Mount Alexander Golf Club stalwart Joyce Smith is already in the Guinness World Records for her golfing prowess but as of last week her entry needs updating yet again.
The 91 year old from the provincial city of Castlemaine in central Victoria took her total of club championship wins to an astounding 55 with a victory over three rounds of strokeplay.
Joyce’s dream run began in the 1960s soon after she joined the club with a bunch of friends. Her record, as Martin Blake reported on the Golf Australia website, is thought to be unprecedented around the country if not the world.
Once she started winning championships Joyce proved unbeatable, winning 55 times in 57 years. She missed competing only twice, in 2014 when her husband Max passed away, and in 2015 when she had back surgery.
“She’s an absolutely legend,” club president Bob Pratt commented. “And a great person to go with it. She’s been an amazing player, she’s represented Australia in veterans championships overseas and that kind of thing, but she always speaks highly of our club. She’s a trooper and she loves the club.”
Smith has taken ill with Covid-19 in recent days and has spent time in hospital before returning home.
But she previously told the local paper, the Castlemaine Mail:
“I just love it. The people are the greatest you will find anywhere and the course is looking the best it has in years thanks to the hard work of our volunteers.”
And one of the keys to her continued success?
“I don’t mind practicing,” she says. “In fact I really enjoy it. I think that if you want to be good at anything it takes practice,”