Delphine May Groundwater or Del as she was fondly known, was the fifth child of Ernest and Olga Davies.
Del had five brothers Eric, Raymond, Gilroy, Colin, and Cedrick, but she survived them all.
She also had a younger sister, Beulah who tragically passed away with diphtheria at one-year-old.
That made her the last of her family and she would often say she was “The last of the Mohicans”.
Del’s early years were spent at Cunnamulla with the family working on sheep and cattle stations.
Del’s father Ernie was offered a job as a railway fettler at Kilcoy in the Brisbane Valley, so the family shifted and set up home.
She attended school at Wamuran and it turns out was a bit of a rebel with her grandsons discovering her name in the punishment book years later when they attended the school.
Del will be remembered for many things, including her tenacity, and undaunted fierceness which was apparent from a young age.
Del loved horses and got her first job at Logan’s Property at Kilcoy as a Jillaroo mustering cattle and farm duties.
She was later offered a position at the Kilcoy Hospital as a cook and cleaner, the money was better than a Jillaroo’s wage, so she took the job and really enjoyed it.
She was a jack of all trades and could turn her hand to all types of work – cooking, sewing, you name it.
Del would have a go and not only have a go, but would usually excel at it.
She loved her sports too and was an excellent swimmer and champion tennis player.
Del moved to Jandowae and it was here in 1958, just short of her 21st birthday, that she welcomed the arrival of her only child, Douglas Ernest.
It was also here that Del played her first game of golf, joining a group of friends for a social hit.
She missed the ball a number of times on this outing, but it did not take her long to literally get the swing of it.
Sometime after, she moved to Kallangur to raise her son.
Del was the proudest of mothers and ensured Doug never went without.
He always attended great schools and tried his hand at many different sports.
Del was his biggest supporter and became known for her very loud emphatic sideline antics, telling off anyone who tackled him.
She also joined the Caboolture Golf Club where her talent on the golf course really became apparent.
She won the Club Championship several times and made a name for herself in the golfing world with the name D Westwood beside numerous hole-in-one scores on the ladies board.
In 1981, Del moved and settled in Gympie and it was here on the golf course where she met her true love, Neil.
They married on 2 April 1983, and the couple recently celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary.
Neil worked for the Council and Del for the Post Office as a mail contractor, a job she really liked “except for the bloody dogs” that would chase her on her scooter.
Neil would eventually acquire his family’s property at Eel Creek, where they started up a cattle stud and had some of the best Limousin cattle seen in the district.
Del’s love for horses would see her buy a horse for the farm, but one day this supposed quiet horse bucked her off and hurt her shoulder, so the horse was
quickly sold off.
With the success of the cattle stud, they decided they would sell as they had achieved all they had set out to do.
Del and Neil made the most of their retirement, buying a caravan in which to see Australia.
The couple would often send postcards to their family from all over the country with stories of friends they made on their way.
They enjoyed this time so much that they did a number of trips.
They also travelled to all corners of the world visiting England, Scotland, Alaska, New Zealand and Vanuatu to name a few.
When they weren’t travelling, they were building houses around the Gympie area.
In 1997, while on one of their trips, Del received the tragic news that her son Doug had passed away suddenly at the age of only 38 from a heart attack.
Del never really recovered from this loss and it always weighed heavy on her heart.
Del not only loved her golf, she lived for it and she was out winning competitions and hitting holes-in-one right up to her final days.
In her 43 years of membership at the Gympie Club, she served on numerous committees, always with the club’s interest first and foremost.
She was a champion player, having won the Gympie Ladies Club Championship many times since her first victory in 1983.
The Honour Boards in the Gympie Clubroom show Del’s name 29 times, and that’s just on the newer boards that started in 2010.
She represented Gympie in Pennant and Open Days and various other events; she competed in the World Masters Games in Melbourne, the list of courses she has played would be pages in length.
She scored a hole-in-one six times – only one of them in Gympie – and that was just last year, two days after having spent a week in hospital.
Just last month, Del was determined to play the Club Championship, saying it wouldn’t be a good look for the defending champion to not even try to hold the title.
She completed the four rounds and finished in third place.
Del was an absolute character, with a life-time of colourful sayings and many have anecdotes about her antics on and off the course.
Gympie Golf Ladies Captain and good friend of Del, Stella Macklin, said her legacy at the club is guaranteed.
“You were certainly one-of-a-kind and we will all miss you. You were very well respected, and we won’t forget you – because your name is in gold print all over our clubroom,” she said.
Del passed away suddenly on 15 April at the age of 87 years.
