Even in torrential rain, Jack Mooney was determined to finish his putt.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"He'd be out there every day he could," said son Pat Mooney.
"When everyone else had chucked it in, and gone back to the clubhouse because of the rain, he'd still be out there. He just had to finish."
He was a man who was accustomed to being uncomfortable. Born in Nangus in 1918, he grew up in Junee before he was stationed in Darwin, Borneo, and New Guinea during World War II.
"He was a veteran, but he didn't talk much about it. He was happy to leave that in the past, and get back to his sport," said his son.
Remembered as a "natural sportsman", he started off on the cricket pitch playing first grade, and transitioned to the golf green as he aged, eventually playing off an enviable seven-handicap.
Every year, his family and friends in Junee also weather the elements to play a round of social golf in the late Jack Mooney's honour.
This year despite the disruption of COVID-19, it will be no different.
The annual Jack Mooney Memorial Golf Day is scheduled to hit off at 8.30am on October 17.
It will be the 21st anniversary of the day's foundation.
"One of my sisters suggested to start something and the [Junee golf] club has been so supportive," Mr Mooney said.
"All the family still gets behind it.
"His grandchildren get involved, his great-grandchildren are there. Even though they didn't meet him they talk about him."
This year, members from Kapooka Golf Club will also join the event.
With a raffle fundraiser, afternoon tea and day on the green, the family have managed to a tidy $3150 for the club in the time they have been running the event.
It is exactly the legacy his family believe Jack would have wanted to leave after he died from a heart attack in his sleep on March 3, 1996.
"He was a fair man. He grew up during the Depression and the War. He hated racism, he was easy-going and a hard worker," his son said.
"He was a fencer, a lot of his fences would still be standing today.
"He was a straight-talker, he really told you what he was thinking."