History of Benoni Country Club

Taken from the BCC annual 1907 – 2007

THE VERY EARLY DAYS – THE ROOTS OF BENONI COUNTRY CLUB

READ: Development threatens Benoni Country Club’s existence

Van Ryn Estate G.M. Recreation hall – Wood and Iron building situated at No 2 Shaft.

Services Provided:

Basic postal services i.e. post boxes, stamps, telephone call box, stationery, cold drinks, sweets, chocolates, certain tinned food, sugar, tea, coffee, cigarettes, tobacco, pipes, candles etc (no fresh food or milk).

Reading Room:

Overseas newspapers, local newspapers, Bibles, dictionaries etc.  Tables and chairs provided for writing and studying.  Overseas newspapers were supplied about 3 weeks late.

Sports Played:

Snooker, billiards, skittles, (popular with the Cornish mines) played snooker table and darts.  A special room was provided for cards, bridge, poker and other gambling games.  This recreation facility was closed in 1950/1951 and the building was knocked down soon afterwards.

The following sports were played at the Van Ryn Estate G.M. Recreation Club:

Athletics, archery, badminton, bowls, croquet, cricket, hockey, soccer, table tennis (in the ballroom), tennis, squash and golf.

Terrence Marsh shared his memories with us in unravelling the past.  His interesting comments:

The nine hole layout was reduced to seven holes due to mining activities.  Mine oxen and mules used to graze on the 18^th (now ninth) fairway.

The first professional golfer was George Telford who also assisted with green keeping.  A Mr Gilbert Thompson maintained the large grass cutters hauled by oxen as well as the hand driven lawn mowers.

In the early days three Chinese men were reportedly murdered on the golf course.

Snippets for the women:

Women were NOT ALLOWED to vote at the golf sub-club meetings.  Women were allowed a prize for four golf balls each if there were more than 30 players in the competition – November 9, 1954.  A shower for women was suggested at the meeting on the November 14, 1954.

Other interesting snippets:

BCC golf course was a plantation of Blue gums, planted in 1893.

Joe Civin shot the first hole-in-one in 1944.

Gary Player won East Rand Open in March 1956 at BCC, his first round 67 was a record.

The Norton family of BCC are all members of the hole-in-one club.

BENONI COUNTRY CLUB – Van Ryn Plantation.

Deryck Humphriss wrote about the picnics held at the Van Ryn Plantation in “Benoni Son of My Sorrow”.

People going to the Plantation went on Snake Road either by horse card or bus.  The majority used to go by bus which was run by Mr. Ambler, however the fun rides were on horse cart.

The blue gum trees of the plantation were planted close together and close by was a sand road leading to Van Ryn Dam which is known as the Rynfield Dam today.  Next to it between the trees was a grave with a beautiful marble headstone in the shape of a cross.  The name on it was William Fisher, born 1874 and died 1989.  Nobody knew who he was and what he did, however when they started to build houses in the area, the vandals had smashed it.

At the other end of the plantation was a cemetery where the Van Ryn Estate mine buried their black men who died in their employ.  It was always thought to be graves of Chinese miners.  (Perhaps they were initially before the Chinese workers ceased to be employees of the Gold Mines).

At the time that when one of the black men died, it was custom that they buried him and placed his worldly possessions on the grave as well as a new pair of mine boots.  These possessions would still be there a long time afterwards even though the elements may have taken their toll but no one had removed a thing.

At the side of the trees was a smooth cement floor.  It was used by children for roller-skating and the girls used to play hop-scotch.  The boys played a lot of games there too, like bok-bok, dop-doppie, tops, cricket, soccer and rounder’s.

Then in 1894 the Van Ryn Gold Mines Estate Ltd sponsored by the late Sir George Albu was registered in June of that year.  The property was situated on the farm Vlakfontein.  The company’s water rights cover 352 ½ acres.  The general manager was a German and had his office at the homestead on the farm.

By 1897 the farm manager, also a German by the name of Hahn, supervised the planting of trees on a large scale.  He laid out the stretch of wooded park which made the beautiful setting for the Van Ryn Golf Course.  The tree planting on the Estate were all under the supervision of Hahn.  He carried on looking after the farm and fenced off areas and established a fine orchard.

Although golf had been played on a rough course on the north side of Kleinfontein Dam in 1903, it was not until 1905 that a club was formed and a course laid out to the south of the Kleinfontein Gold Company’s offices.  This club served the district for some years.  The club was finally wound up on the inauguration of the Van Ryn Club in 1911.  There was a strong tennis club on the Van Ryn and the Modder at that time.

The golf course at Van Ryn was laid out in 1911.  It was under the leadership of Gilbert Thompson and Bertie Winkfield.  These enthusiasts contributed five shillings each per month for the construction of sand greens and worked on the job themselves.  The club grew in membership and the course situated in the lovely woodland on the Van Ryn Estate has become one of the most popular on the Reef.

The Van Ryan Estate GM Recreation Hall was a wood and iron building situated at No 2 shaft.  In early days various sports were played, snooker, billiards, skittles (popular with the Cornish miners) played on a snooker table and darts.  A special room was provided for cards, bridge, poker and other gambling games.  This recreation facility was closed in 1950’1951 and the building was knocked down soon afterwards.  Sports played at Van Ryn Estate GM Recreation Club include, athletics, archery, badminton, bowls, croquet, cricket, hockey, soccer, table tennis (in the ball room) tennis squash and golf.

In 1954 the Mayor Benoni Clr R.H. Howie laid the foundation stone of the Benoni Country Club’s new clubhouse.  Over the years, Benoni Country Club has established an outstanding reputation for the sporting and entertaining facilities which it has to offer.  An upmarket housing development was built around the boundaries of the Club adding to the relaxing atmosphere.  Enjoying the freedom on the course are Impala, Blesbok, Duiker, Black swans, sacred Ibis, Egyptian geese, plovers and guinea fowl and give the golfers a wonderful view as they walk along the fairways.

Sources: Benoni Country Club Annual 1907 – 2007

Retyped by: Glynis Cox Millett-Clay March 2015.

* Thank you to Glynis Cox Millett-Clay for assistance with the above copy and photographs.