Cardiff Golf Club 100
Golfing Memories
Golf memories from Steve Jones, Steve Llewellyn, David Lyndon Jones, Richard Johnson, James Lee and Ross McLister
Stephen Peter Jones
(S.P. Jones – fondly known as “Tote”)
Memories of a Cardiff Member
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Joined Cardiff in 1983 after falling in love with the course having played in the Cardiff Feathers for several years whilst still living in Aberystwyth. When I moved to Cardiff there was only one course for me!
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Played International Golf for Wales from 1981 through up to and including 1993.
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Represented the club for over 20 years until my game became too shabby.
Specific Memories of playing for Wales and Cardiff
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I have two wonderful memories of playing for Wales. The first was when we played Scotland in 1985. We were heading for our best performance ever as we came down the stretch and I was playing last man and we needed my point. I was one up playing the last against Walker Cup reserve Sandy Stephen. I tried to hit a fade of the course on the left but double crossed it and found myself deep in the course and only just able to hack it back out onto the fairway. From there I managed to pitch it to about 8 foot from the hole. Sandy secured his par and I needed this for the game and the match – to say my knees shook was an understatement but I holed it and we tied with England.
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County Sligo in 1991 I recall our foursomes match against Scotland. I played with Richard Dinsdale in his first Home International against Gary Hay (Walker Cup player) and Dave Paton in his first Home Internationals from Scotland. Both teams made a mess of the 1st hole and by the time we got to the green we were both 15 foot away putting for pars across a slopping green. Gary Hay was up to put first and I offered a half at that point. He refused and missed. Richard holed and we went one up. On the second hole David Paton spoke to me and said he would have taken the half – anyway Gary Hay never let it go and was pretty upset about it all way round – we won 2 and 1. It was not wilful gamesmanship on my part – just felt right at the time. I am sure Gary regretted not getting over it quickly thereafter!
Cardiff
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In 1989 after a 26 year wait we won the Welsh Team Championship in Tenby. We had a great team and I recall it came down to me to secure the last point in a couple of games. Against Ashburnham with the scores tied at 2 games a piece I was one down playing the 17th against Martin Stimson who was a fine player on his day. I turned the match around and took the last two holes to secure our victory. Against Tredegar Park again we were 2-2 and I was 1 down playing the 17th against Anthony Wesson a Welsh Junior International. I managed to steal the last two holes to secure our path through to the final.
Notes – Stephen won the Welsh Amateur Championship in 1981 at Royal Porthcawl beating Glyn Davies of Pontypool in the final. Ten years later Steve was runner-up in the same event to Simon Pardoe at Ashburnham.
Steve Llewellyn
Club Champion 2001 & 2006
My first experience of first team golf at Cardiff was as a 15year old partnering the then Welsh International, James Lee, I would never have thought I would still be playing first team golf 33years on! I joined Cardiff Golf Club in 1982 as a 10year old and it wasn’t long before I got the bug and spent the long summer holidays doing laps of the course, stopping for the occasional toasted tea cake served in the old clubhouse lounge. The support and grounding given by a whole host of members and assistant professionals was invaluable in forging my golfing life.
Team golf as a junior was fun and carefree, you are more concerned about the after dinner speech than getting your drive away on the 1st tee. Team selection in my early years was highly competitive and desired with a plethora of talented players to select from. This has evolved over the years as the ever increasing demands of family life and work commitment meant the team selection became increasingly about availability. Furthermore, over time the younger players have increasingly been drawn into professional golf as the opportunity and exposure of golf increased, our very own professional Adam and recently departed Lewis being the most notable. The average age of the team has therefore increased with fellow stalwarts of team golf Richard Brown, Peter Fortt and Kerry Jones still making the backbone of the teams- a testament to their commitment to the club.
There have been many highlights representing the club over the years, including semi-finalists in the Victory Shield with partner Peter Fortt; being Team Captain and playing in the finals of the Welsh Team Championships most notably in North Wales where the team camaraderie off the course was more like a rugby team than that of a golf team! It is also the weekly matches played across Glamorgan County, which at times can be problematic to attend after work, but the friendships, banter and meal after the game helps to maintain my interest, especially since they relaxed the need for a shirt and tie, shorts literally all day long!
On a personal note, winning the Club Championship twice and holding the amateur course record of 65 for over a decade are my most cherished personal achievements (I’m still waiting for my putter to get hot again!). However, my father always tells me that my biggest achievement in golf was partnering him to win the Webber. On reflection I might have to agree, as I still don’t know which way round he’s going to play the next shot!
David Lyndon Jones
My father Joseph Lyndon Jones (Known as Lyndon) was a Welsh International before and I believe after the war, at that time there were a few other international players, Dick De Lloyd, David Lewis. (Please excuse if I have left anyone out.) Lyndon held many amateur records at courses around Wales. I have enclosed 2 photos, one showing him in the final of the Welsh championship at Tenby. The other shows him putting using his old faithful putter made for him by the old pro at Cardiff Golf Club Bill Smalldon. I still have that putter and if the club would like it for display at the club, the family would be only too happy for the club to have it.
Team golf has changed. I remember playing for the first team against Whitchurch. On the 12th Tee at Cardiff my tee shot, I looked up and the crowds encircled the green Two deep, now you might be lucky to see a handful of supporters.
I can remember on a Wednesday playing 36 holes at Cirencester then driving back to Cardiff to play another 18 holes. This was in the Wednesday cup and finishing in the dark with great friends Richard Livermore, Rob Stevenson, Peter Allen and a few more. Why does it now take over 4 hours to play a 3 ball?
League golf for the 2nd team was much more friendly, before the drink drive regs came in we would not leave some of the valley courses until after 12-30 in the morning, now some players don’t even stay for the meal !
I can’t end without mentioning Bill Stevenson a great player and friend we played so many matches together where I learnt how to manage the course. I was lucky Enough to win the Strike Play Championship at Cardiff on one of the wettest and windy days.
When I moved to Radyr to live I changed clubs but I still recall very happy memories and great friendships and still refer to it as my home course.
Lyndon Jones (Snr.)
Richard Johnson
I was contacted back in August by Richard Brown asking me to write a little about what it meant to grow up playing at Cardiff Golf Club and a little about my career. The overriding reason that I have woken up to write this this morning is that I was speaking to my wife last night about the Christmas carol service/night that the club put on, with the Twelve Days of Christmas and Three Kings to name a couple. That brought back a whole host of memories, not to mention the one where I promised to write something for the club.
Over the last 35 years, I have had the pleasure of playing some of the great golf courses in the world. From Augusta National and Pebble Beach to Riviera Country Club and Muirfield in Scotland, there aren’t many left on my list of places to play. I was fortunate to have played these courses because I developed a golf game that made me competitive at a high level and the events that I played were held on great venues. Some of my best memories from golf however, are the ones that came from Cardiff Golf Club, the place where I developed my game.
I spent the majority of my time, age 10-18, at the club practicing, playing or just hanging out eating tea and toast in the lounge. Sneaking a pound coin into the fruit machine was always part of the excitement, trying to win yet not get caught by the secretary. That is what made these years so great, looking back at the fun that we had both on the course and off the course, the carol service through to stories from the greenskeepers supper (I never got to attend), the club was a club. I actually introduced the greenskeepers supper to a club I ran here in the US, all the way down to hiring a comedian to roast the members.
My golf career started early with a great group of junior members that could play. We had the opportunity to play 3 medals per week during the summer and when we got good enough (12 handicap) we could step up and play with the men. Chris Hatcher was our junior leader and he was also the person I played with the first time I broke par, 68 during the Flag tournament when I was 12. Obviously, a great memory. I had already started playing for the 2nd team, travelling to Morlais Castle for my first match ever…….I got the call up in Math class, moving up to the first team at that time was the big goal.
Andy Morgan, Simon Hoggett, Mike Jenkins, Richard Brown, Steve Jones, Andy Ingram and James Lee, a pretty formidable group of players that if I remember correctly, were very successful. This group drove each other to get better. Better is something you had to be because the club had planted trees, millions of them (I’m not too accurate with the driver), and became a lot more difficult. We travelled, played and competed, the beginning of me playing golf on the road, against competition that was tough. It brought my game along quickly but was also tons of fun. Obviously having my father Peter as the pro was great. Having access to great coaching helped and also helped develop all of the young golfers at the club at the time. It was a golden period for the club in terms of the golf that wa splayed
Jimmy Lee and I had success at the boy international level and in 1989 he became captain of the GB&I youth’s team and I was captain of the boy’s team, not bad for two guys from the same club. We won the Welsh Team Championships in Tenby and I think we won the Victory Shield too. Cardiff Golf Club had been the driving force in my growth as an elite golfer and also my growth as a person. I was brought down to earth more than once by some of the senior members for acting out on the course and even though there are still those time when I want to lose my mind, I keep it quiet now.
Outside of some of the club successes I was lucky enough to enjoy success both individually and with the Welsh team on international duty during my amateur career. I reached the semifinal of the Amateur Championship at Muirfield in 1990, losing the last two holes to Mike Macara’s birdies, a fun run and my first real experience at getting close to winning a big men’s event. I came close at the Welsh Amateur a couple of times but never actually won, losing in the finals and semifinals, both to the eventual winners. In college, I became the first All-American athlete at Augusta State University before turning pro in 1995.
The highlight of my amateur career would have to be the European Championship that Wales won in the Czech Republic back in 1993. It is still the only European Championship that Wales has won. We had a great team and beating an Irish Team with Harrington and an English Team with Westwood, looking back it is pretty cool.
My golf career stopped and started from the time I graduated from college and got settled in the US. Having won twice on the Web.com Tour, I slipped and broke my wrist, setting me back substantially in my goal of reaching the PGA Tour. I had personal issues but eventually married my wife, Yvette and her added support pushed me to succeed and reach the highest level of the game.
In 2007 I was the leading money winner on the Web.com Tour and was promoted to the PGA Tour as a fully exempt player. Players in my class from the Web.com Tour that year were Jason Day and Jimmy Walker to name a couple. I got to play at Pebble Beach, Riviera and TPC Sawgrass and do it against Phil Mickleson, Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson and many others. It was a wonderful experience cut short by tendon damage to my elbows from overwork, one of which required surgery. After a short attempt at a comeback the doctors told me I would be out at least another year so I decided to retire. My career ended with 4 Web.com Tour wins, career best world ranking of 113, the longest hole in one in a PGA Tour sanctioned event, 347 yards and 3 Club Championships at Cardiff Golf Club!!
Great golfing memories. Great life memories. Thank you!!
Richard Johnson – Highlights and achievements.
Amateur
Welsh Boys Champion 1989
GB&I Boys 1990
Wales Men’s Home Internationals 1990 - 1994
Wales European Championship 1991 & 1993 -Winners.
GB &I St Andrews Trophy – 1994
Professional
4 Time winner on the Nationwide Tour
Nike Florida Classic 1999
Monterey Peninsula Classic 2000
Mark Christopher Charity Classic 2007
Nationwide Tour Championship 2007
Represented Wales in the World Cup 2008
James (Jimmy) Lee
As an amateur, James represented Wales & Great Britain at junior and youth level. He is very proud to have captained the Wales Boys team in 1986 and the Great Britain & Ireland Boys and Youth teams in 1986 & 1989 respectively. As part of these teams, he played alongside Darren Clarke, Andrew Coltart and Peter Baker who all went on to represent Europe in the Ryder Cup. Amongst his adversaries in these matches were players such as Thomas Levet, Peter Hedblom and Christian Cevaer, who all went on to win titles on the European Tour.
James remembers fondly beating Thomas Levet and Christian Cevaer in his singles matches. He also represented Wales in two Home International matches held at Muirfield and Ganton. He also played alongside Ernie Els at the home of golf in the prestigious St.Andrews Links Trophy where he secured a top ten finish.
Amongst his other notable achievements was a fourth place finish in the English Open Strokeplay Championship (Brabazon Trophy) at Burnham & Berrow in 1990. In his last event as an amateur, he represented Wales in the European Team Championships in Puerto De Hierro, Spain where he was unbeaten in his 6 matches.
James first went to the European Tour Qualifying School in 1993 where he played all 6 rounds and secured his playing rights for the 1994 season. His best finish that year was 12th in the Bank Austria Open. The following year he played a full season on the European Challenge Tour winning the season’s opening event, the Kenya Open, shooting a tournament record of 19 under par and playing alongside Thomas Bjorn for the final two rounds. James achieved a number of other top ten finishes that year securing 18th place in the Challenge Tour Order Of Merit.. A highlight of the year was qualifying for the Gene Sarazen World Open in Atlanta playing alongside Miguel Angel Jimenez and finishing in the top 20.
As a PGA Club Professional James has represented Wales a record 7 times in the PGA Of Europe Team Championship where he also captained his country to victory in 2009.
He won the British Club Professional Championship held at Dundonald Links in Scotland in 2009 and later that year represented the Club Professionals of Great Britain & Ireland against their American counterparts at Loch Lomond where he secured two wins in four matches.
In 2010 James played in the BMW PGA Championships at Wentworth where many of his friends, family and Club members went to support him.
He has been heavily involved over the last ten years with PGA committees and has represented the PGA In England & Wales (West) as Captain in 2009 and Chairman 2013-2016, sitting on the PGA’s Executive Committee. In 2018 James was awarded PGA Fellow Membership of the Professional Golfers Association. This was for recognition of his achievements in tournament golf, his dedicated committee work and his involvement within the community during his time as a PGA Member
JAMES LEE
Cardiff Golf Club Member 1988-1991
Cardiff GC Assistant Professional 1991-1993
Represented Cardiff Golf Club on European & Challenge Tour 1994-2002
Head Professional Caerphilly Golf Club 2004-2016
Head Professional Lansdown Golf Club 2016-Present.
Golfing Achievements (Amateur)
Semi Final Welsh Boys Championship 1985 (Cardiff GC)
Cardiff GC Winners Welsh Team Championships 1989 (Tenby GC)
Cardiff GC Winners Victory Shield Championship J Lee & R Johnson (Prestatyn GC) 1990?
Cardiff GC Club Champion 1988 & 1989
Winner Aberconwy Trophy
Winner Cardiff Feathers
Winner Surrey County Foursomes
Winner Open Championship Regional Qualifying Hankley Common 1987
Other notable achievements- Runner up Duncan Putter – 3rd Welsh Strokeplay Championship – 4th Brabazon Trophy.
PROFESSIONAL
Winner Kenya Open 1995 (Muthaiga Country Club) Tournament record 265 (-19) playing last 2 rounds with former Ryder Cup player and Captain Thomas Bjorn.
Winner Great Britain & Ireland Club Professional Championship 2009 (Dundonald Link, Scotland)
Winner Europro Tour Qualifying School 2000 (Saunton)
Winner Welsh Masters 2000
Winner PGA of Europe 4BBB Championship 2002 (Atalaya Park, Spain)
Winner PGA International Team Championship representing Wales 2009 (Roda GC, Spain)
Winner Foremost Golf Championship 2016.
2 x 3rd Place in Welsh PGA Championships held at Cardiff GC
International Honours (Amateur)
Wales Boys 1985
Wales Boys (Captain) 1986
Wales v Austria 1987
Wales Home Internationals 1988 & 1989
Great Britain & Ireland Youths 1988
Great Britain & Ireland Youths (Captain) 1989
Represented Wales in Greek & Finnish Amateur Championships.
Wales European Team Championships 1991.
International Honours (Professional)
7 x Wales in PGA International Team Championships including Captaining winning side in 2009.
Great Britain & Ireland v USA in PGA Cup match 2009. This is a bi- annual match competed by Club professionals from GB&I & USA.
Other Info
Awarded Fellow membership of PGA 2019.
Captain West Region PGA 2009
Chairman PGA In England & Wales (South West) sitting on Executive Committee of GB&I PGA. (2013-2016).
Note from James
One of my memories of Cardiff Golf Club was the members holding a special day to raise funds for me to compete at the 1993 European Tour Qualifying School. Through their generosity I remember over £3k being raised to fund my trip. I was successful and returned with a ranking on the European Tour. This was a huge boost and helped start my path as a tournament player.
In 1989 I captained the GB&I Youth team which included Darren Clarke and Richard Johnson captained the GB&I Boys team. I remember having a photo taken with the two of us with Andy Ingram.
I am sure this would be a unique situation to have two representatives from the same club to Captain GB&I especially in the same year.
Also in 1990 I helped Cardiff win the Welsh Team Championship at Tenby which was the first year I was eligible to play in the event having joined Cardiff the previous year. There were some hard fought matches with quite a few twists and come backs. It was a hot week and we had plenty of support from the club with willing hands to caddy.
Richard Johnson was coming through the ranks at the time and we represented Cardiff in the Victory Foursomes – winning the event in 1990 beating Prestatyn in the final with some great golf.
One of the main reasons of joining Cardiff GC as a member when Danny and I moved to South Wales was my experience of playing in the Welsh Boys Champs in 1985. Having narrowly lost on the 21st in the semi’s to eventual winner Bruce Macfarlane.
Another fond memory was the Berkshire away day where a large group of Cardiff members travelled for a good day of golf, food and the odd tipple. I remember shooting 61 (-11) around the Red course in the afternoon playing alongside Cardiff GC members Stuart Johnson and Huw Thomas.
Thanks
Jimmy Lee
Ross McLister
Golf started for me at Cardiff Golf Club just short of my 12th Birthday and some of my best memories are of playing, practicing, and hanging out at Terry Hanson's Pro Shop up until I got my scholarship for Georgia State University. Whether it was hitting countless balls on the range or playing for the team alongside such Club legends as Peter Fort, it was a fantastic time when I played for the County and Wales (see photo at Royal County Down when I beat England's Star player Stiggy Hodgson) after winning the Welsh Boys at Newport in 2008."
