Our People

Golf club remembers pioneering stalwart

• Howick and Pakuranga Times

A SMALL gathering of family and friends on the second tee of the picturesque Howick Golf Club course was the perfect setting to remember a man fondly remembered as Mr Golf.

FAMILY TIES: Jack Frogley's children from left, John Frogley, Barbara Brighting and Tony Frogley, were on hand as memorial stone and garden were unveiled in his honour at Howick Golf Club earlier this month.

If you point to a tree anywhere on the course, chances are Jack Frogley would have planted it, or instructed someone else to do it.

“I remember coming up here one day to find him directing Sir William Stevenson on a tractor,” recalls club patron Ray Roy.

Mr Frogley was a foundation member (1946), life member and former patron and president of the club, still very much involved in what is children called his second home until his death in 2004 at the ripe old age of 102.

“If he could see something that needed doing he would get on and do it himself, that was just the way Jack was.

“He was one of the pioneers and the facilities we enjoy today are because of the work he and others did.”

As well as unveiling a memorial stone, the club has created a memorial garden and Mr Roy says the site was deliberately chosen to honour Jack.

“This area here was a piece of land the Crown wanted to take, but Jack, knowing how important it was to the club, fought them and eventually won.”

Those gathered referred to Jack as an inspiration, not just for his hard work at the club, but for his love of the game – playing up until 98 years of age.

“He was the perfect gentleman too,” said one member.

On hand for the occasion were his children, sons John and Tony Frogley and daughter Barbara Brighting .

They say their father would have been humbled and proud by the honour.

“Today is quite emotional really,” says Mrs Brighting. “This was a place where he loved to come, where he always was and it makes us proud to know that in some way he is still here and honoured by the club.”