|
Going
to work in St. Monans was the best thing that John ever did
for there he met his soul mate for life, Jenny Morris. From
day one, Jenny and John were inseparable and it was a given
that they'd marry which they did at the Auld Kirk at St.
Monans. In due time their two children, Tommy and Johnny,
were born. Both these two boys were incredible. From this
remote village on the East Coast of Scotland both entered
the University's halls of higher learning where both
graduated with distinction and the degrees of "Doctorate" in
the fields of Chemical Engineering. What parent wouldn't
brag. But bragging wasn't John's style. John knew what was
important and at all times he was a modest man.
After
John and Jenny married, John joined his (our) father in the
business which became Tom Reekie and Son to make and sell
handmade golf clubs and to tutor the game of golf. This
John did for the rest of his working years Both he and his
dad had scratch handicaps and at one time John had a
handicap of minus 2. Both were members of the Professional
Golfers Association. Their pupils thought the world of both
of them.
John
was also a member of the Earlsferry Thistle Golf Club. The
way John played the game said much about him. His drive off
the tee was indeed poetry in motion. In a perfect arc,
slowly back. When his club became level at the top,
hesitate, then with deliberation and in a perfect downward
arc, strike the ball, then follow through till the club
again became level at the end of the swing. John never
forced his club. His perfectly smooth swing and his timing
always sent his ball straight down the middle of the fairway
like an arrow in flight.
|
John's Advice to the Golfer
Go
slowly back, now mind you try
On
the ball to keep your eye.
Let
clubhead lead, keep doon your heid
Follow
through, the ball will fly.
|
One
thing about John, he had no love for any golfer who after
making a bad shot, displayed ill temper, cursed, threw his
club on the ground or made any such display of
unsportsmanlike conduct.
In
time John made a set of golf clubs especially for Jenny. In
short order Jenny mastered the game and soon their home
began to fill up with silver trophies that Jenny won. John
and Jenny played the game together for all of their years
together.
John
had other pastimes. He beautifully crafted model racing
yachts that he sailed at Lochy Keary, the great pool that
forms in the bay on the out going tide that's just to the
east of the Lady's Tower. These model racers were pretty
big and entirely strip decked and planked. Only the grain
of the woods gave away that they weren't made from one great
solid piece of wood. From clay, obtained from the shore
where the Cocklemill Burn enters the sea at the East end of
Largo Bay at Ruddons Point, John made the moulds and cast
the heavy lead keels for his boats.
John
also made very fine and sea worthy canoes that I more that
once used to voyage far out to sea and around the May Island.
Another of John's pastimes was the making of kites from
bamboo and cloth. On windy days he flew these either over
the golf course or from the beach, out over the sea,
depending on the direction of the wind. He made one kite so
large that in gusts it would lift him off the ground.
He
also made balsa wood gliders and model aeroplanes. In the
wintertime he made steel runnered wooden sleds for many of
his friends and great was their fun racing down the snow
covered hill at Black's Farm near the cliffs.
John
had a special knack and just the right touch for getting
lobsters out of the rocks at low tide. He invariably caused
lobsters to swim right into his hand. It was John who
taught me how to do it and showed me the productive ledges
and holes.
John
loved his garden and the birds. Each morning doves came to
visit and be fed bread crumbs at his back garden door. One
blackbird in particular knew him to the point of being
comfortable in entering the house and strutting around until
it found him.
John
was indeed a wonderful brother. These are but a few of my
remembrances of John. He now is interred at Kilconquhar
where the churchyard overlooks the peaceful loch. John
is gone from us but not really. I believe he lives on
in all who knew him. Two of his favourite songs were, 'Mull
of Kintyre' and 'Don't cry for me
Argentina'.
April
6th 2010
Tom
Adamson of Pittenweem writes, I
recently found your web site and find it very interesting. I
have fond memories of being taught the art of golf by your
brother John around 1974 or 1975. For John I picked up
millions of balls from off the driving range with a tin can
fastened to the end of an old golf shaft for a scoop. For
this work I received no pay from John but he gave me golf
lessons which was in lieu of pay. The following
summer I again picked up the balls from off the driving
range and again I received no pay. On mentioning this to my
mother she said, "Not to worry--just wait and
see." Around the last week of the holidays I went for
my weekly golf lesson and hoped that I'd also get some back
wages for picking up the balls but none came. However,
imagine my surprise when instead of wages what was waiting
for me was a brand new set of Tom Reekie golf clubs. I later
was to find out that my dad Ken and your brother John,
between them, had hatched up this surprise to reward me for
my diligence and enthusiasm for my work and my interest in
golf. What
I most remember about John, apart from his golfing ability
and immense patience, is that he was at all times a proper
gentleman.
 "Tom,
you made my day with this remembrance of John."
Also Peter Thomson
in the Ukraine and many others.
John on the right, Noel in
the middle.
On David Dunsire's boat,
"The Bonny Bay", in Elie Bay. (David on the left)
Jems took the picture.
|
