Claude Fay Felstead (30 October 1889 – 9 March 1964) was an Australian amateur golfer. He won the 1909
Australian Open and was runner-up in the 1911
Australian Amateur.
Early life
Felstead was born on 30 October 1889 in
St Kilda, a suburb of
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, the son of William Henry Felstead, a Melbourne businessman.
William Felstead was later a partner in the firm of "Beath, Schiess & Felstead".
Golf career
Felstead first competed in the Australian championship meeting in 1905, which was played at Royal Melbourne. Described as "a boy from Greenvale School", he finished third in a handicap event on the first day, scoring a gross 91 off a handicap of 8. He played in the
Australian Open later in the week but took 107 in the first round and dropped out.
Felstead finished third in the 1906
Victorian Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne, behind
Walter Carre Riddell
Walter may refer to:
People
* Walter (name), both a surname and a given name
* Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968)
* Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 1 ...
and
Norman Brookes
Sir Norman Everard Brookes (14 November 187728 September 1968) was an Australian tennis player. During his career he won three Grand Slam singles titles; Wimbledon in 1907 and 1914 (the first non-British individual to do so) and the Austral ...
. The following day he won a 36-hole handicap
bogey competition finishing 7 up, off a handicap of 2. In October he travelled to Sydney to play in the championship meeting. He didn't challenge in the open, but was in the top-16 amateurs that contested the amateur championship, losing in the first round to
Oscar O'Brien
Oscar O'Brien (7 September 1892 – 20 September 1958) was a Canadian folklorist, composer, pianist, organist, music educator, and Roman Catholic priest. A large portion of his compositions were based in folklore and he also arranged and harm ...
, the current
New South Wales Amateur Champion.
Felstead didn't play in any important events in 1907 and 1908. In June 1909 he won the
Victoria Golf Club
The Victoria Golf Club is a golf course located in the city of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Canada, which is part of metropolitan Victoria. It was established in 1893, and is now the oldest golf club in Canada still located on its original site; a ...
's 54-hole championship by 17 strokes. In August he played in the
Victorian Amateur Championship but only finished 9th. The championship meeting was held at Royal Melbourne in September. In the
Australian Open Felstead started badly with in 82 but had a 77 in the afternoon, the best round of the day, to be tied for second place behind
Dan Soutar. After the third round, Felstead was third, 3 behind
Carnegie Clark and two behind Soutar. However, Felstead's afternoon round of 76 was again the best of the day, and with Soutar taking 80 and Clark 85, Felstead won by two strokes.
Michael Scott finished fourth, having taken 87 in his first round. The
Australian Amateur followed, the first time that Felstead had qualified. He reached the semi-finals, losing 6&4 to Scott. In November, Felstead won the Victoria club's open stratch event.
The
Victoria Golf Club
The Victoria Golf Club is a golf course located in the city of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Canada, which is part of metropolitan Victoria. It was established in 1893, and is now the oldest golf club in Canada still located on its original site; a ...
's 1910 championship was played as a match-play event, in April. Felstead won the title again, winning the 36-hole final 15&13, having been 13 up after the first round. Felstead played in the
New South Wales Amateur Championship at
The Australian Golf Club in June. He led the qualifying with
Michael Scott second. Felstead and Scott reached the final, Scott winning 4&3. In August Felstead travelled to Adelaide to defend his open title. He was in second place after the opening day, 4 behind
Carnegie Clark, but had a bad second day and finished 6th. In the amateur championship he reached the semi-final, losing again to Scott, this time 6&5. Felstead missed the
Victorian Amateur Championship through illness.
Felstead played in the 1911
Victorian Amateur Championship, finishing tied for 5th place. In September he played in the championship meeting at
Royal Sydney. He finished tied for 12th place in the open, high enough to qualify for the amateur championship. Felstead reached the final but lost 4&3 to
Jim Howden.
Later life
in early 1912 Felstead, together with fellow golfer
Clyde Pearce
Clyde Bowman Pearce (24 February 1888 – 10 June 1917) was an Australian amateur golfer. He won both the Australian Open and the Australian Amateur in 1908 and was runner-up in the Australian Amateur three times. He was killed in Belgium duri ...
, left Victoria to start farming near
Pingelly, Western Australia
Pingelly is a town and shire located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, from Perth via the Brookton Highway and Great Southern Highway. The town is also located on the Great Southern railway line.
The surrounding areas produce wh ...
. The move effectively put an end to his golfing career at the highest level, his future golfing activities being largely in Western Australia. They bought the Chybarlis farm, between the townships of Pingelly and Mooterdine, south east of Perth.
Felstead married Ethel Hart in 1915 and soon afterwards joined the Australian Flying Corps.
[ He survived the war, although his partner ]Clyde Pearce
Clyde Bowman Pearce (24 February 1888 – 10 June 1917) was an Australian amateur golfer. He won both the Australian Open and the Australian Amateur in 1908 and was runner-up in the Australian Amateur three times. He was killed in Belgium duri ...
was killed. Felstead resumed farming after the war. His first wife died in 1924 and he remarried. He later sold the farms he owned and retired to Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
, where he died in 1964. He left the clubs that he had used to win the 1909 Australian Open to Pingelly Golf Club.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Felstead, Claude
Australian male golfers
Amateur golfers
Left-handed golfers
Golfers from Melbourne
People from St Kilda, Victoria
1889 births
1964 deaths