MEMORIAL GATES

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 51, 24 November 1930, Page 10

MEMORIAL GATES

Tribute to Late R. C. Kirk HUTT GOLF CLUB Sportsman and Gentleman Warm tributes were paid to the late Mr. R. C. Kirk, both as a man and as a golfer, nt the ceremony held at the Hutt golf links on Saturday afternoon to mark tbe opening for the first time of the gates which have been erected there to his memory. The gates, which are to be known as the “Kirk Memorial Gates,” were opened by Sir Alexander Roberts, chairman of the New Zealand Golf Council and a member of the Hutt club. “'These gates,” he said," have been erected to the memory of a man whom I will -describe as a true sportsman, a wonderful gentleman, and a revered friend.’’ At the beginning of the ceremony. Colonel R. O. Chesney, club captain, expressed the pleasure of the club at the presence of Mrs. Kirk, and welcomed Sir Alexander Roberts, who as an old friend of the late Mr. Kirk on the golf council was the most suitable person to perform the opening ceremony. Mr. R. C. Kirk, said Colonel Chesney, had done a very great deal for the Hutt club and, indeed, for golf generally in New Zealand. The things he bad done were too numerous to mention. Mr. Kirk was a real enthusiast, and not a man who played the game simply for the pleasure he got out of it. Work for National Body. Sir Alexander Roberts said that golf in New Zealand owed a very great deal to Mr. Kirk. He could speak of this, he said, because he had been associated with Mr. Kirk for many years. He had been with him first in the original golf association, which was a body existing in Wellington appointed by metropolitan clubs only. That body controlled golf, snid Sir Alexander Roberts, until Mr. Kirk introduced the New Zealand Golf Association, which gave every club, even the smallest, representation in the New Zealand golf world. The Hutt club, be continued, owed much to Mr. Kirk. Those who were there in the very early days of the. club realised that Mr. Kirk took a very personal interest in its welfare, and he was afraid that Mr. Kirk often helped others in their golf to the detriment of his own. As a golfer Mr. Kirk had a very wonderful temperament—he was never known to growl, he was never known to complain, and he was a verytrue sportsman. Sir Alexander recalled an incident which had occurred at Christchurch when the qualifying rounds of the championship were being played off. Mr. Kirk was one of a large entry of players,.and was, indeed, the very last to set out in the afternoon. When he came back to the clubhouse at the conclusion of the round his only complaint was that he had used two boxes of matches playing the last hole. True Sportsman. Sir Alexander referred to the late Mr. Kirk’s health during the period which preceded his death. As many of them knew, he said, Mr. Kirk suffered very poor health in his last years, but he asked whether any of them ever heard him utter a word of complaint. “I think,” said Sir Alexander, “that the late Mr. Kirk was a wonderful example to us all. He is one of the finest characters that we have ever had in the district of Lower Hutt. These gates have been erected to a man whom I will describe as a true sportsman, a wonderful gentleman, and a revered friend.” Mr. Kirk had been a member of the club for many years, Sir Alexander continued, and he thought they would agree with him that it was right that the gates should stand there to commemorate one whom he would say was the most outstanding figure in the golf world of the Dominion. He hoped the gates would remain there as a permanent memento of his personality and sportsmanship. “I would ask you all just to have a little passing thought for our true friend as you come and go to your game,” Sir Alexander concluded. When the gates had been opened members and friends proceeded to the clubhouse, where the presentation of trophies won during the season took place.