney is the only life associate of Huntingdale and of Anglesea GC -a rare distinction. But while much of the old glory of players like Burtta Cheney may' elude young golfers, what they should not forget is that most of this State's present top players, like Jane Lock, Sandra McCaw, Penny Pulz and Barbara McHutchison, to name a few, were discovered and developed by. the VLGU junior promotion committee a brain child and major project of Miss Cheney's. Miss Cheney was not available for comment on her retirement yesterday. Typically she was "somewhere in the Western District" dealing with VLGU matters. BURTTA CHENEY

Article from 15 Apr 1975The Age(Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)

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