Sefton Juniors organiser Ted Moule has announced his retirement

Jul 2 2009 by Our Correspondent, Crosby Herald

TED MOULE, organiser of Sefton Juniors for two decades and a father figure to many young golfers in their early years in the game, has retired.

He has organised events for many youngsters from the time when they were not much higher than a golf bag; seen many graduated to distinction in golf; and, now at home in Southport with his sporting and golfing memories, his proud possessions include two special recognitions of services to sport and in particular to junior golf.

In 2008 he received a Sefton Council Lifetime Achievement Award and similar award from the Merseyside Sports Partnership following a nomination which marked his lifetime connection to many sports.

The nomination also added: “He has assisted the development of many young budding sports stars in achieving their goals, whether in simply enjoying their sport, gain county recognition, to fulfil dreams of representing their country or events to create a successful living career playing the sports that Ted helped bring to them.”

But he is particular known for his work with Sefton Juniors and with the Sefton Junior Open for 18 years with more than 100 juniors taking part each year.

He is now nearing his 81st birthday. He had a heart by-pass in 2004 and he has a frozen shoulder. “So I cannot swing a golf club to save my life,” he says.

“I thought that I have done all this for 20 years and I am getting to the end of my golfing days and I thought it was time for someone else to take over.”

With the support of others he started the Sefton Juniors in 1989 and reflects on the many who he has seen take their early steps in golf on the municipal links on Southport Promenade, in one of the early tournaments or in the Sefton Junior Open which attracts entries from around Merseyside and beyond.

His memories include a young Tommy Fleetwood, of Southport, aged about five, playing on the putting green when his brother played in a competition.

The municipal, the Southport Links as it is now known, has been a big part of his Moule’s life, a course which has been developed across the years, which some believe to be among the best municipals in the north. It is also believed to be the oldest municipal links in England.

As a teenager Moule worked for a Southport firm of shopfitters.

He was a 19-year-old when he first played golf and recalls hiring clubs for two shillings and sixpence (12½pence) and it cost the same to play a round.

He joined nearby Hesketh at the age of 23, paying the £8.50 entrance fee and three guineas a year and then Southport Old Links before he moved to the Park, based at the municipal. There nearing the end of his playing days, after almost 60 years and approaching his 80th birthday he had his first golf hole-in-one.

He was senior lecturer at the former Southport Secondary Technical School and he has been a well-known personality on the Southport sports scenes throughout his life.

He played cricket for the local Red Triangle club, a branch of the YMCA, and he was a member of the team that won the Southport Leagues second division championship and the Sandhurst Shield, a knockout competition between top teams in the area.

He played football for the local Churchtown district, and badminton for both Southport and Lancashire.

His Sefton Juniors started with about 30 boys and while the numbers increased dramatically, in more recent times they have declined considerabley. He is disappointed about that and blames the fall at least in part on the cost of green fees. Other costs have risen and junior golf, like other areas of society, is not immune from the credit crunch.

But with Sefton Juniors, which held about 30 competitions a year, and the Sefton Junior Open he has seen the talent of many boys develop. Some have become professionals, at golf clubs or on the tournament circuit including Lee Slattery. Moule records include a return from Slattery aged about 10, 63 for nine holes. “And now he has earned about one million Euros,” says Moule.

Fleetwood, from Formby Hall and now in the Walker Cup squad, still holds the record for the Sefton Junior Open with 65 gross. Even with his busy golf calendar he has made the effort to maintain his links with Sefton Juniors, returning to where his golf career began. Moule says that with Slattery and Fleetwood it was apparent from an early age they were destined to succeed.

Usually the youngsters have been boys. Moule, like many, is puzzled by the lack of girls in junior golf, no more than perhaps three or four at any one time with Sexton Juniors. But the Sefton Junior Open has seen some outstanding performances from girls, including dual winners Corisande Lee and Ami Cox, both now at West Lancashire.

Moule says: “I have enjoyed it all. I have always been keen on seeing young people play golf. Apart from other things it keeps them occupied.”