General News
3 December, 2021
Golf dedicates season to founding member
CAMPERDOWN Golf bowlers are dedicating their 2021/22 season to one of the club’s most influential figures.
CAMPERDOWN Golf bowlers are dedicating their 2021/22 season to one of the club’s most influential figures.
Max Johnson, one of the founding members of the club, passed away last Friday, with officials and players set to bowl in his memory for the remainder of the season.
Johnson was an integral member of the Lakes Complex-based club and until last Saturday, held the club’s games record of 508 games.
Good friend and long-time team-mate Ray Bateman equalled Johnson’s mark in the Magpies loss to Simpson.
Golf skipper Kev Conheady said the club had been saddened by Johnson’s passing but would play on in his memory.
A gentleman on and off the green, Johnson has always been a respected opponent and much-loved team-mate within the Corangamite area.
With an innate ability to play all four positions on the green and adapt quickly, Conheady said Johnson was a bowler many aspired to emulate.
“We were trying our best for Max but we just couldn’t get over the line,” he said.
“I think he was skipping a rink when I first started and I always used to look up to the div one bowlers and skippers and think how good would it be to be that good and to do that job.
“When I first started, and even in club events, Max used to give me a hiding because I wasn’t up to it and as time went by it started to turn and I started to beat him.
“He used to stir me up saying he was never that hard on me and I used to stir him back by saying he had a short memory and that I still owed him a few.
“He’s won every single event the club has had and a lot of them more than once. Some people only win one of them, let alone all of them, he was just a pretty good all-round bowler.”
Bateman is set to surpass Johnson as the club’s games record holder this weekend, when Golf ventures to Colac to face top-side Colac Central.
Conheady said the club’s division two side would join the top team for the day, which they hoped to mark with a special win for Bateman.
“Even though Central is on top of the ladder, sometimes its better to play against them than the sides at your level, so we’re hoping they see we’re eighth and relax a bit but all we need to do is get off to a good start,” he said.
“The bus would be roaring if we knocked off top-placed Central.”
In other games this weekend, Camperdown is looking to secure its first win against Colac City, Colac (1) takes on Simpson, Cobden hosts Winchelsea and Colac (2) welcomes Lorne.