Thomas Sidney McKay (1 October 1909 – 5 January 2004) was an Australian golfer, barrister and politician.

Early life

McKay was born in

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

to journalist Claude Eric Ferguson McKay and Dorothy Hope Sidney. He went to the

Shore School , motto_translation = , established = , type = Independent school, Independent Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary sc ...

before studying at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1931 and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1934. He was an amateur golfer and on 2 August 1934 he married Odette Anita Madeline Lefebvre, who was also a golf champion, having won the NSW State championship in 1931 and 1933. They had two children before divorcing in 1946. He married a second time to Peggy Burleigh on 28 October 1949, and they had a daughter.

Golfing career

He was a member of the successful NSW golf team in the Men's Interstate Teams Matches in 1932, 1934, and 1937, and runners-up in 1935. He won his first major golf title in October 1934, the

Australian Amateur The Australian Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It has been played annually since 1894, except for the war years, and is organised by Golf Australia. Having traditionally been a match play event, from 2021 it has b ...

at Royal Sydney. He won the

New South Wales Amateur Championship The New South Wales Amateur Championship is the state amateur golf championship of New South Wales, Australia. It was first played in 1898. History In early 1898 Lord Hampden, the Governor of New South Wales, presented a solid silver cup to th ...

in July 1936 at

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

, and in 1937 he was runner-up to professional

George Naismith George William Naismith (1909 – 23 May 1983) was an Australian professional golfer. He won the 1937 Australian Open. Early life Naismith was initially an assistant professional at Kingston Heath Golf Club. In 1929 he was appointed the profess ...

at the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

at The Australian. In 1938 McKay travelled to Britain as part of a four-man Australian team which included

Harry Hattersley Harry William Hattersley (15 March 1908 – 17 February 1970) was an Australian amateur golfer. He won the Australian Amateur in 1930 and 1947, and the New South Wales Amateur Championship in 1933, 1935 and 1950. He was part of an Australian te ...

, Len Nettlefold and Mick Ryan. The team arrived in mid-May and played in

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O Ferrie ...

. McKay won in the first two rounds, before being defeated in the third. The team played various matches in Britain, including at

Stoke Poges Stoke Poges () is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is centred north-north-east of Slough, its post town, and southeast of Farnham Common. Etymology In the name Stoke Poges, ''stoke'' means " stockaded (p ...

where McKay hit a course record 66. He qualified for the

1938 Open Championship The 1938 Open Championship was the 73rd Open Championship, held 6–8 July at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. In terrible weather conditions that caused scores to soar, Reg Whitcombe prevailed by two strokes over runner-up Jim ...

Royal St George's The Royal St George's Golf Club located in Sandwich, Kent, England, is a golf club in the United Kingdom and one of the courses on The Open Championship rotation and is the only Open rota golf course to be located in South East England. It has ...

, but in the first round he hit a disastrous 14 on the 14th hole, which put him out of contention for making the cut.

Barrister and farmer

He was called to the bar in 1934, and retired from championship golf at the end of 1938 to concentrate on his practice as a barrister. From 1940 to 1945 he served in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

, achieving the rank of

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

. He was a prosecutor at the

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

war crimes trial in 1947. From 1950 to 1960 he was a dairy farmer around Berrima, and he served on

Wingecarribee Shire Council Wingecarribee Shire is the local government area of the Southern Highlands in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Wingecarribee Shire is around southwest of the Sydney central business district and is part of regional Capital Country ...

from 1950 to 1953. He returned to legal practice in 1960 at Moss Vale.

Political career

In 1966, he was elected as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

. He was re-elected in 1967, and in 1969 was elected Chairman of Committees, serving until 1978 when he did not seek re-election.

Later life and death

McKay died at

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKay, Thomas 1909 births 2004 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council 20th-century Australian politicians Chairman of Committees of the New South Wales Legislative Council Australian male golfers Amateur golfers People educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School University of Sydney alumni Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Australian Air Force officers Politicians from Sydney